[Ads-l] Quip Origin: A Committee is a gathering of important people who, singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks for searching and sharing your discoveries, Peter.
I did notice these matches in Google Books. Your first link points to
a document with this description:

[Begin description]
Summary of Proceedings of the Annual State Convention
Volumes 16-31
By American Legion of California 1934
[End description]

The content of this multi-volume book spans several years. To narrow
the time range I looked at the snippet showing the target quotation. I
searched for a phrase in the snippet "criticism of the membership
efforts" which is near the target quotation. The search results
revealed a different document with this description:

[Begin description]
Summary of Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Legion
of California, Volumes 24-32
American Legion of California 1942
[End description]

The snippets for these two documents indicate that the same match is
being found in both documents. The volume numbers overlap.
So, the actual date for the match is almost certainly 1942 or later.
The date of 1934 is inaccurate.

Your second link points to a document with this description:

[Begin description]
University of Florida Commencement Convocation
By University of Florida 1912
[End description]

The year is inaccurate. The range you give is helpful, but it is
possible to achieve greater precision by scrolling backward within the
document. The match occurs in a commencement address. The document
date is June 1, 1937.

Garson

On Fri, Jul 4, 2025 at 3:41 AM mr_peter_morris at outlook.com
<mr_peter_morris at outlook.com> wrote:
>
> Here's a couple of early cites. As always it's hard to pinpoint an exact
> date.
>
>
> =====================
>
> appears to be 1934. I found a snippet  that refers to August 1934 as a
> future date.
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Summary_of_Proceedings_of_the_Annual_Sta/tbUpAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=committee+decide+%22decide+that+nothing+can+be+done%22&dq=committee+decide+%22decide+that+nothing+can+be+done%22&printsec=frontcover
>
> ========================
>
> Appears to be somewhere between 1934-37
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/University_of_Florida_Commencement_Convo/lGmp26CEFZIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=committee+decide+%22can+do+nothing%22++%22decide+that+nothing+can+be+done%22&dq=committee+decide+%22can+do+nothing%22++%22decide+that+nothing+can+be+done%22&printsec=frontcover
>
>
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From "ADSGarson O'Toole"
> <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date 03/07/2025 21:21:37
> Subject Quip Origin: A Committee is a gathering of important people who,
> singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done
>
> >The quip in the subject line has many variants. Here are two more examples:
> >
> >(1) A committee is a body of people who individually can do nothing
> >but collectively they may decide that nothing can be done.
> >
> >(2) A conference is a gathering of important people who, singly can do
> >nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done.
> >
> >This gag has been attributed to U.S. comedian and radio broadcaster
> >Fred Allen (stage name of John Florence Sullivan). Allen did use it
> >1940, but the earliest match I found appeared in October 1934 within
> >an English newspaper which pointed to "St. Martin's Review" as the
> >source. I have not yet seen "St. Martin's Review":
> >
> >[ref] 1934 October 6, Evening Sentinel, Crocks and Crazes: A Broadcast
> >Objection, Quote Page 3, Column 3, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire,
> >England. (British Newspaper Archive) [/ref]
> >
> >Begin excerpt]
> >From the same Review — A Committee is a gathering of important people
> >who, singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can
> >be done.
> >[End excerpt]
> >
> >Here is a link to the QI article:
> >https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/07/03/committee-decide/
> >
> >Feedback and illuminating citations would be welcome.
> >Garson O'Toole
> >QuoteInvestigator.com
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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