“Whatever is worth doing...”

LORD CHESTERFIELD’S MAXIM: “Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.”        Lord Chesterfield (Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield; 1694-1773)        British statesman and diplomat        One of the many bits of fatherly advice Chesterfield imparted in letters to his illegitimate son, Philip Stanhope. This one is from a letter dated March 10, 1746.         Chesterfield’s use is generally thought to have led to the modern proverbial version: “If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”

THE ECDYSIAST’S COUNTERQUOTE: “If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing slowly — very slowly.”         Gypsy Rose Lee (Rose Louise Hovick; 1911-1970)         American Burlesque queen and author         This quip has been widely attributed to Lee in the decades since her death and appears to have been a favorite witticism of hers. However, there doesn’t seem to be any record of her saying it or using it in any of her books while she was alive.

CHESTERTON’S COUNTERQUOTE: “If a thing is worth doing it is worth doing badly.”        G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)         English writer, philosopher and critic        A line from his book What’s Wrong with the World (1913). In context, it was his way of praising hobbies and other activities done by amateurs for pleasure, even if they have no special talent for them.

WALLY’S WISDOM: “My philosophy is that anything worth doing is too hard.”         The character Wally, in the December 27, 2004 edition of Scott Adams’ comic strip Dilbert.

MAYBE MICK’S MOTTO?: “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”         This saying is widely attributed to Mick Jagger, but without any specific citation of when he may have said it. The Yale Dictionary of Modern Proverbs says it dates back to at least 1962, when it was used in the headline of an ad for Jantzen Sportswear.

THE SUCKY BEGINNINGS PRINCIPLE: “Anything worth doing is going to suck at the beginning. Anything worth doing is meant to require pain and sacrifice. Herein lies the problem facing America, which originally was built on the moral of impulse control. What once used to be a country filled with people sacrificing momentary pleasure for a better future, the overpowering message of today is live for the moment.”         Benjamin P. Hardy         American columnist and author         In one of his posts on the TheLadders.com site (Jan. 22, 2019) *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     * Comments? Corrections? Questions? Email me or post them on my Famous Quotations Facebook page. Related reading, viewing and listening…

5 things – including “Income Inequality” – that are just another word for something else…

KRISTOFFERSON’S FAMOUS OBSERVATION: “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose, Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’, but it’s free.”        Kris Kristofferson        American songwriter, musician and actor         Lyrics from the chorus of his song “Me and Bobby McGee” (1969), made even more famous by Janis Joplin’s cover version on her posthumously-released album Pearl (1971)

THE AMAZING “INCOME INEQUALITY IS GOOD” PITCH: “The Democrats’ current campaign against income inequality is puzzling, if you think about it. Income inequality is a wonderful thing. In fact, a society without income inequality would scarcely be worth living in. No income inequality means no promotions; no advancement; no reward for training, education, hard work or experience; no benefit to being talented, creative or innovative...Income inequality is just another word for opportunity.”        John Hinderaker        American lawyer and conservative political writer        In his April 21, 2014 column on the Conservative PowerLine blog        (“Wealth Gap” by Walt Handelsman)

WISDOM FROM WALLY: “Freedom is just another word for people finding out you’re useless.”        Wally          The guru of work avoidance in Scott Adams’ Dilbert comic strip        Explaining one of his timeless insights to Asok, in the April 11, 2008 Dilbert comic strip        Also used by Scott Adams as the title of a book of Dilbert cartoons in 2009

PATTI’S PUNK ROCK VARIATION: “I wouldn’t go on Dick Clark because I’d be required to lip-synch. I showed armpit hair on the cover of my EASTER album, and it was so disturbing to people, which I still don’t understand, so they wouldn’t rack it in the South...To me, those people didn’t understand punk rock at all. Punk rock is just another word for freedom.”        Patti Smith        American musician and author        In an interview in the January 10, 2010 issue of New York magazine

A LIBERAL’S VIEW: “For the ascendant, post-9/11, populist right-wing, freedom is just another word for low taxes and an invasive, religiously correct authoritarianism.”        Wendy Kaminer        American lawyer, writer and free speech activist        In an opinion piece posted on the liberal blog Spiked (September 8, 2011)

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