# Mystery quote: ''It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it.'' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487 "2007-03-26T01:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/41 "2007-03-26T23:48:36Z")
That’s the weird thing about this. Many people on the Internet think they remember hearing it said in some movie or television show, but no one has been able to track it down. If you do a Google search for the quote, you’ll see that people have asked about it on IMDB, Snopes, Yahoo Answers, Wikipedia and other places. **Earl Snake-Hips Tucker** seems to have found the only real source for the quote. It is weird, because like most other people here, I’ve never watched Burke’s Law, but I still remember hearing it somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/42 "2007-03-26T23:52:04Z")
I really think people are not actually recalling this quote. This is a trick that memory plays on you. I doubt that anyone on this board has ever heard that quote anywhere other than in a question asking where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Baine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Baine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/43 "2007-03-27T00:11:32Z")
I should say, the first time I actually read the quote it didn’t strike me as all that familiar. In fact, the first thing it made me think of was the episode of the Simpsons where Lisa says she has a rock that keeps tigers away, but that’s obviously not the answer. After reading the quote several times, with people suggesting they’ve heard it in the voice of Gene Wilder or Danny Devito, or others, it has managed to work its way into my mind. Or maybe I just never heard the original quote in the first place. 🙂 Still, great find, Earl Snake-Hips Tucker. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/44 "2007-03-27T01:05:03Z")
Wow! This is like finding free energy! Solving the JFK murder! Figuring out 14 k of g in a f p d! You’re putting the SMDB back on the map!! OK, maybe not, but it’s a pretty damn remarkable find. Congrats! Don’t mind me, I’m just getting in on a thread that’s destined to become the most viewed in SDMB history. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/45 "2007-03-27T01:35:49Z")
You know, I bet he’s fibbing about that machine. I think it actually manufactures shock-resistant prescription reading glasses. Congratulations **Earl**. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/46 "2007-03-27T05:56:15Z")
It wouldn’t surprise me if some other show/movie contains the infamous quote only a little bit closer to everyone’s “memory” of the exact phrasing. Count me with **Scruloose** as far as getting in the thread ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/47 "2007-03-27T12:34:11Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I can’t watch the clip at work, but going by the transcript, I can see where the stress on “do” comes from. “What does it do?” _ **“Do?”** _. That certainly seems close enough to get altered in the collective memory, à la “Come up some time and see me” and “Play it, Sam”. Well done, **ESHT**. [/QUOTE] I watched the clip last night and it sounds close enough to me. I can’t say I actually recall the exact quote with “It doesn’t _do_ anything” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/48 "2007-03-27T13:00:41Z")
[QUOTE=BlueSilver] I 100% agree. While it’s possible Earle Snake-Hips Tucker may have found the earliest usage of a very smiliar quote, I don’t think it’s the most popular usage of which most of us are recalling. I’m a 32 year old TV and movie pop culture fanatic and I’d never heard of “Burke’s Law” until this thread but I can distinctly recall hearing that dialogue with a strong empasis on the “do”. Has “The Iron Giant” movie been ruled out? It seems like when Hogarth’s mom first sees Dean’s Jukyard art, she and Hogarth have this conversation and he reiterates Dean’s explanation (although in a more excited manner) that “it doesn’t _do_ anything. That’s the beauty of it.” Of course, I could just be restructuring my memory to fit the quote. [/QUOTE] Agree 100%. Great work by **Earl** discovering the probable first use of the phrase or near-phrase, but surely the public conscience is not remembering an obscure episode of an obscure TV show from 50 years ago. Surely this was said again in a movie or show from the 70’s or 80’s, which is the one most people who recall it are recalling. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/49 "2007-03-27T13:34:28Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] [http://www.tv.com/burkes-law/who-killed-711/episode/49740/recap.html](http://www.tv.com/burkes-law/who-killed-711/episode/49740/recap.html) A summary of the episode. [/QUOTE] I’m massively impressed that we have a source here, even though, as some have said, it’s more interesting that the quote sounds familiar to so many people who have not seen that episode. However, I’d like to point out that this amazing machine DOES, in fact, do something - something terribly important. In \*\*Samclem’s \*\* reference, we see this: "Harold Harold is in the room tinkering with a complex Rube Goldberg machine. Bongs and various other noises emit from it… It doesn’t do anything, that’s the beauty of it, it’s his rebellion against efficiency. " The machine makes bongs!! Tell me that’s nothing. