“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t” is a wok saying that has been printed on many images. The saying is usually credited to American statesman Martin Van Buren (1792-1862), but he never said it.
“It’s easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.—Martin Vanbee” was cited in The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT) on October 21, 1940. “Martin Vanbee” was the pen name for Van Buren Hooper, Sr., the founder of Ideal Magazine, who died in 1963.
21 October 1940, The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), “Senator From Sandpit” by Ham Park, pg. 4, col. 4:
It’s easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.—Martin Vanbee.
24 June 1946, The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet (Van Nuys, CA), “News-Graphs” by Walter Mendenhall, pg. 1, col. 1:
NO ALIBIS
“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.”
—MARTIN VAN BUREN
22 November 1948, Trenton (NJ) Evening Times, “Quotable Quotes,” pg. 14, col. 3:
“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.”—Martin Van Buren.
Google Books
Successful Delegation:
How to Grow Your People, Build Your Team, Free Up Your Time, and Increase Profits and Productivity
By Frank F. Huppe
Hawthorne, NJ: Career Press
1994
Pg. 71:
“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.” — Martin Van Buren
Google Books
What Not to Do at Work!
By Linda J. Beam
Birmingham, AL: Sweetwater Press
2005
Pg. 94:
“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.” Martin Van Buren
Google Books
Forbes Book of Quotations:
10,000 Thoughts on the Business of Life
Edited by Ted Goodman
New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
2016
Pg. ?:
It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.
Martin Van Buren
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It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t. - Martin Van Buren
12:19 AM - 1 Jun 2018
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@DigitalSports
It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t. - Martina Navratilova #tennis #FridayFact #FridayFunday #FF #FridayReads #FitnessFriday #FADBAD #SportsQuotes
9:00 PM - 1 Jun 2018
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“I read old books because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“I study old buildings because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“Due to personal reasons, I’m still going to be fluffy this summer” (4/18)
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More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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