[Ads-l] Quote Origin: If Your Idea Is Original, You Will Have to Ram It Down People's Throats

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

A cynical comment about innovation states that it is not necessary to
fear the theft of your ideas because people obstinately resist
imaginative ideas. If your idea is original, you will have to ram it
down people's throats. This notion has been attributed to Howard H.
Aiken who was the main designer of IBM's Harvard Mark I, the first
programmable computer in the U.S.

The Spring 1985 issue of "The Computer Museum Report" of Boston,
Massachusetts contained an article titled "Howard Hathaway Aiken: The
Life of a Computer Pioneer" by Gregory W. Welch which included a
version of the quotation:

[Begin excerpt]
… a comment that Aiken made to a student once betrays the attitude
which earned him the enmity of some, and caused him to become
disillusioned in later years: "Don't worry about people stealing your
idea," he said. "If it's original you will have to ram it down their
throats." This attitude represented what his critics claimed was
Aiken's condescending and superior air.
[End excerpt]

The footnote accompanying the quotation named "Iverson" as the source.
This corresponded to computer scientist Kenneth E. Iverson who was
Aiken's student. The notes of the article listed the following
document by Iverson which I have not examined:

[Begin excerpt]
Kenneth E. Iverson, "Howard Aiken, Friend and Mentor," April, 1973,
Aiken Files, Folder: "Harry Mimno," AOF.
[End excerpt]

The initialism AOF referred to the following archive:

[Begin excerpt]
AOF--Active files of Dr. Anthony Oettinger, Chairman, Program on
Information Resources Policy, Harvard University, Aiken Computation
Laboratories, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
[End excerpt]

Aiken died in March 1973. Hence, the document above was created by
Iverson in the month after Aiken's death. I believe that the quotation
is probably in this 1973 document. Alternatively, Gregory W. Welch
heard the quotation directly from Iverson who credited Aiken.

Here is a link to the QI article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/06/idea-original/

Feedback welcome,
Garson O'Toole

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