Frank McKinley “Kin” Hubbard (1866-1930) wrote in the “Abe Martin” newspaper cartoon on November 6, 1913:
“There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man that kept still about it?”
The quotation has been much cited, but the second part is usually misquoted:
“There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?”
Wikipedia: Kin Hubbard
Frank McKinney Hubbard (born 1 September 1868 in Bellefontaine, Ohio - died: 26 December 1930 in Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American cartoonist, humorist, and journalist better known by his pen name “Kin” Hubbard.
He was creator of the cartoon “Abe Martin of Brown County” which ran in U.S. newspapers from 1904 until his death in 1930, and was the originator of many political quips that remain in use. North American humorist Will Rogers reportedly declared Hubbard to be “America’s greatest humorist.”
(...)
Quotes
. There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?
Chronicling America
6 November 1913, El Paso (TX) Herald, pg. 4, col. 3:
ABE MARTIN
There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man that kept still about it?
8 November 1913, Morning World-Herald (Omaha, NE), pg. 14, col. 4:
ABE MARTIN.
There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man that kept still about it?
Google Books
The Reader’s Digest
Volume 143, Issues 856-860
1993
Pg. 21:
There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it? -Kin Hubbard
Twitter
Daily Quote
@quote_every_day
“There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?” -Kin Hubbard #quote
12:02 PM - 7 Jul 2011
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.
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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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