[Ads-l] Quote Origin: Blessed Are the Cracked for They Shall Let in the Light

[Stephen Goranson]

Here is, not an antedating, but, perhaps confirmation that Dr. Parr (who
emulated Dr. Johnson, poorly?) was named Samuel. [lacking some italics]

"But say, if there be (in vulgar words) a crack in this cranium of mine,
may not this crack, as saith the learned Samuel Parr, "let in the light?"
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Philosophy_of_Mystery/5tz5JD8FNBwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=blessed+are+the+cracked+samuel+parr&pg=PA75&printsec=frontcover

The Philosophy of Mystery, Walter Cooper Dendy
1841 p. 75



On Fri, Sep 25, 2026 at 8:03 AM Stephen Goranson <goransonsc at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I guess the Dr. Parr was Dr. Samuel Parr (1747-1825).
>
> Stephen Goranson
>
> On Thu, Sep 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> 00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>> The traditional slang meaning of "cracked" is crazy, foolish, or
>> eccentric. Here are three versions of a comical saying which uses
>> wordplay:
>>
>> (1) You've got to be cracked to let the light in.
>> (2) Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light.
>> (3) They were certainly cracked: but the crack let in light.
>>
>> This quip has been attributed to Irish comedian Spike Milligan,
>> Canadian politician Lydia Augusta Arsens, U.S comedian Groucho Marx,
>> pseudonymous humorist Tramp Starr, Scottish classical scholar John
>> Stuart Blackie, and others. An email about this saying inspired my
>> exploration.
>>
>> The earliest match I found appeared in an 1830 book titled "An Inquiry
>> Concerning the Indications of Insanity" by John Conolly, Professor of
>> Medicine at the University of London:
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Every county presents one or more specimens of individuals who are
>> reputed scientific by those more ignorant of science than themselves;
>> eccentric men, whose wandering attention has travelled over every
>> subject … in the opinion of their neighbours, they become accounted
>> "wonderfully clever men, but certainly a little mad." The learned and
>> benevolent Dr. Parr used to say of such men, that they were certainly
>> cracked: but that the crack let in light;--and even then, it is to be
>> feared, he estimated them too highly.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> I do not know the first name of Dr. Parr who is currently the leading
>> candidate for coiner of this quip.
>>
>> Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article.
>> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/09/24/cracked-light/
>>
>> Feedback welcome
>> Garson O'Toole
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>

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