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Who really said it

There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit

Not original to Reagan — an older anonymous saying he displayed Charles Edward Montague 1867–1928 · English journalist & essayist
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

Ronald Reagan kept this line on a plaque and quoted it in a 29 Feb 1988 speech — but he introduced it as “a little sign” on his desk, not his own words. Quote Investigator traces the idea to an 1863 diary record of the Jesuit Father Strickland, and the closest ancestor of this exact wording is Montague’s 1922 Disenchantment: “There is no limit to what a man can do so long as he does not care a straw who gets the credit for it.” The precise Reagan-era form has no identified author.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit” An anonymous saying displayed by Ronald Reagan; closest to C.E. Montague, Disenchantment (1922). Not originated by Reagan.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Ronald Reagan. 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.

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

In context

Evoking the world of Charles Edward Montague — English journalist & essayist · Manchester Guardian. Theme: "There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit". 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 is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit". 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

An anonymous saying, refined over 120 years

Popularly credited to
Ronald Reagan (displayed it; did not originate it)
Earliest documented root
Father Strickland, recorded in an 1863 diary (per Quote Investigator)
Closest wording
Disenchantment
Author of that wording
Charles Edward Montague, 1922

On my desk in the Oval Office, I have a little sign that says: There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.

Reagan’s own framing in his 29 Feb 1988 remarks — he attributes the words to the sign, not to himself.

Quote Investigator: A Man May Do an Immense Deal of Good, If He Does Not Care Who Gets the Credit

How we verified this

  • Quote Investigator traces this family of sayings to an 1863 diary entry recording the Jesuit Father Strickland, and finds the closest match to this wording in C.E. Montague’s 1922 Disenchantment: “There is no limit to what a man can do so long as he does not care a straw who gets the credit for it.”
  • In his 29 Feb 1988 remarks Reagan says: “On my desk in the Oval Office, I have a little sign that says…” — presenting the line as a saying, not his own coinage.
  • The Reagan Library confirms the plaque sat on his Oval Office desk but gives no author, and the Reagan Foundation files it under his quotes citing only that 1988 speech.

The idea is old and its early forms (Father Strickland, 1863; Montague’s 1922 Disenchantment) are public domain, but those use different wording. The exact Reagan-era phrasing — adding “or where he can go” — has no identified author or first-publication date, so no rights status can be responsibly asserted for this precise form.

Fact-check

How Reagan got the credit

The line is one of the internet’s most common Reagan attributions, but Reagan himself never claimed it — he read it off a sign.

Ronald Reagan Displayed, didn’t author

Reagan kept the line on an Oval Office plaque and quoted it in his 29 Feb 1988 remarks, but introduced it as “a little sign that says…” — presenting it as an existing saying, not his own.

Father Strickland / anonymous Earliest root

Quote Investigator gives primary credit for the family of sayings to the Jesuit Father Strickland, recorded in an 1863 diary: “A man may do an immense deal of good, if he does not care who gets the credit for it.”

Harry Truman & Benjamin Jowett Also mis-credited

The same thought is widely pinned to Truman (“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit”) and to Benjamin Jowett; QI shows these are later branches of the older saying.

The words are an evolved anonymous aphorism — closest to Montague’s 1922 Disenchantment and rooted in an 1863 diary — that Reagan popularized by keeping it on his desk.

Context

Why the saying stuck to Reagan

Reagan gave the line its modern fame not by writing it but by living with it: a small plaque on his Oval Office desk that he pointed to when praising people who worked without seeking recognition. When a president quotes a sign every so often, the sign’s words become his in the public memory.

The sentiment had already travelled for a century under many names before it reached that desk — which is exactly why the exact wording resists a single author.

Reagan didn’t coin it. He read it off a sign — and the sign became the quote.

Explore

Filed under

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

Leadership Humility Success

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 — full origin analysisquoteinvestigator.com

Traces the saying from Father Strickland (1863) through Montague (1922) to the Reagan plaque.
Reagan, Drug Free America remarks (29 Feb 1988)reaganlibrary.gov

Primary source in which Reagan calls it “a little sign” on his desk.
Reagan Foundation quote pagereaganfoundation.org

Files the line under Reagan quotes, citing the 1988 speech.
President Reagan and the Oval Officereagan.blogs.archives.gov

Confirms the plaque sat on his desk; gives no author.
Charles Edward Montagueen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the Manchester Guardian writer whose 1922 Disenchantment carries the closest wording.

Closest documented source

Charles Edward Montague

Charles Edward Montague

1867–1928 · English journalist & essayist · Manchester Guardian

Charles Edward Montague (1867–1928) was an English journalist, novelist and essayist who spent most of his career at the Manchester Guardian. His 1922 essay collection Disenchantment contains the closest documented ancestor of this line — though even Montague did not claim to have coined it, and Quote Investigator finds the underlying thought recorded decades earlier.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Documented in

Charles Edward Montague, Disenchantment (London: Chatto & Windus, 1922). Origin analysis: Garson O’Toole, “A Man May Do an Immense Deal of Good, If He Does Not Care Who Gets the Credit,” Quote Investigator, 21 Dec 2010.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-is-no-limit-to-what-a-man-can-do-or-where-he-can-go

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