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Who really said it

All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry

Not verifiably Poe — a secondhand 1901 anecdote Edgar Allan Poe 1809–1849 · American writer, poet, editor & literary critic
Disputed Free to reuse

No Poe tale, poem, essay or letter is known to contain this line. It traces to Colonel John A. Joyce’s 1901 biography Edgar Allan Poe, where Joyce repeats what a “Mr. William Barton” told him Poe said over wine. Poe scholars regard that book as unreliable, and Joyce’s text reads “chicanery,” not “fraud.” Quote Investigator ↗ calls its authenticity doubtful.

Last verified 3 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed — copy with the correction

“All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry” is commonly credited to Edgar Allan Poe but is unverified. It traces to a secondhand anecdote in John A. Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe (1901), p. 108, which reads “chicanery,” not “fraud.” Source: quotle.info

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Provenance

Where the line actually comes from

Work
Edgar Allan Poe
Author
Colonel John A. Joyce (1842–1915), biographer, not Poe
Published
F. T. Neely Co., New York, 1901, p. 108
Reported by
“Mr. William Barton,” secondhand, per Joyce

“‘Mr. Poe, what do you think of the religions of the world?’
‘From the earliest dawn of creation man has worshipped something — sticks, stones, snakes, stars, suns, mountains, rivers, seas, myths, calves, popes and preachers. He is largely an ape and mimics anything with glitter, pomp and power. …
‘No man who ever lived knows any more about the hereafter, Barton, than you and I, and all religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of chicanery, fear, greed, imagination and poetry!’” Joyce, 1901, p. 108

Joyce sets this up as a conversation Barton reported to him: “Mr. Barton told me this.” Joyce printed “chicanery.” The popular “fraud” version is a later variant with no known source.

John A. Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe (1901), full scan at the Internet Archive

How the line traveled

  • 1901: Colonel John A. Joyce’s biography Edgar Allan Poe prints the remark as something William Barton, described as a typo and foreman at the Broadway Journal, told him Poe said. Scan at the Internet Archive ↗
  • 1906: Rufus K. Noyes reprints it in his quotation collection Views of Religion, misspelling the name as “Edgar Allen Poe.” Quote Investigator ↗
  • 1996: James A. Haught’s 2000 Years of Disbelief runs a shortened version with ellipses, credited “Poe (Noyes).” Quote Investigator ↗
  • 2012–2017: The World of Edgar Allan Poe blog calls the quote apocryphal (2012). Quote Investigator then concludes the evidence is secondhand and the biography is not credible (2017). World of Poe ↗
Public domain

The only documented text of the line is John A. Joyce’s biography Edgar Allan Poe, published in New York in 1901. Works first published before 1931 are in the U.S. public domain. The modern “fraud” variant is an anonymous one-word change to that text, with no known source of its own.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Why it gets pinned on Poe

The line has a real paper trail, but it starts with a secondhand anecdote in a much-criticized biography, not with Poe. Freethought anthologies then repeated it, and somewhere along the way “chicanery” became “fraud.”

Edgar Allan Poe Unverified

No Poe writing is known to contain the line. Joyce’s 1901 biography reports it secondhand, and Quote Investigator notes that Poe enthusiasts consider the book unreliable and doubt the quotation. Quote Investigator ↗

“William Barton” Unconfirmed

Joyce names Barton as his source. The World of Edgar Allan Poe blog says it found no other sign that Barton existed and calls the quote apocryphal. World of Poe, 2012 ↗

“fraud” variant Altered

Joyce’s text reads “chicanery, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.” Wikiquote lists the line under Disputed and notes that it is “sometimes quoted” with “fraud.” Wikiquote ↗

Rufus K. Noyes (1906) and James A. Haught (1996) Repeaters

Two freethought quotation collections reprinted the line under Poe’s name, which carried Joyce’s anecdote into later anthologies. Quote Investigator ↗

The line goes back to John A. Joyce’s 1901 biography Edgar Allan Poe (p. 108), which says “chicanery,” not “fraud,” and presents it as Barton’s recollection, not Poe’s writing. Quote Investigator calls its authenticity doubtful. Read the passage ↗

Context

Why the source matters

Joyce’s biography is the problem at the root of this quote. The World of Edgar Allan Poe blog calls it a “justifiably obscure 1901 biography” full of “outlandish and clearly fictional statements.” Its example is Joyce’s chapter claiming that “The Raven” was stolen from a poem called “The Parrot” that the blogger says never existed. World of Poe ↗

Even read at face value, Joyce’s passage is a memory twice removed. Barton tells Joyce what Poe said one night when both were “mellowed with the fumes of the wine cup.” Quote Investigator says plainly that it lacks the subject expertise to rule on the quote’s accuracy. What can be documented is the chain: Joyce in 1901, then quotation anthologies, then the internet’s “fraud” version.

A memory twice removed: Barton’s account, as told to Joyce.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Doubt Truth

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: “All Religion, My Friend, Is Simply Evolved Out of Chicanery…”quoteinvestigator.com

The 2017 investigation tracing the line to Joyce’s 1901 biography, with later reprints
Wikiquote: Edgar Allan Poe (Disputed)en.wikiquote.org

Lists the line as Disputed and notes the “fraud” variant
John A. Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe (1901)archive.org

Full scan of the biography; the Barton anecdote is on pp. 107–108
The World of Edgar Allan Poe: “Marginalia” (2012)worldofpoe.blogspot.com

A Poe blog arguing the quote is apocryphal and Joyce’s book unreliable
Edgar Allan Poe on Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Life dates and career, including his time at the Broadway Journal

The man it is pinned on

Who Poe actually was

Edgar Allan Poe

1809–1849 · American writer, poet, editor & literary critic

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was, in Wikipedia’s words, an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. He worked as an editor of the Broadway Journal and later owned it; the journal failed in 1846. Joyce’s anecdote is set in that job. The line is not known from any of Poe’s own writings, and every source Quote Investigator traces leads back to Joyce’s secondhand report.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Line as printed (with “chicanery”)

Joyce, John A. Edgar Allan Poe. New York: F. T. Neely, 1901, 108. Reported secondhand from William Barton; not found in Poe’s own writings.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/all-religion-my-friend-is-simply-evolved-out-of-fraud-fear/

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