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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Fun topic. Excellent citations, Pete. Here is a 1942 match that falls
into the same family of jokes based on the word "foolproof". The match
appeared in a one-panel comic strip. You can follow the link to see
the comic.

Date: November 4, 1942
Newspaper: The Lexington Advertiser-News
Newspaper Location: Lexington, Missouri
Comic Series: Out Our Way
Comic Title: The Brilliant Fool
Comic Creator: J. R. Williams
Quote Page 5, Column 7
Database: Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lexington-advertiser-news-foolproof/205784805/

[Begin excerpt]
I'D LIKE TO LIVE TO SEE THINGS WHEN TH' WORLD IS ABSOLUTELY FOOLPROOF

WELL, YOU NEVER WILL, BECAUSE AS TH' FOOL FOOLERS GET MORE BRILLANT
TH' FOOLS GET MORE BRILLIANT TOO--SO IT MUST GO ON!
[End excerpt]

Garson O'Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

On Fri, Sep 11, 2026 at 6:27 PM Pete Morris <mr_peter_morris at outlook.com> wrote:
>
> "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?
>
> ============================
> 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 . "
>
> ===========================
>
> 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 .
>
> ============================
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
> www.avg.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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