Benjamin Franklin? John Ruskin? Thomas B. Lehon? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: A family of sayings warns about the dangers of selecting products based on price alone. Here are three instances:
(1) The sweetness of low price never equals the bitterness of poor quality
(2) The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten
(3) The bitter taste of poor service remains long after the sweet taste of low price is forgotten.
This saying has been attributed to U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin and English art critic John Ruskin. However, I have never seen a solid citation, and I have become skeptical. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Benjamin Franklin died in 1790. John Ruskin died in 1900. QI has found no substantive evidence that Franklin or Ruskin employed this saying.
The earliest match found by QI appeared in a “Catalogue of Copyright Entries” for the United States which contained the following entry from Thomas B. Lehon dated September 4, 1906. Boldface added to excepts by QI:1
The sweetness of low price never equals the bitterness of poor quality.
card, 3 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches.
T. B. Lehon, Chicago, Ill. A 154632,
Sept. 4, 1906; 2 c, Oct. in 1906.
Thomas B. Lehon is the leading candidate for creator of this saying. Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1908 the saying appeared in a Little Rock, Arkansas newspaper within an advertisement for a printing company, No attribution was specified:2
“The sweetness of low prices never equals the bitterness of poor quality.”
In 1911 the saying appeared within an article published in “Trade: An Independent Weekly Journal for Merchants” of Detroit, Michigan:3
They’re disappointed because they didn’t get the bargain they thought they did. Take it from me-“The sweetness of low prices never equals the bitterness of poor quality.”
In 1932 a newspaper in Butte, Montana printed an advertisement for a furniture company which contained a different phrasing of the saying:4
“AIN’T IT THE TRUTH”
THE SWEETNESS of low price is quickly forgotten
BUT THE BITTERNESS of poor quality lingers indefinitely.
In 1937 a newspaper in Checotah, Oklahoma printed an advertisement for a lumber company that included two quotations. The first quotation was attributed to John Ruskin, and the second was credited to Tom Lehon. Adjacent quotations sometimes cause confusion in the minds of inattentive readers. The name John Ruskin was near the second quotation; hence, some readers may have assumed Ruskin was the author of the second quotation:5
“If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
John Ruskin“The sweetness of low price never equals the bitterness of poor quality”.
Tom Lehon
In 1958 a piece in “The Miami Herald” of Florida negatively discussed discount prices. Two quotations appeared adjacent to one another. John Ruskin received credit for the second quotation, but some readers may have assumed that Ruskin also crafted the first quotation:6
“The following quote from a business letterhead spells this so well: ‘The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of the low price is forgotten.’ And John Ruskin wasn’t far wrong when he said ‘There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey.'”
John Ruskin did not author either of the quotations immediately above. Quote Investigator has a separate article about the second quotation which is located here.
In 1959 “The Post-Star” of Glens Falls, New York published an advertisement which ascribed the saying to Ruskin:7
“The bitterness of poor quality is long remembered after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” RUSKIN
In 1961 a newspaper in Lubbock, Texas published an advertisement from a jeweler which used a different phrasing for the saying:8
THE BITTERNESS OF POOR QUALITY REMAINS LONG AFTER THE SWEETNESS OF CHEAP PRICE IS FORGOTTEN
In 1978 the book “Beans About Carats: A Guide for the Serious Salesperson” by Rick Thomas contained the saying with an ascription to Ruskin:9
I believe that every thinking person does want the supreme value. It does seem somewhat selfish for a customer to want just a little better deal than the next guy but it’s human nature. Whenever I encounter this kind of situation, I keep in my reserves a quotation of John Ruskin. He said, “The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
In 1990 a newspaper in Lafayette, Louisiana published an article about a general contractor company that had been in business for more than four decades. A company representative credited the saying to Benjamin Franklin:10
The company philosophy is based on this quote from Benjamin Franklin: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low prices is forgotten.” It appears that even after 45 years, this reputation and philosophy is the driving force in everything they do.
In 2001 a newspaper in Marion, Indiana printed an advertisement for prearranged funerals which credited Ruskin with the saying:11
“The bitter taste of poor service remains long after the sweet taste of low price is forgotten.” (John Ruskin)
In 2008 the book “If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren’t There More Happy People?: Smart Quotes for Dumb Times” by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson contained the following skeptical entry:12
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort… The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
JOHN RUSKIN
Allegedly: no one has yet found a source for these statements.
In 2013 a newspaper in Arcanum, Ohio printed a hearing aid advertisement which attributed the saying to Franklin:13
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
-Benjamin Franklin
In conclusion, this saying appeared in an entry dated September 4, 1906 in the U.S. “Catalogue of Copyright Entries”. The entry named Thomas B. Lehon, and he is the most likely creator. Benjamin Franklin and John Ruskin received credit only decades after their deaths. The supporting evidence was very weak for both.
Image Notes: A collection of SALE tags from Tamanna Rumee at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgements: Great thanks to Jonas Vils, Jade P, and Jane Bella whose inquiries and suggestions led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1906 November 28, Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 1: Books: Group 2: Pamphlets, leaflets, contributions to periodicals, Name: Thomas B. Lehon, Number 6202, Quote Page 882, Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1908 March 1, The Arkansas Gazette, (Advertisement for Fred Pattee Printing Company of Little Rock, Arkansas), Quote Page 9, Column 6, Little Rock, Arkansas. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1911 August 9, Trade: An Independent Weekly Journal for Merchants, Building On the Rock, Quote Page 19, The Trade Journal Association, Detroit, Michigan. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1932 March 27, Butte Montana Standard, (Advertisement from Baxter Furniture Company), Quote Page 13, Column 7, Butte, Montana. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1937 September 2, The McIntosh County Democrat, Something To Think About, Quote Page 4, Column 4, Checotah, Oklahoma. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1958 November 8, The Miami Herald, New Look, Outlook Too by Henry Kinney, Section B, Quote Page 1B, Column 1, Miami, Florida. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1959 May 2, The Post-Star, (Advertisement for Win-Chek Windows from Dick Noyes), Quote Page 3, Column 4, Glens Falls, New York. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1961 October 6, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, (Advertisement from Anderson Bros. Lubbock’s Oldest and Finest Jewelers), Quote Page C3, Column 3, Lubbock, Texas. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1978, Beans About Carats: A Guide for the Serious Salesperson by Rick Thomas (Registered Jeweler, American Gem Society), Chapter 4: The Score, Quote Page 101, Gem Publications, Logan, Utah.(Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1990 July 31, The Daily Advertiser, Section: Home-Owned Businesses, Percy Guidry Inc., Quote Page 9, Column 2, Lafayette, Louisiana. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2001 January 26, Chronicle Tribune, (Advertisement for Prearranged Funerals from Jay Sollars. Pre-need Counselor), Quote Page A9, Column 5, Marion, Indiana. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2008, If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren’t There More Happy People?: Smart Quotes for Dumb Times by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, Topic: Quality, Quote Page 260, Harmony Books, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2013 July 14, The Early Bird, (Advertisement for Beltone hearing aids), Quote Page 7, Column 2, Arcanum, Ohio. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