[Ads-l] [QI] You can't make anything foolproof because fools are too ingenious

[Pete Morris]

"You can't make anything foolproof because fools are too ingenious"

This old saying came up today in another forum.  I was wondering if the
sleuths of QI and ADS can trace the origin?

Sometimes attributed to Douglas Adams. He wrote:

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete 
fools."

in the novel Mostly Harmless (1992), but he was far from the originator.


Often attributed to Groucho Marx, of course.  Pretty unlikely.


Here's a couple of  early cites. Can anyone find earlier?

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https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Safety_Maintenance/9TIp8wZOuMMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22fool-%20proof%20as%20long%20as%20fools%20are%20at%20large%22&dq=%22fool-%20proof%20as%20long%20as%20fools%20are%20at%20large%20%22&printsec=frontcover

circa 1948

No machine, no process, is fool- proof as long as fools are at large . 
In fact the very term
  ' foolproof ' seems a challenge to the destructive ingenuity of that 
type of individual who
knows a challenge when he sees one . "

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https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Water_Sewage_Works/5hZVAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=foolproof+fools+are+so+ingenious&dq=foolproof+fools+are+so+ingenious&printsec=frontcover

circa 1955.

Someone once asked an equipment manufacturer why they couldn't build
equipment rhat was foolproof.  The manufacturer replied , " It can't be 
done ;
fools are too ingenious .

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