[Ads-l] Quote Origin: Everything Is What It Is Because It Got That Way

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Scottish biologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson often receives credit for
the saying in the subject line which is about biological structures.
The statement reportedly appeared in the 1917 book "On Growth and
Form", but it is absent.

An exact match appeared in 1968 within a book chapter titled
"America's Economy: The Qualified Uproarious Success" by economist
Kenneth E. Boulding:

[Begin excerpt]
There is a very fundamental principle of nature which states that
everything is what it is because it got that way; in other words, we
must look at the history of a structure before we can really
understand it.
[End excerpt]

Boulding indicated in his other writings that he had formulated this
saying based on his interpretation of the book "On Growth and Form" by
Thompson. Thus, Boulding deserves credit for the phrase although
Thompson inspired him.

Here is an overview presenting dates, attributions, and statements.
This overview includes variants based on the template to provide
variety:

1871 Aug: Everything is as it is, because it could be no other way.
(William Pittenger presented his conception of an atheistic viewpoint)

1903 Jul: Everything is as it is because everything has the will of
God as its primary cause. (J. W. Richard presented his conception of
the viewpoint of theologian John Calvin)

1909 Oct: Each thing is as it is because it is best for it so to be.
(A philosophical viewpoint mentioned by Charles M. Bakewell)

1953: Everything is what it is because of everything that ever
happened to it and all the conditions under which it exists. (John
Hospers)

1953: At any moment the form of any object, organism, or organization
is a result of its laws of growth up to that moment. (Kenneth E.
Boulding presented his conception of the viewpoint of D'Arcy Wentworth
Thompson)

1960: Everything is what it is at any moment because it got that way
by a process of growth. (Kenneth E. Boulding presented his conception
of the viewpoint of D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson)

1968: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Kenneth E.
Boulding presented this as a fundamental principle of nature)

1986: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Attributed to
D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson by William H. Calvin)

1987: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Kenneth E.
Boulding claimed this saying was his "own invention" inspired by
D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson)

1991: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Attributed to
D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson by Daniel Dennett)

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/07/01/got-way/

Here are links to other recent Quote Investigator articles:

Quote Origin: Mathematics Is the Simple Bit. It’s the Stuff We Can
Understand. It's Cats That Are Complicated
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/06/29/math-cat/

English mathematician John Horton Conway of Princeton University
delivered this remark about cats during a BBC 4 television program in
2004.

Quote Origin: Keep a Notebook. Travel with It, Eat with It, Sleep with It
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/06/27/keep-notebook/

Jack London wrote the following in "The Editor: A Journal of
Information for Literary Workers" in March 1903:

[Begin excerpt]
Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into
it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper
is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure
longer than memory.
[End excerpt]

Quote Origin: If You Hear a Voice Within You Say, 'You Cannot Paint,'
Then Paint All the More, and That Voice Will Be Silenced
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/06/24/voice-paint/

In October 1883 Vincent van Gogh sent a letter to his brother Theo
which contained a version of the quotation in Dutch:

[Begin excerpt]
Als iets in U zelf zegt "gij zijt geen schilder" - SCHILDER DAN JUIST
kerel, en die stem bedaart ook, maar slechts daardoor.

If something in you yourself says 'you aren't a painter' -- IT'S THEN
THAT YOU SHOULD PAINT, old chap, and that voice will be silenced too,
but only through the act of painting itself.
[End excerpt]

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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