Reply to a young actress who asserted that an older actor in a production showed too much affection for the leading man (c. 1910); as reported by Alan Dent in Mrs. Patrick Campbell, p. 78 (1961).
[horses]Variants: "My dear, I don't care what they do, so long as they don't do it in the street and frighten the horses."
"I don’t mind where people make love, so long as they don't do it in the street and frighten the horses."
"It doesn't make any difference what you do in the bedroom as long as you don't do it in the street and frighten the horses."
"Does it really matter what these affectionate people do, so long as they don't do it on the street and frighten the horses?"
On the internet, a similar comment regarding politicians has been widely attributed to Victor Hugo, but without any definite sources. It appears to be a modern satirical invention, derived from Mrs. Campbell's statements.
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist
Though research done for Wikiquote indicates that the attribution of this remark to Hugo seems extensive on the internet, no source has been identified. It seems to be a statement a modern satirist might make, derived from one made circa 1910 by Mrs Patrick Campbell regarding homosexuals: "Does it really matter what these affectionate people do — so long as they don’t do it in the streets and frighten the horses?"
Disputed
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher
Reverence for Life (1969)
Context: I do not want to frighten you by telling you about the temptations life will bring. Anyone who is healthy in spirit will overcome them. But there is something I want you to realize. It does not matter so much what you do. What matters is whether your soul is harmed by what you do. If your soul is harmed, something irreparable happens, the extent of which you won't realize until it will be too late.
“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”
Andy Warhol (1928–1987) American artist
Lewis Carroll book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Variant: One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.
Source: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chris Martin (1977) musician, co-founder of Coldplay
http://www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/8543058/chris-martin-super-bowl-backlash-successful-world-tour source
Pricasso (1949) Australian painter
[Lee Rondganger, Artist with unusual technique a Sexpo hit, The Star, South Africa, 28 September 2007, 2, Independent Online]
Michelle Obama (1964) lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady of the United States
2010s, Democratic National Convention speech (2012)
Context: Barack's grandmother started out as a secretary at a community bank, and she moved quickly up the ranks, but like so many women, she hit a glass ceiling. And for years, men no more qualified than she was – men she had actually trained – were promoted up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while Barack's family continued to scrape by. But day after day, she kept on waking up at dawn to catch the bus... arriving at work before anyone else... giving her best without complaint or regret. And she would often tell Barack, "So long as you kids do well, Bar, that's all that really matters."
ContraPoints, Miscellaneous, Contrapoints Is De-Radicalizing Young, Right-Wing Men https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nrz4-FZx6k (Vice News, 2019)
