Do you know Lionel Stander lives within his means quote is NOT taken from the Playboy magazine, as published by etymologist Barry Popik in his website.
I am talking about this quote:
Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination
This is of the many misquotes, which have been wrongly attributed to the acclaimed Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde.
You can find this blunder in many quotation sites and even books which include “Oscar Wilde: Reminiscences by André Gide“.
According to Barry Popik, a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of American Regional English, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Yale Book of Quotations and Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, this quotation is in an interview with Playboy magazine (December 1967).
It was published on his website on September 01, 2013
So is this 2004 book: “Picking Up Pennies: A Guide To Financial Freedom“.
(Picking Up Pennies: A Guide To Financial Freedom By Ann S. Danly, Bloomington, Indiana: Trafford Publishing, 2004, P. 133) source
Again, it cited the source of the quote as: quoted in Helen Lawrensen’s “Lionel Stander”, Playboy December 1967.
Lionel Stander Lives Within His Means Quote
I couldn’t find this particular quote in any of the articles featured in the December 1967 issue of Playboy magazine.
Here is the link to the contents of the Playboy, December 1967.
Quote In Esquire Not Playboy Magazine
But I found the Lionel Stander quote in the interview article by Helen Lawrenson in this December 1967 issue of Esquire magazine instead.
“Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination.” – Lionel Stader
(Lionel Stander…that’s who By Helen Lawrenson, Esquire: The Magazine For Men, December 1967, P. 182) source
I do not know how this line has been erroneously credited to Oscar Wilde.
But I do know that Wilde seemed love to use the phrase “lack of imagination” in his writings, as I have highlighted it in one of my past posts.
Anyway, from what I know the late Helen Lawrenson had never written for Playboy magazine.
Helen Lawrenson Journalist
Helen Lawrenson was the first woman contributor to Esquire magazine.
She was a frequent contributor to other leading magazines include, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Look, Esquire and Town and Country.
Besides, she was the managing editor and film critic of Vanity Fair (1932–35).
In 1963 she was notorious for her first article for Esquire, titled “Latins are Lousy Lovers“, which was published anonymously.
Another one of Helen Lawrenson’s popular article titled “In Defense Of The American Gigolo” was published in the January 1939 issue of Esquire magazine.
So this quote “Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination” is not by Oscar Wilde and not published in The Playboy magazine.