[Ads-l] Adage Origin: Quacks Are the Greatest Liars in the World, Except Their Patients

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks for your response, Amy. I agree with you that Rush's diary
entry has multiple interpretations, and one interpretation suggests
that Doctor Thibou employed the quack saying.

The alternative interpretation suggests that Franklin is the focus of
this sentence: "Waited upon Dr. Franklin with Doctor Thibou, of
Antigua." Hence, "The Dr." refers to Franklin in the subsequent
sentence.

The diary entry from Benjamin Rush was published in 1905. Albert Henry
Smyth published "The Writings of Benjamin Franklin Collected and
Edited" in the same year. Smyth reprinted the diary entry and
implicitly suggested that Franklin employed the saying. Here is what
Smyth wrote before reprinting the diary entry:

[Begin excerpt from Smyth's book]
A part of Dr. Rush’s diary which for a long time has been in the
Ridgway Library, Philadelphia, has recently been published in the
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (January 1905), and it
contains some interesting notes of Dr. Franklin’s conversation. The
distinguished physician naturally reported with most care the comments
of Franklin upon medicine.
[End excerpt from Smyth's book]

Interestingly, Benjamin Rush used the saying during a lecture in 1791
without mentioning Franklin or Thibou as indicated in the QI article.
Rush specified an anonymous attribution in 1791.

Garson

On Thu, Sep 10, 2026 at 10:30 AM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:
>
> I think it's Doctor Thibou of Antigua saying it. It *is* ambiguous as
> we've got 3 Dr.s involved: Rush & Thibou, waiting upon Franklin. Yep,
> the "hence it was justly said" definitely signals quotation/attribution,
> but it all starts off with "The Dr. said few but quacks . . ." and then
> there's the pronoun "He" referring back to whoever "The Dr." is. There
> are 3 possible candidates, but Franklin seems to be in the role of the
> patient in this context, so my money is on Dr. Thibou of Antigua. But,
> yes, it could be Franklin. Who knows? Ya pays your money, ya takes your
> chances.
>
> Very cool work, as usual. I had no idea that "quack" was such an old term.
>
> ---Amy West
>
> On 9/10/26 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> > Date:    Wed, 9 Sep 2026 21:37:30 -0400
> > From:    ADSGarson O'Toole<adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Adage Origin: Quacks Are the Greatest Liars in the World, Except Their Patients
> >
> > Charlatans who provide fraudulent medical advice and dubious nostrums
> > have afflicted humankind for centuries. Misguided patients often boost
> > these deceivers the most. Here are two versions of a pertinent saying:
> >
> > (1) There are no greater liars than quacks, except for their patients.
> > (2) Quacks are the greatest liars in the world, except their patients.
> >
> > This saying has been attributed to U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin,
> > U.S. physician Benjamin Rush, and Scottish physician David Pitcairn. I
> > received a request to investigate.
> >
> > The earliest match I found occurred in a diary written by Benjamin
> > Rush. The entry dated September 22, 1788, described a conversation
> > about quacks between Benjamin Franklin and Rush. The word "liars" was
> > spelled "lyers" in the following excerpt:
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > Waited upon Dr. Franklin with Doctor Thibou, of Antigua. The Dr. said
> > few but quacks ever made money by physic, & that no bill drawn upon
> > the credulity of the people of London by quacks, was ever protested.
> > He ascribed the success of quacks partly to patients extolling the
> > efficacy of the remedies they took from them, rather than confess
> > their ignorance & credulity, hence it was justly said, "quacks were
> > the greatest lyers in the world, except their patients."
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Rush's 1788 diary entry appeared in "The Pennsylvania Magazine of
> > History and Biography" in 1905 within an article titled "Excerpts from
> > the Papers of Dr. Benjamin Rush". I believe this diary entry is
> > credible; however, I have not yet seen scans of the diary entry.
> >
> > The passage is ambiguous, but it seems that the saying was spoken by
> > Benjamin Franklin to Rush. The prefatory phrase "it was justly said"
> > signaled that the attribution was anonymous.
> >
> > Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
> > https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/09/09/quacks-liars/
> >
> > Feedback welcome
> > Garson O'Toole
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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