[Ads-l] Quote: Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Mon Jan 30 07:38:28 UTC 2023


The saying in the subject line is often attributed to humorist Mark
Twain and comedian George Carlin without substantive evidence. Matt
Seybold who is an Associate Professor of American Literature & Mark
Twain Studies at Elmira College performed excellent research on this
topic. He connected the saying to actor Yul Brynner and French artist
Jean Cocteau.

Now I’ve posted an article:
https://quoteinvestigator.medium.com/316627b20567
Abbreviated article: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/01/29/never-argue/

[Begin acknowledgements]
Great thanks to Marian T. Wirth, Brian Zachary Mayer, Thayne Davidson
Muller, Robert McMillan, AnxiousPony, and Jane Bella whose inquiries
led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also,
thanks to Matt Seybold for his pioneering research.
[End acknowledgements]

Feedback and early citations would be welcome
Garson

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


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