# "People Who Like This Sort Of Thing Will Find This To Be The Sort Of Thing That..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188 "2005-09-30T12:56:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/1 "2005-09-30T12:56:51Z")
“…they like.” Who coined this phrase (which pops up most often in negative or lukewarm reviews of books/movies/etc.)? I’ve seen it attributed (Google confirms) to Lincoln, Max Beerbohm, and Disraeli, but never resolved which guy it is (or, if it’s even older than any of them). ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/2 "2005-09-30T16:20:01Z")
I found a citation for it that seems to bring it close to Lincoln [here](http://www.bartleby.com/66/7/36407.html). The attribution is from 1898, 33 years after Lincoln died. > [@](#): > > QUOTATION: People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like. > ATTRIBUTION: Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), U.S. president. Quoted in Collections and Recollections, ch. 30, G.W.E. Russell (1898). > > Referring to “an unreadably sentimental book.” According to Gross’ Lincoln’s Own Stories, Lincoln’s remark was to Robert Dale Owen, a spiritualist who had insisted on reading to Lincoln a long manuscript on spiritualism. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/3 "2005-10-03T15:43:09Z")
Yup, I’d always seen it cited to Lincoln, who was prevailed upon to write a blurb for a book he’d really rather not have. ---
**Author:** ![Dogmatix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@Dogmatix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogmatix)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/4 "2010-11-04T18:24:26Z")
I was trying to figure out whether this was an Abe Lincoln quote or a Max Beerbohm hoax or what. I eventually found a blog post that seems to explain with some authority that it was an Artemus Ward joke from 1863 that eventually became associated with Abe Lincoln and borrowed by Beerbohm: > **[QuoteBusters: Lincoln didn't say that.](http://hotsheet.snout.org/2009/08/quotebusters-lincoln-didnt-say-that.html)** > > Bayla here with some actual facts . I know, you probably didn't expect to find those on the Internet. Just deal with it. While catching... Here’s another link to the book cited by the blog post: > **[The Quote Verifier](https://books.google.com/books?id=d6JZryGvfxYC&lpg=PA124&ots=-GIO73at1S&dq=lincoln%20%22sort%20of%20thing%22&pg=PA125#v=onepage&q=lincoln%20%22sort%20of%20thing%22&f=false)** > > Our language is full of hundreds of quotations that are often cited but seldom confirmed. Ralph Keyes's The Quote Verifier considers not only classic misquotes such as "Nice guys finish last," and "Play it again, Sam," but more surprising ones such... ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/5 "2010-11-04T19:14:17Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yup, I’d always seen it cited to Lincoln, who was prevailed upon to write a blurb for a book he’d really rather not have. I guess “I shall lose no time in reading it” was already taken. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/6 "2010-11-04T20:29:01Z")
I’ve seen it or something close to it attributed to Wilde. No idea. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/7 "2010-11-04T21:09:54Z")
Gene Siskel said something similar in his review of _Pee Wee’s Big Adventure_ - > [@](#): > > If you like this sort of thing, there’s a lot of it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-will-find-this-to-be-the-sort-of-thing-that/324188/8 "2010-11-04T21:19:58Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I guess “I shall lose no time in reading it” was already taken. Also taken; “Once I put it down I couldn’t pick it back up.” - Groucho Marx “You don’t have to eat a whole egg to know its rotten.” - George Bernard Shaw