[Ads-l] Goldwynism: I May Not Always Be Right, But I Am Never Wrong

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Did Samuel Goldwyn deliver the remark in the subject line?
Unfortunately, the majority of Goldwynisms are apocryphal.

A closely matching but more elaborate version of this joke appeared in
1903 within several newspapers such as "The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer" of Washington and "The Toronto Daily Star" of
Canada:

[Begin excerpt]
Mr. Jones - It is useless my arguing with a woman who says she is always right.
Mrs. Jones - I never made any such assertion, and it's utterly cruel
and unkind of you to say so. I did not say I was always right. I
simply asserted that I was never wrong. --Comfort.
[End excerpt]

I tentatively credit this joke to the anonymous creator who published
this item in "Comfort" magazine in 1903.

The concise version of this joke has been attributed to a variety of
people. For example, in 1935 Major League Baseball umpire Cy Rigler
received credit. In 1937 movie producer Harry Rapf received credit. In
May 1938 pseudonymous novelist Margaret Grant employed the joke. In
June 1938 movie producer Samuel Goldwyn received credit.

Bonus quotation: In 1916 playwright George Bernard Shaw penned a
letter to H. G. Wells in which he brashly and comically asserted his
infallibility:

[Begin excerpt]
The longer I live the more I see that I am never wrong about anything,
and that all the pains I have so humbly taken to verify my notions
have only wasted my time.
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to the new Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/02/13/never-wrong/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

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