[Ads-l] Quote: Nothing Is More Powerful Than an Idea Whose Time Has Come

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The expression in  the subject line is a member of a family of
sayings. The famous French author Victor Hugo usually receives credit
for initiating this family, but researchers have only found a thematic
match in Hugo's writings in 1877.

[ref] 1877, Histoire d'un crime (The History of a Crime) by Victor
Hugo, Chapter: Conclusion: La Chute, Section 10, Quote Page 334,
Libraire-Éditeur J. Hetzel, Paris. (HathiTrust Full View) link [/ref]
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uga1.32108000912470?urlappend=%3Bseq=506%3Bownerid=117199266-532

[Begin excerpt]
Tout le phénomène actuel est dans ces quelques mots. On résiste à
l’invasion des armées; on ne résiste pas à l’invasion des idées.
[End excerpt]

[Begin one possible translation]
The whole current phenomenon is summed up in these few words. An
invasion of armies can be resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot be
resisted.
[End translation]

An article on this topic is now available on the Quote Investigator website.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/11/05/powerful-idea/

The article presents earlier matches from French novelists Émile
Souvestre and Gustave Aimard. I think this family of sayings evolved
over time and the following match is the first one I have found:

[ref] 1848, Revue des deux mondes (Two Worlds Review), Article: La
Chouannerie dans Le Poitou: Le Sonneur de Cloches (The Bell Ringer),
Author: Émile Souvestre, Start Page 191, Quote Page 194, Meline, Cans
et Compagnie, Bruxelles. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]
https://books.google.com/books?id=KiNHAAAAcAAJ&q=%22temps+est+venu%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
Or, dans toute question humaine, il y a quelque chose de plus puissant
que la force, que le courage, que le génie même: c'est l’idée dont le
temps est venu.
[End excerpt]

[Begin one possible translation]
Now, in every human question, there is something more powerful than
strength, than courage, than genius itself: it is the idea whose time
has come.
[End translation]

In 1861 French novelist Gustave Aimard published "Les rodeurs de
frontières" ("The Border Rifles") about the Mexican-American War. The
book contained a passage echoing the words of Souvestre:

[Begin excerpt]
… qu'il avait fini par comprendre que dans toute question humaine il
ya quelque chose de plus puissant que la force, que le courage, que le
génie même, et que ce quelque chose c'est l’idée dont le temps est
venu, dont l’heure a sonné à l'horloge de Dieu. Alors, oubliant toute
préoccupation, il espéra en un avenir certain.
[End excerpt]

A translation of Aimard's novel into English by Frederic Wraxall also
appeared in 1861:

[Begin excerpt]
. . . he learned at length that in every human question there is
something more powerful than force, than courage, even than genius,
and that this something is the idea whose time has come, whose hour
has struck by the clock of Deity. Hence he forgot all his annoyances
in hoping for a certain future.
[End excerpt]

Gustave Aimard published another novel in 1861 titled "Les francs
tireurs" ("The Freebooters") which contained a different instance in
the family of sayings:

[Begin excerpt]
Le président de la république mexicaine apprit alors à ses dépens que,
dans toute question humaine, il y a quelque chose de plus puissant que
la force brutale des baïonnettes : c’est l’idée dont le temps est venu
et l’heure est sonnée.
[End excerpt]

The English translation by Frederic Wraxall appeared in the same year:

[Begin excerpt]
The President of the Mexican Republic then learned at his own cost
that, in every human question, there is something more powerful than
the brute force of bayonets: it is the idea whose time has come and
hour struck.
[End excerpt]

In 1912 a newspaper in Kansas published a short piece by politician
Frederic C. Howe about the desirability and inevitability of women's
suffrage. Howe presented a modified version of Hugo's statement which
was closer to the statements of Émile Souvestre and Gustave Aimard.
This saying was also closer to the popular modern instances:

[Begin excerpt]
Victor Hugo said there is one thing stronger than armies or navies, or
all material forces; it is "the idea whose time has come."
[End excerpt]

In 1914 a newspaper in Birmingham, Alabama printed an instance of the
saying while acknowledging another periodical:

[Begin excerpt]
As Victor Hugo well says, nothing can stand against "the idea whose
time has come."--Woman’s Journal.
[End excerpt]

In 1917 New Thought philosopher Ralph Waldo Trine published "The
Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit", and he credited Hugo with the
following instance:

[Begin excerpt]
I know of no finer words penned in any language—this time it was in
the French—to express an unvarying truth than these words by Victor
Hugo: "There is one thing that is stronger than armies, and that is an
idea whose time has come."
[End excerpt]

More citations are shown in the QI article. Feedback welcome
Garson O’Toole

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