"I once worked as a salesman and was very…

American humorist Gerald Barzan was credited in the book The Greatest Laughs of All Time (1961), by Gerald F. Lieberman, with a popular line about working as a salesman:

“I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.”

Google Books
The Greatest Laughs of All Time
By Gerald F. Lieberman
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1961
Pg. 300:
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.
GERALD BARZAN

Google Books
Webster’s New World Best Book of Aphorisms
By Auriel Douglas and Michael Strumpf
New York, NY: Webster’s NewWorld: Distributed by Prentice Hall
1989
Pg. 231:
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one. — Jacques Barzun

Google Books
Dick Enberg’s Humorous Quotes for All Occasions:
Speaking Tips and Over 1,000 One-Liners
By Dick Enberg with Brian Morgan and Wendy Morgan
Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing
2000
Pg. 179:
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.
Gerald Barzan

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Fr Nicholas Gregoris
@Nichola87047880
#Humor #Work “I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one.” #Gerald #Barzan
9:13 PM - 6 Mar 2017

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@TQuoteBot
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one. - Gerald Barzan
9:16 PM - 29 Oct 2017

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@lahlahbean
#1PUN
I once worked as a salesman and was very independent, I took orders from no one.
8:00 AM - 30 Jan 2019

“I once worked as a salesman and was very independent. I took orders from no one”