What in the world? We just found out about Sorry Day and yeah, that’s a thing in Australia. Guess what? Australia is very sorry. Why? Let’s find out! Here’s writer, comedian and part time guitarist Michael Loftus talking about the do’s and don’ts of apologies. There’s a lot to go over here and lot to be said for the good people of Australia. Let’s dig in. It’s sorry season! We’re just going to need some more clarity over here.
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Michael, what a great topic! I’m sure many people know that quote and hold it close. We’ll have none of this apology stuff!
This lands close to home here, as my great grandfather used to say things like “Never start a fight and never apologize when you have to end one”.
TL;DR:
Variously phrased advice goes back almost 200 years to the hoary and hallowed quote you have given. I am not going to dig through a bunch of thick and musty books on archive.org to give provenance for the originator of this fine sentiment, but rather I’ll cheat like Theodore Cleaver with an overdue book report, and rely upon AI Slop and its uncle, Wikipedia:
The phrase which began all of this happiness is believed by most to have originated with the views of The writer Walter Bagehot who, in his 1867 work, “The English Constitution”, wrote highly of the English government structure, favorably comparing it to other governments. Bagehot’s views have been seen as a precursor of “Never complain, never explain”, and Queen Victoria and her descendants have followed his advice until King Charles III abandoned it.
The proliferation of the general maxim was attributed to Benjamin Disraeli by John Morley in 1903, as quoted in Morley’s “Life of William Ewart Gladstone” with the saying first originating in print from “Maxims for a Statesman” by Benjamin Jowett, the Master of Balliol College, Oxford, written between 1873 and 1876. One of Jowett’s eleven maxims was “never quarrel, never explain, never hate, never fret, never fail”. (Another juicy one along similar lines is “Get it over with and let them howl”).
The surgeon and writer Robert Tuttle Morris wrote in his 1915 book Doctors vs. Folks that “It is well to follow the rule to “Never complain, never explain”. A man is judged by his character as a whole – not by individual acts.”
Winston Churchill is often improperly credited with the saying, but if he said it, he probably read it in the literature.
John Wayne: In the 1949 film, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, John Wayne’s character famously states: “Never apologize and never explain—it’s a sign of weakness”.
“Never Apologize Never Explain” also appeared in 2004 as the name of the eighth full-length album by the UK rock band, “Therapy”.
It remains only for a certain public figure to say it.
Wow! That’s awesome! Thanks man!