Kurt Vonnegut did print a version — “‘To be is to do’—Socrates. ‘To do is to be’—Jean-Paul Sartre. ‘Do be do be do’—Frank Sinatra” — in his 1982 novel Deadeye Dick, but as graffiti scrawled on a wall, crediting each line to others. He did not originate it: Quote Investigator traces the joke to an anonymous, incrementally-built graffito reported in the Dallas Morning News in January 1968, years before the book. Crediting the wisdom to Vonnegut himself is a misattribution.
“To be is to do. To do is to be. Do be do be do” Anonymous graffito (documented 1968); a version printed by Kurt Vonnegut in "Deadeye Dick," 1982 — not original to him
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Kurt Vonnegut. 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 Kurt Vonnegut — American novelist & satirist. Theme: "To be is to do. To do is to be. Do be do be do". 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 "To be is to do. To do is to be. Do be do be do". 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 it actually comes from
Nature
Anonymous graffito / folk joke
Earliest record
“Dallas Morning News” column by Paul Crume, January 1968
Vonnegut’s use
Deadeye Dick (1982) — quoted as wall graffiti
‘Sinatra’ line
Nonsense syllables from “Strangers in the Night” (1966)
“To be is to do”—Socrates. “To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre. “Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.
The form Vonnegut printed in Deadeye Dick (1982) — note he attributes each line to someone else, not himself. The 1968 original ran differently: “The way to do is to be”—Lao-tzu; “The way to be is to do”—Dale Carnegie; “Do be, do be, do”—Frank Sinatra.
The anchor investigation: Quote Investigator traces the joke to an anonymous graffito reported by columnist Paul Crume in the Dallas Morning News in January 1968, built up incrementally by three different people on a warehouse wall in Richardson, Texas.
The names are interchangeable filler: over the decades the template swapped in Lao-tzu, Dale Carnegie, Kant, Hegel, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Sartre and Camus — the “Sinatra” punchline (from his 1966 “Strangers in the Night”) usually survives, per Quote Investigator.
Vonnegut’s connection is real but secondary: he reprinted the joke as wall graffiti in Deadeye Dick (1982), which is why it is now widely credited to him, as seen on Goodreads.
The wording is anonymous folk humor with no identifiable author: an incrementally-built graffito documented from January 1968. Vonnegut printed one version in Deadeye Dick (1982, in copyright, Delacorte Press / the Vonnegut estate), but as found graffiti he attributed to others — so no single copyrightable authorship attaches to the bare line, and we assert no public-domain status.
Fact-check
How Vonnegut got the credit
This is a classic magnet-name capture: a piece of anonymous folk humor drifts onto a famous author because he once wrote it down.
✕
The whole three-part jokeKurt Vonnegut Popularizer, not author
Vonnegut printed “‘To be is to do’—Socrates… ‘Do be do be do’—Frank Sinatra” in Deadeye Dick (1982) — but as graffiti, crediting others. Quote Investigator shows the joke predates the book by at least 14 years.
The philosopher names were never real quotations; they rotate freely across versions of the graffito, per Quote Investigator. Only the Sinatra scat has a genuine source — his 1966 recording of “Strangers in the Night.”
✓The earliest documented version is an anonymous, incrementally-authored graffito in the Dallas Morning News, January 1968 — nobody, Vonnegut included, coined it as wisdom, per Quote Investigator.
Context
Why it sticks
The joke works because it collapses centuries of philosophy about essence versus action into a punchline — and then deflates the whole thing with Sinatra’s nonsense scat. It reads like something a witty novelist would write, which is exactly why it keeps getting reassigned to one.
Vonnegut copied the joke down. The internet promoted him to its author.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922–2007) was an American writer famed for darkly comic, humane novels including Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle. In his 1982 novel Deadeye Dick he quoted the “to be is to do” joke as graffiti scrawled on a wall, crediting Socrates, Sartre and Sinatra — not himself. Because his name is a magnet for clever, quotable lines, the internet has since promoted him from the person who copied down the joke to the person who supposedly coined it.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Quote Investigator
Garson O’Toole (Quote Investigator), “Quote Origin: ‘To Be Is To Do’ ‘To Do Is To Be’ ‘Do Be Do Be Do’,” Sept. 16, 2013, citing Paul Crume, Dallas Morning News, Jan. 1968; wording as printed in Kurt Vonnegut, Deadeye Dick (New York: Delacorte Press, 1982).
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘To be is to do. To do is to be. Do be do be do’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/to-be-is-to-do-to-do-is-to-be-do-be-do-be-do