Clare Boothe Luce

1903–1987 · American playwright, journalist & U.S. ambassador

Clare Boothe Luce was born on 10 March 1903 and died on 9 October 1987. She edited Vanity Fair, wrote the all-female Broadway hit The Women (1936), worked as a war correspondent, served as a U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s 4th district from 1943 to 1947, and was U.S. Ambassador to Italy from 1953 to 1956. Stuffed Shirts, published in 1931, was her first book of fiction — a set of satirical sketches of New York society, and the place where the earliest documented version of this saying appears.

Traced to source

1 quote we’ve traced

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”

Disputed

Did they really say it?

Thought Clare Boothe Luce said something else?

Type a quote you think Clare Boothe Luce said — we’ll tell you what we know, or point you to the best sources.