"An opportunity always looks bigger going than coming” was cited in print in May 1922 in the syndicated newspaper column “Smile a While” with Tom Sims. It’s hard to see opportunities as they come, but it’s easy to see them as they go, in hindsight.
“Opportunities always look bigger going than coming” (the plural form) was cited in print in May 1923.
26 May 1922, Elkhart (IN) Truth, “Pepographs,” pg. 4, col. 4:
An opportunity always looks bigger going than coming.
27 May 1922, Winston-Salem (NC) Journal, “Smile a While” with Tom Sims, pg. 4, col. 7:
An opportunity always looks bigger going than coming.
Chronicling America
8 June 1922, Seattle (WA) Star, pg. 6, col. 2:
An opportunity always looks bigger going than coming.
Google News Archive
18 May 1923, Pittsburgh (PA) Press, “Twilight Thinks,” pg. 14, col. 6:
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
Google News Archive
12 November 1942, DeWitt (AR) Era-Enterprise, “About Town,” pg. 2, col. 3:
OPPORTUNITIES ALWAYS LOOK BIGGER GOING THAN COMING.
Google Books
New Treasury of Stories for Every Speaking and Writing Occasion
By Jacob Morton Braude
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
1959
Pg. 255:
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
Google Books
Multinational Finance:
Evaluating Opportunities, Costs, and Risks of Operations
By Kirt C. Butler
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2012
Pg. 313:
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming. —Anonymous
Twitter
Jenny Morris®
@JennyMorrisChef
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming. - unknown
1:34 AM - 1 Nov 2014
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:
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“People think I go out of my way to piss them off. Trust me, it’s not out of my way at all” (6/8)
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Entry in progress—BP (6/8)
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“Everyone says they’re a patriot until it’s time to do patriot shit” (6/8)
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More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
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.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.