[Ads-l] Quote: A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The statement in the subject line has been attributed to Mark Twain. I
was asked to investigate, and I was initially skeptical.
Interestingly, it is a rephrased version of a remark penned by Twain:

HABIT is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but
coaxed down-stairs a step at a time.

The genuine quotation above appeared in an installment of the
serialized version of Mark Twain's work "Pudd'nhead Wilson" which
appeared in "The Century Magazine" in January 1894. The quotation also
appeared in the serialized version of Twain's "Personal Recollections
of Joan of Arc" published in "Harper's New Monthly Magazine" in May
1895.

The evolution of the quotation provides a nice illustration of the
"rephrasing" misquotation mechanism. Here are seven variants:

(1) No man is strong enough to throw habit out of the window, it must
be coaxed step by step down stairs.

(2) You cannot throw habit out of the window; it must be coaxed
down-stairs one step at a time.

(3) We cannot throw habit out of the window. It must be coaxed
downstairs one step at a time.

(4) Habits . . . cannot be taken by the heels and neck and thrown down
stairs, but must be coaxed down, a step at a time.

(5) Habit cannot be thrown out of the window; it must be coaxed
down-stairs one step at a time.

(6) A bad habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed
down the stairs a step at a time.

(7) A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down
the stairs a step at a time.

Full  https://quoteinvestigator.medium.com/e7733fe4c2a5
Abbrev  https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/07/18/habit-window/

Feedback welcome
Garson

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