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/50 "2007-03-27T13:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=CC] I’m massively impressed that we have a source here, even though, as some have said, it’s more interesting that the quote sounds familiar to so many people who have not seen that episode. However, I’d like to point out that this amazing machine DOES, in fact, do something - something terribly important. In \*\*Samclem’s \*\* reference, we see this: "Harold Harold is in the room tinkering with a complex Rube Goldberg machine. Bongs and various other noises emit from it… It doesn’t do anything, that’s the beauty of it, it’s his rebellion against efficiency. " The machine makes bongs!! Tell me that’s nothing. [/QUOTE] It’s the ancestor of the machine that goes PING! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/51 "2007-03-27T13:58:03Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] It’s the ancestor of the machine that goes PING! [/QUOTE] Yes, we’d better get that in the O.R. just in case the Administrator drops by. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/52 "2007-03-27T13:59:23Z")
Just to summarize what I’m taking from this thread and **Earl Snake-Hips Tucker** ’s amazing find, I’m almost positive I never saw the episode in the clip. I may have seen an episode of _Burke’s Law_ (and thus _maybe_ this episode) but I am as nearly certain that I saw or heard this bit elsewhere. I’m led to conclude that wherever the bit originated, and I can accept that it may not be the one **Earl Snake-Hips Tucker** has located, it most likely has been reused any number of times in any number of settings. The specifics of where each of us who remember it actually saw or heard it can vary – and obviously do – but the fact that none of us, until now, could find the instance we saw or heard, just goes to indicate how trivial it would have been at the time we first encountered it and thus how weak the memory of it has been. Knowing that this one case exists just goes to prove we weren’t dreaming, and that we can trust our memories to some extent. That’s the lesson that matters to me. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/53 "2007-03-27T15:50:19Z")
I want to point out that Twilight Zone has been heavily rerun on Sci-Fi, so the episode’s exposure is likely greater because of that. It’s also the sort of quote that morning radio-show types might sample to use as random sound bytes. Which season of TZ was it from? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/54 "2007-03-27T16:03:38Z")
It wasn’t on the Twilight Zone; it was on Burke’s Law. And some people upthread are saying that they believe the popularity of the quote is from some other usage in another television show or movie. The problem is that despite all of the discussion about this (and there has been quite a bit on several messageboards) I don’t believe that anyone has been able to identify any usage of anything similar anywhere else, and certainly nothing earlier. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/55 "2007-03-27T16:09:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] It wasn’t on the Twilight Zone; it was on Burke’s Law. And some people upthread are saying that they believe the popularity of the quote is from some other usage in another television show or movie. The problem is that despite all of the discussion about this (and there has been quite a bit on several messageboards) I don’t believe that anyone has been able to identify any usage of anything similar anywhere else, and certainly nothing earlier. [/QUOTE] D’oh! You’re right. I saw the comment about it being like Twilight Zone, and assumed the subsequent information about Burke’s Law, et cetera, was the episode title. Still could be morning radio show types to blame, though. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/56 "2007-03-27T16:15:31Z")
Whenever I see that, I always think of Jack Lemmon in “Mister Roberts” saying it, but not quite. I’m thinking it must have been used in a commercial at one time for so many people to remember it but there be no trace\* \*Other than the Burke’s Law cite, which I’m almost certain I’ve never seen. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/57 "2007-03-27T16:48:10Z")
[QUOTE=CandidGamera] Still could be morning radio show types to blame, though. [/QUOTE] You could be right about that. Some of the morning radio shows do use odd little sound clips between segments, so perhaps they popularized this quote. I wonder if there’s any way to confirm that. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/58 "2007-03-27T19:55:07Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] It’s the ancestor of the machine that goes PING! [/QUOTE] …and the precursor to Scientific Progress, which is rumoured to go BOINK. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/59 "2007-03-28T01:05:05Z")
[QUOTE=Scruloose] Figuring out 14 k of g in a f p d! [/QUOTE] Got link? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487/60 "2007-03-28T01:17:27Z")
I beleive what we’re seeing here is the development of a cultural meme. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-quote-it-doesnt-do-anything-thats-the-beauty-of-it/397487.md?page=4)