“A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the banjo and doesn't.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
“A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't.”
Last update March 21, 2026. History
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Tom Waits79
American singer-songwriter and actor 1949Related quotes
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Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
First ascribed to Wilde by The Boston Globe in 1991. The joke probably appeared for the first time in 1917, when The Atchison Weekly Globe attributed it to a local man named Frank Fiest. <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Source: My Idea of a Gentleman Is He Who Can Play a Cornet and Won’t, Quote Investigator, 14 August 2021 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/04/21/cornet/,
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