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Who really said it

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?

Not Wayne Dyer — an older saying he reprinted without credit Rev. Clarence H. Wilson Earliest documented user, 1927 · Flatbush Congregational Church, Brooklyn
Disputed Free to reuse

Wayne Dyer did print this line — but in his 1980 book ‘The Sky’s the Limit,’ he offered it “without attribution,” as an already-circulating saying he never claimed to coin. Quote Investigator traces the earliest known instance to a 1927 sermon by the Reverend Clarence H. Wilson, reported in the ‘Brooklyn Daily Eagle’ — and even that origin is held tentatively.

Last verified 14 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?” Not Wayne Dyer — an old folk saying documented in a 1927 sermon (Rev. Clarence H. Wilson); Dyer merely reprinted it without credit in 1980. Best known via Satchel Paige. Source: Quote Investigator.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Wayne Dyer. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Free to use, including in commercial and paid presentations — no permission or licence needed.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Rev. Clarence H. Wilson — Pastor, Flatbush Congregational Church, Brooklyn. Theme: "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the line actually comes from

Earliest known source
Sermon by Rev. Clarence H. Wilson, reported in the ‘Brooklyn Daily Eagle’
Date
1927
Dyer’s use
‘The Sky’s the Limit’ (1980) — printed “without attribution”
Most famous host
Satchel Paige (via Ruth Gordon’s 1977 testimony)

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

The 1927 wording asked “how old you are”; the now-standard “how old you were” variant appears in Ruth Gordon’s 1977 congressional testimony crediting Satchel Paige.

Quote Investigator: How Old Would You Be If You Didn’t Know How Old You Are?

The paper trail

  • The earliest known instance is a 1927 sermon by Reverend Clarence H. Wilson, reported in the ‘Brooklyn Daily Eagle,’ per Quote Investigator, which “tentatively considers Wilson to be the originator.”
  • Actress Ruth Gordon credited the line to baseball legend Satchel Paige in 1977 testimony before the U.S. House Select Committee on Aging, and her husband, director Garson Kanin, repeated the Paige attribution in his 1978 book ‘It Takes a Long Time To Become Young.’
  • Wayne Dyer reprinted the saying in his 1980 book ‘The Sky’s the Limit’ but did so “without attribution,” presenting it as received wisdom rather than his own coinage.
Public domain

The saying is documented in a 1927 ‘Brooklyn Daily Eagle’ report of a sermon — a pre-1931 U.S. publication, and therefore public domain — and the now-standard “how old you were” variant appears in Ruth Gordon’s 1977 testimony in the public U.S. congressional record. It is an old folk expression owned by no one, not original to Wayne Dyer.

Fact-check

How Wayne Dyer — and Satchel Paige — got the credit

This is a genuine old saying that has been pinned on several famous names. Wayne Dyer is one of the more recent hosts, but the record shows he passed the line along rather than originated it.

Wayne W. Dyer reprinted without credit

Dyer printed the expression in his 1980 book ‘The Sky’s the Limit,’ but did so “without attribution,” treating it as established wisdom. That later got flattened into “Wayne Dyer said it.”

Satchel Paige most famous host

Actress Ruth Gordon attributed the line to Paige in 1977 congressional testimony, and her husband Garson Kanin repeated it in a 1978 book — roughly half a century after the earliest known use. No contemporaneous source shows Paige coining it.

The earliest documented instance is a 1927 sermon by Rev. Clarence H. Wilson, per Quote Investigator — and that attribution is itself held tentatively. It is an old folk saying, not a Wayne Dyer original.

Context

Why the mix-up sticks

The line is a compact bit of aphorism — the kind of “age is a mindset” wisdom that attaches easily to whichever inspirational name a reader already trusts. Satchel Paige, who pitched in the majors into his forties, made an irresistible host; Wayne Dyer, a best-selling self-help author, made another.

Because the saying circulated anonymously for decades before either man used it, no single “correct” author exists to displace the myth — which is exactly why it keeps drifting from name to name.

An old folk saying that keeps changing owners — are/were, Wilson/Paige/Dyer.

Explore

Filed under

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

Time Wisdom

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.

How Old Would You Be If You Didn’t Know How Old You Are?quoteinvestigator.com

The definitive investigation: earliest 1927 sermon, the Satchel Paige and Wayne Dyer attributions, and the variant wordings.
Wayne W. Dyer quote research indexquoteinvestigator.com

Quote Investigator’s collection of sayings commonly misattributed to Wayne Dyer.
Satchel Paige quotationsbaseball-almanac.com

Baseball Almanac’s list of sayings popularly credited to Satchel Paige, including this one.
Satchel Paige — BrainyQuotebrainyquote.com

Example of the widespread modern attribution of the line to Satchel Paige.

Earliest documented source

The 1927 preacher, not the 1980 self-help author

Rev. Clarence H. Wilson

fl. 1927 · Pastor, Flatbush Congregational Church, Brooklyn

The Reverend Clarence H. Wilson is the earliest person documented asking “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” — in a 1927 sermon reported by the ‘Brooklyn Daily Eagle.’ Quote Investigator credits him only tentatively, noting a better citation could push the origin earlier. Either way, the line is a folk saying that circulated for decades before Wayne Dyer reprinted it.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Quote Investigator

“How Old Would You Be If You Didn’t Know How Old You Are?” Quote Investigator, 24 August 2021. Earliest documented instance: a 1927 sermon by Rev. Clarence H. Wilson, reported in the ‘Brooklyn Daily Eagle.’

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?’?” Last verified 14 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/how-old-would-you-be-if-you-didnt-know-how-old-you-were

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