Who Said Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results
Albert Einstein? Al-Anon? Narcotics Anonymous? Max Nordau? George Bernard Shaw? Samuel Beckett? George A. Kelly? Rita Mae Brown? John Larroquette? Jessie Potter? Werner Erhard?
Dear Quote Investigator: It'south foolish to repeat ineffective actions. One popular formulation presents this point harshly:
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and again and expecting a unlike result.
These words are normally credited to the acclaimed genius Albert Einstein. What do y'all think?
Quote Investigator: There is no substantive testify that Einstein wrote or spoke the argument above. It is listed within a department called "Misattributed to Einstein" in the comprehensive reference "The Ultimate Quotable Einstein" from Princeton University Press. [1] 2010, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, Edited by Alice Calaprice, Section: Misattributed to Einstein, Quote Page 474, Princeton Academy Press, Princeton, New Jersey. (Verified on paper)
The earliest strong match known to QI appeared in Oct 1981 within a Knoxville, Tennessee newspaper commodity describing a meeting of Al-Anon, an organisation designed to aid the families of alcoholics. The journalist described the "Twelve Steps" of Al-Betimes which are based on similar steps employed in Alcoholics Anonymous. The paper began with these two steps: [2] 1981 Oct eleven, The Knoxville News-Watch Al-Anon Helps Family, Friends to Orderly Lives by Betsy Pickle (Living Today Staff Author), Quote Page F17, Column 2, Knoxville, Tennessee. (GenealogyBank)
Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore usa to sanity
Ane of the attendees at the coming together hesitated to accept the accuracy of second footstep. Accent added to excerpts by QI:
Non all the women are willing to admit they needed to exist "restored to sanity." In fact, ane of them doggedly maintains that she had never reached a point of insanity. But another remarks, "Insanity is doing the same matter over and over again and expecting different results."
The second earliest strong lucifer known to QI appeared in a pamphlet printed past the Narcotics Anonymous arrangement in Nov 1981: [3] 1981, Narcotics Anonymous Pamphlet, (Basic Text Blessing Form, Unpublished Literary Work), Chapter Iv: How Information technology Works, Step 2, Page xi, Printed November 1981, Copyright 1981, Due west.South.C.-Literature … Continue reading
The price may seem higher for the addict who prostitutes for a ready than it is for the addict who merely lies to a doctor, but ultimately both pay with their lives. Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.
QI acquired a PDF of the document with the quotation higher up on the website amonymifoundation.org back in February 2011. The document stated that is was printed in November 1981, and it had a 1981 copyright notice. The website was afterwards reorganized, but the certificate remains bachelor via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine database.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
The linkage betwixt insanity and repetition has a long history. The controversial book "Degeneration" by Max Nordau was published in German language in 1892 and translated into English by 1895. Nordau examined the works of a variety of artists and savagely attacked those that independent repetition which he believed evinced a mental defect in the creator. For instance, he criticized Maurice Maeterlinck's "La Princesse Maleine": [4] 1895 Copyright, Degeneration past Max Nordau (Max Simon Nordau) (Translated from the Second Edition of the German Work), Quote Page 238, D. Appleton and Company. (Google Books Full View) link
Has anyone anywhere in the poetry of the ii worlds ever seen such complete idiocy? These 'Ahs' and 'Ohs,' this want of comprehension of the simplest remarks, this repetition iv or v times of the same imbecile expressions, gives the truest conceivable clinical motion-picture show of incurable cretinism. These parts are precisely those most extolled past Maeterlinck's admirers.
When George Bernard Shaw reviewed Nordau's opus he turned the criticism of repetition back upon the author and suggested that Nordau might diagnose himself every bit mentally unsound: [5] 1895 July 27, Liberty, Volume eleven, Number 6, A Degenerate's View of Nordau past Bernard Shaw, Quote Page 2, Column 1, Published past Benj. R Tucker, New York. (Reprint in 1970 by Greenwood Reprint … Continue reading
I have read Max Nordau's "Degeneration" at your request,—ii hundred and sixty chiliad mortal words, maxim the same matter over and over again. That, equally you know, is the way to drive a thing into the mind of the world, though Nordau considers it a symptom of insane "obsession" on the part of writers who practice non share his own opinions. His message to the world is that all our characteristically modern works of art are symptoms of disease in the artists, and that these diseased artists are themselves symptoms of the nervous burnout of the race past overwork.
