[Ads-l] Nothing succeeds like success

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The Quote Investigator website now has an entry about the adage in the
subject line.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2022/09/04/like-success/

This adage evolved over time, and the earliest instances occurred in
French. The saying moved from French to English by 1847.

[Begin overview from QI article]
1826: Rien ne réussit en France comme le succès. (Nothing succeeds in
France like success.) Written by M.R.

1827: Rien ne réussit comme un succès. (Nothing succeeds like a
success.) Written by Jacques-François Ancelot

1837: Rien ne réussit comme le succès. (Nothing succeeds like
success.) Attributed to Jules Janin

1847: Nothing succeeds like success. Written by William J. Snelling
who was translating a story by Alexandre Dumas into English
[End overview from QI article]

[Begin excerpt from acknowledgement]
Thanks to researcher Barry Popik who listed the 1837 French citation
on his website. Also, thanks to researcher Fred R. Shapiro who listed
the 1849 English citation in “The New Yale Book of Quotations”.
[End excerpt from acknowledgement]

I investigated this saying because I had received a request to look
into a quip which is usually credited to Dorothy Parker: “Nothing
succeeds like undress”. Soon I will create an article about this quip.

Feedback welcome
Garson O’Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

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