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Who really said it

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games

Not Ernest Hemingway — actually Ken Purdy (and paraphrased) Ken Purdy Kenneth William Purdy · 1913–1972 · American automotive writer & editor
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

The line is not found anywhere in Hemingway. It began as fictional dialogue written by automotive journalist Ken Purdy in his short story “Blood Sport” (The Saturday Evening Post, 27 July 1957), spoken by a Hemingway-modelled character — and Purdy’s wording was “bullfighting, motor racing, mountain climbing… all the rest are recreations,” so the familiar “merely games” version paraphrases even the real source.

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

For presentations

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games” Misattributed to Ernest Hemingway. The line actually originates as fictional dialogue in Ken Purdy's short story "Blood Sport" (The Saturday Evening Post, 27 July 1957); Purdy's original said "recreations," not "merely games." Documented by Barry Popik.

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

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

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In context

Evoking the world of Ken Purdy — American automotive writer and editor. Theme: "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games". 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 "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games". 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

Popularly credited to
Ernest Hemingway (no supporting source)
Actually originates with
Ken Purdy, “Blood Sport”
First published
The Saturday Evening Post, 27 July 1957
Original wording
“…all the rest are recreations” (not “merely games”)

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. Attributed to Hemingway only from the late 1980s

This is the modern popular form. Ken Purdy’s original 1957 dialogue reads differently — his character names “bullfighting, motor racing, mountain climbing” and calls the rest “recreations,” per Barry Popik’s citation history.

Barry Popik: full citation history of the ‘three sports’ line

How researchers traced it

  • Etymologist Barry Popik traces the line to Ken Purdy’s story “Blood Sport,” where it is spoken by the character Helmut Ovden — a figure modelled on Hemingway, which likely seeded the misattribution.
  • Purdy later recounted floating the idea to racing driver Alfonso de Portago in his 1960 book The Wonderful World of the Automobile; by a 1976 book it was even called “the Marquis de Portago’s dictum,” per Popik.
  • Motorsport writer Elizabeth Blackstock reaches the same conclusion, noting the phrase “is not actually a Hemingway quote” but a Purdy invention, in her debunking of the quote.

The exact popular wording (“merely games”) is a later paraphrase found in no identifiable published work, so no clean rights status can be asserted. Its nearest documented source — Ken Purdy’s 1957 story “Blood Sport” — is itself firmly in copyright (first published 1957), so the line is certainly not public domain.

Fact-check

How Hemingway got the credit

The line is a magnet for famous names. It has been pinned on at least three men — and the one it fits worst, textually, is the one it’s now most often given to.

Ernest Hemingway No source

The line appears in none of Hemingway’s bullfighting works — not Death in the Afternoon (1932), his 1960 Life articles, nor The Dangerous Summer (1985). The likely seed: Purdy’s fictional speaker Helmut Ovden was modelled on Hemingway. The earliest documented Hemingway attribution is a 1988 newspaper column, decades after Purdy wrote it, per Barry Popik.

Alfonso de Portago ‘Portago’s dictum’

The Spanish racing aristocrat was credited with the line as the “Marquis de Portago’s dictum” — but Purdy’s own account has him proposing the idea to Portago, who merely agreed, per Popik.

Barnaby Conrad

The bullfighter-author of Matador (1952) is sometimes named, another famous bullfighting figure who fits the sentiment but did not originate the wording — and, as Barry Popik notes, there is no documentary evidence for the Conrad credit.

The real author is Ken Purdy, who put the thought in a fictional character’s mouth in 1957 — and even he said “recreations,” not “merely games,” per Barry Popik’s citation record.

Context

Why the mix-up sticks

The quote fuses three high-stakes pursuits Hemingway genuinely loved to write about — bullfighting above all — with a terse, declarative cadence that sounds like him. That resemblance is not a coincidence: Ken Purdy built his fictional speaker as a Hemingway type, so the line was Hemingway-flavoured from birth.

Strip away the famous name and it is a piece of romantic mid-century motorsport writing, produced at the height of a deadly era in Grand Prix racing — de Portago himself was killed at the 1957 Mille Miglia, weeks before “Blood Sport” ran.

A Hemingway-shaped character said it first — so the world gave it to Hemingway.

The wording drift

Purdy’s 1957 line: “bullfighting, motor racing, mountain climbing… all the rest are recreations.”

Popular modern form: “bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” The swap of “recreations” for “merely games” and “mountain climbing” for “mountaineering” are the tell-tale marks of a paraphrase that hardened over decades of repetition.

Explore

Filed under

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

Courage

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.

Barry Popik — ‘three sports’ quote historybarrypopik.com

Detailed citation trail: Purdy’s 1957 origin, the Portago and Barnaby Conrad claims, and the earliest Hemingway misattribution.
Debunking my least favorite motorsport quotedeadlypassionsterriblejoys.substack.com

Motorsport journalist Elizabeth Blackstock lays out why the line is Purdy’s fiction, not Hemingway.
Great Fake Quotations in Automotive Historymacsmotorcitygarage.com

Automotive-history site listing this among widely repeated fabricated car quotes.
Ken Purdyen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the automotive writer and editor who actually authored the line.
Hemingway quote page (Goodreads)goodreads.com

Example of the unsourced Hemingway attribution as it circulates online.

The real author

Who was Ken Purdy?

Ken Purdy

1913–1972 · American automotive writer and editor

Kenneth William Purdy (1913–1972) was one of the most admired American automotive journalists of the mid-20th century, an editor at magazines including Parade, True and Argosy and author of the landmark motoring book Kings of the Road. He also wrote fiction, and it was in his 1957 short story “Blood Sport” that a race-driver character — modelled on Hemingway — first delivered the ‘three sports’ line. The motorsport press’s Ken Purdy Award for excellence is named in his honour.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Ken Purdy, “Blood Sport,” The Saturday Evening Post, 27 July 1957 (line spoken by the character Helmut Ovden); citation history documented by Barry Popik, “Auto Racing, Bullfighting, and Mountain Climbing Are the Only Real Sports.”

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games’?” Last verified 14 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-are-only-three-sports-bullfighting-motor-racing-and

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