Safire ends his discussion of dubious quotations by playfully invoking Diogenes and then exaggerating the number again. This verifies a modern use; it does not establish an ancient source or prove Safire was the first person to write it.
“One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings” — Documented in William Safire’s 1996 column; the ancient Diogenes attribution and original authorship remain unconfirmed. Via Quotle.info
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Provenance
What the source establishes
Documented trail
William Safire, “On Language; Worth a Thousand Words,” New York Times Magazine, 7 April 1996, archived copy.
Evidence
Attribution and wording limits stated below
one original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings
A short excerpt from the cited source; it may differ from the popular wording above.
Read the source ↗ — Safire ends his discussion of dubious quotations by playfully invoking Diogenes and then exaggerating the number again. This verifies a modern use; it does not establish an ancient source or prove Safire was the first person to write it.
The documented column appeared in 1996. An ancient name inside the joke does not make that modern wording public domain.
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Attribution limits
The evidence below limits the attribution; it does not establish a proved alternative origin.
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Popular creditDiogenes Context
Safire ends his discussion of dubious quotations by playfully invoking Diogenes and then exaggerating the number again. This verifies a modern use; it does not establish an ancient source or prove Safire was the first person to write it. Source ↗
✓Safire ends his discussion of dubious quotations by playfully invoking Diogenes and then exaggerating the number again. This verifies a modern use; it does not establish an ancient source or prove Safire was the first person to write it. Evidence ↗
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William Safire is identified in the cited material as the columnist. This page distinguishes the documented source trail from a claim of verbatim personal testimony.
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Cite this
The primary source (Chicago)
William Safire, “On Language; Worth a Thousand Words,” New York Times Magazine, 7 April 1996, archived copy.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/one-original-thought-is-worth-a-thousand-mindless-quotings/