That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special. He also may have used it in an interview or a letter, but the earliest citation establishing a connection that is currently known to QI is the one in the Yale Book of Quotations.Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.Ĭulture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful - and this is still in our DNA today. It is possible that Groucho or one of his writers heard the joke and then Groucho used it in a radio show, TV show, or other performance. “You’ve all heard,” he (Darcy McKeough) told the locked-up press, “of the politician who wound up his speech saying: ‘ladies and gentlemen, those are my principles, and if you don’t like them I have some others.’ If events I can’t foresee alter the basis of this budget and undermine its effectiveness, I’ll have no hesitation about coming back to it later in the fiscal year.” The wording used was similar to that in the version attributed to Groucho: 1975 April 14, The (Ottawa) Citizen, Temporary Budget by Harold Greer,, Ottawa, Canada. In 1975 a Canadian politician named Darcy McKeough was criticized for employing the joke as a humorous excuse for possible future changes in policy. These, gentlemen, are my principles, but if you do not like them I can change them. In 1899 the joke was told in Canada about a “great American stump orator”: 1899 February 17, Daily Mail And Empire, Great Meeting at Goderich,, Column 4, Toronto, Canada. The American candidate had a very good estimate of the best way to command popular support when, after having described such manufactured principles as he had got ready, said – “Them feller citizens are my principles, but if they don’t suit yer exactly, they ken be altered.” (Google News Archive, National Library of NZ, Papers Past) link The joke appeared again in New Zealand in 1878: 1878 August 18, The Grey River Argus, Published Daily,, Column 2, Volume 21, Issue 3123, New Zealand. It was something like the American legislator - “Them’s my principles but if you don’t like them - I kin change them!” ![]() He brought in the Provincial Loan Bill, declaring that, if the House did not accept it, he was prepared to adhere to his original proposal. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI: 1873 October 18, New Zealand Tablet, Weekly Epitome,, Column 2, Volume I, Issue 25, New Zealand. QI found the following version of the quip in a New Zealand newspaper in 1873. (Verified with hardcopy) This is a suspiciously late date since Groucho died in 1977. ![]() Shapiro, Section Julius Henry ‘Groucho’ Marx, Quote, Yale University Press, New Haven. ![]() 2006, The Yale Book of Quotations by Fred R. The marvelous compendium, the Yale Book of Quotations, has examined the quote and found an attribution to Groucho in 1983 in Legal Times. The connection with politicians goes back more then one hundred years. In fact, the joke has a long history, and a version was being told before Groucho was born. But your belief that it is associated with politicians does have strong evidentiary support. ![]() Quote Investigator: It is not clear whether Groucho did employ this joke. Was Groucho impersonating a politician when he said this? Groucho Marx? American Legislator? Anonymous?ĭear Quotation Investigator: My favorite quip attributed to Groucho Marx is perfect for describing some politicians:
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