The 1957 Ford Almanac has the quote "It's too late to read the handwriting on the wall when your back's up against it", attributed to "Anon." The quote appeared in several variations afterwards, for instance in an essay by Meredith Thring in Nature Magazine in 1965. It began to be attributed without context to Stevenson in the 1970s. According to "Adlai Stevenson: His Life and Legacy" by Porter McKeever (p. 566), Stevenson made this remark "with increasing frequency in the final months of his life"; but Stevenson died in 1965 and this book does not give a precise reference. Absent better attestation, Stevenson either used the quote from elsewhere or the association with Stevenson is a mistake.
Misattributed
“If you can see the handwriting on the wall … you're on the toilet.”
"Live from Las Vegas" 8-Track (circa 1970s)
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Redd Foxx 4
American comedian and actor 1922–1991Related quotes
“You can see the walls roar
See your brains on the floor
Become God
Become cripple
Become funky”
"Poverty Train"
Lyrics
“Old women can see through walls.”
Las viejas vemos a través de las paredes.
Act II (l. 597)
The House of Bernarda Alba (1936)
“You can't go forward if you're looking backward. You run into walls that way.”
Source: Bloodfever