The 1955 book "The Psychology of Personal Constructs" past George A. Kelly included a definition that corresponded to the saying under investigation although it employed a unlike vocabulary: [6] 1955, The Psychology of Personal Constructs by George A. Kelly, Volume 2: Clinical Diagnosis and Psychotherapy, Quote Folio 831, Published by Westward. West. Norton & Visitor, New York. (Verified on paper)
From the standpoint of the psychology of personal constructs we may ascertain a disorder as any personal construction which is used repeatedly in spite of consequent invalidation. This is an unusual definition, equally psychological thinking ordinarily goes.
In October 1981 an educator and counselor on family relationships delivered a spoken communication containing a thematically related adage: [7] 1981 October 24, The Milwaukee Lookout, Search For Quality Chosen Key To Life past Tom Ahern, Quote Page 5, Column 5, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Google News Archive)
"If you always do what you've always washed, you e'er get what you've always gotten." That was the advice of Jessie Potter, the featured speaker at Friday'southward opening of the seventh annual Woman to Woman briefing.
More information about the quotation above is bachelor here.
In October 1981 the saying was spoken by an attendee of an Al-Anon meeting as noted previously:
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over once again and expecting different results.
In November 1981 a pamphlet from Narcotics Anonymous contained a close match as noted previously:
Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.
The 1983 novel "Sudden Death" past Rita Mae Brown included an instance credited to Jane Fulton who was a character inside the volume: [eight] 1983, Sudden Death past Rita Mae Brown, Chapter 4, Quote Page 68, Published by Runted Books, New York. (Verified with scans)
The trouble with Susan was that she made the same mistakes repeatedly. She'd fall in love with a woman and consume her. Susan thought that her mere presence was enough. What more was there to give? When she tired, usually after a year or so, she'd find another adult female.
Unfortunately, Susan didn't remember what Jane Fulton one time said. "Insanity is doing the same affair over and over again, simply expecting different results."
A June 1983 volume review of "Sudden Decease" in "The Clarion-Ledger" of Jackson, Mississippi reprinted the maxim: [9] 1983 June 19, The Clarion-Ledger, "Sudden Expiry" a complex metaphor by Stephen Fifty. Silberman, (Book review of "Sudden Death" by Rita Mae Brownish), Quote Page 7H, Column two, … Go along reading
Women'south tennis gets a thorough dissecting in this story. Jane Fulton is the critical sports author who contends "Mod professional sports rewards players for function instead of character. Responsibleness is normally defined equally doing a chore better than anyone else." She looks askance at professional tennis and says "Win and become a god. Lose and be forgotten." Finally after post-obit the lives and careers of the players, and the game itself, she concludes, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again, only expecting dissimilar results."
As well in 1983 Samuel Beckett, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, offered a counterpoint perspective in his work "Worstward Ho": [10] 1983, Worstward Ho by Samuel Beckett, Quote Page 7, Grove Press Inc., New York. (Verified with scans)
All of old. Nil else ever. Ever tried. E'er failed. No thing. Try again. Fail again. Fail improve.
In Jan 1986 the Emmy-winning role player John Larroquette who was a star in the boob tube comedy series "Nighttime Court" shared the definition during a newspaper interview: [eleven] 1986 January 5, The Sydney Morning Herald, Television with Jacqueline Lee Lewes: From drugs, drink to… Night Courtroom: 'Confessions of an Emmy Star, Quote Folio 31, Cavalcade 3, Sydney, New … Go along reading
He pops in a definition of insanity – "Information technology's the repetition of the same action expecting different results. Like jumping out of a 40-storey building, breaking every bone, spending half dozen months in infirmary, going back to the same building, upward to the 39th floor, jumping and expecting it to be different. It is NEVER different."
