[Ads-l] Saying: The penalty of success is to be bored by the attentions of people who used to snub you. (Aug 10, 1880 Anonymous; 1897 Mary Wilson Little)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The saying in the subject line has been credited to U.S. paragrapher
Mary Wilson Little and U.K. politician Lady Nancy Astor. The phrasing
varies.

Cassell Dictionary of Cynical Quotations (1994), The Penguin
Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations (1986), Encarta Book of
Quotations (2000), The New Yale Book of Quotations (2021), The Beacon
Book of Quotations by Women (1992), The Macmillan Dictionary of
Quotations (1989), and other references contain entries for the
remark. The earliest citations specified in these references are in
the 1950s.

The Quote Investigator website now has an article tracing the quip back to 1880:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2022/02/03/snub/

Here is a sampling with dates:

1880 Aug 10: The penalty of success is to be bored by the attentions
of people who used to snub you. (Anon)

1880 Aug 17: The penalty of success is to be bored by the attention of
people who used to snub you. (Anon)

1881 May 12: The penalty of success is to be bored by people who used
to snub you. (Anon)

1897: The penalty of success is to be bored by the attentions of
people who formerly snubbed you. ( M. W. L. – Mary Wilson Little)

1913 Oct 07: One of the penalties of success is to be bored by the
attentions of the people who used to snub you. (Anon)

1925 Oct 06: The penalty of success is to be bored by the attention of
people who formally snubbed you. (Anon)

1941 Jan 29: The penalty of success is to be bored by the attentions
of people who formerly snubbed you. (The Office Cat by Junius)

1949: The penalty of success is to be bored by the attentions of
people who formerly snubbed you. (Attributed to Mary Wilson Little by
Evan Esar)

1953 May 28: The penalty of success is to be bored by the people who
used to snub you. (Attributed to Charley Jones by Earl Wilson)

1953 July 06: The penalty of success is to be bored by the people who
used to snub you. (Attributed to Nancy Astor by Cholly Knickerbocker)

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org