In Apr 1986 an stance piece by Baltazar A. Acevedo Jr in "The Dallas Morning News" of Texas included the saying: [12] 1986 April 25, The Dallas Forenoon News, Leadership Beyond Ethnicity Should Be Goal of Dallasites by Baltazar A. Acevedo Jr., Dallas, Texas. (NewsBank Admission Earth News)
I in one case heard insanity defined as a process by which an individual or a system does something over and once again in the same style while yet expecting unlike results. To continue to evaluate and address issues in our community strictly along indigenous, instead of human, considerations is insane if simply for ane reason: It will lead to the polarization that is the standard of paranoid societies.
The 1988 book "Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent Globe" included an case: [13] 1988 Copyright, Raising Cocky-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent Globe: Seven Building Blocks for Developing Capable Immature People by H. Stephen Glenn and Jane Nelsen, Quote Page 174, Published by … Go on reading
Flexibility is the power to bend when we find ourselves in unworkable positions. A universal characteristic of insanity is inflexibly doing the same affair over and over while hoping for dissimilar results. Flexibility in the face up of changing circumstances, past contrast, is a hallmark of mental health.
By 1990 the saying was being attributed to Einstein. For example, the "Austin American-Statesman" of Austin, Texas published the post-obit remark made by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle: [xiv] 1990 November xix, Austin American-Statesman, Department: News, Prison Puzzle – Threat of cost explosion poses difficult choices by Mike Ward, Quote Page A1, Austin, Texas. (NewsBank Access World … Proceed reading
Einstein in one case said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a unlike event.
In 1991 "The Seattle Times" printed the thoughts of an Indiana judge who ascribed another version of the saying to Einstein: [15] 1991 July four, The Seattle Times, Section: Editorial, Getting Out of the Freedom Business organization by Don Williamson, Quote Page A8, Seattle, Washington. (NewsBank Admission World News)
The jurist from the Hoosier State subscribes to Albert Einstein'due south definition of insanity: "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a dissimilar outcome."
In 2000 a columnist working for the Knight Ridder News Service ascribed a version of the saying to the influential lecturer and trainer Werner Erhard although the name was misspelled as "Erhart": [sixteen] 2000 July 30, The Indianapolis Star, Go a plan to overcome problem spots by Tim O'Brien (Knight Ridder News Service), Quote Folio J3, Cavalcade i, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Newspapers_com)
Werner Erhart described insanity every bit 'repeating identical beliefs and expecting a different issue.' If we repeatedly have difficulties in an surface area of life, doesn't it make sense that our behaviors crusade the problems?
In 2016 the webcomic "xkcd" depicted two characters conversing; the first mentioned the now well-known definition of insanity, and the second replied with a remark that implicitly and cleverly applied the logic of the definition to his companion: [17] Website: xkcd Comic, Comic title: Insanity, Comic author: Randall Munroe, Engagement on website: March 18, 2016, Website description: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and linguistic communication. (Accessed xkcd.com … Continue reading
You've been quoting that cliche for years. Has it convinced anyone to change their mind yet?
In conclusion, based on current evidence the saying originated in one of the twelve-step communities. Anonymity is profoundly valued in these communities, and no specific author has been identified past the many researchers who have explored the provenance of this adage. The linkage to Albert Einstein occurred many years after his death and is unsupported.
Epitome Notes: Two arrows pointing at one some other from OpenClipart-Vectors at Pixabay. Portrait of Albert Einstein circa 1921 by Ferdinand Schmutzer accessed via Wikimedia Commons. Images have been retouched, cropped and resized.
(Slap-up thanks to MJ Redman, Kevin Ashton, Melinda Denson, Linda Sternhill Davis, The Muser, Mededitor, Santanu Vasant, Simon Lancaster, Michael Cochran, David Meadows, J Carson, Guilherme Simões, Ed Darrell, Lee Winkelman, and Fabius Maximus (Ed.) whose inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Special thanks to the volunteer researchers Quora and Wikiquote who mentioned the Narcotics Anonymous citation. Also, thanks to the valuable research conducted by Barry Popik, Ben Zimmer, and Daniel Gackle. Many thanks to Bill Mullins who located the important October xi, 1981 citation.)
Update History: On July 31, 2019 the October 11, 1981 citation was added to the article.
Source: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/23/same/
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