“The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions”
The exercise joke about “jumping to conclusions” has a long history. “Logical exercise for ladies—jumping to conclusions” has been cited in print since at least 1867. “Never limit your mental exercises to jumping to conclusions” is from 1922.
An expanded version appeared by 1955:
“Too many people confine their exercise to jumping at conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth and bending over backward.”
A different expanded version was printed in 1958 and it still appears on quotation lists today:
“The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, sidestepping responsibility, and pushing their luck.”
The Quote Garden
Quotations about Exercise
The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck! ~Author Unknown
23 February 1867, The Commonwealth (London), pg. 3, col. 5:
LOGICAL EXERCISE FOR LADIES.—Jumping to conclusions.
15 November 1922, Thomson (IL) Review, pg. 5, col. 4:
Never limit your mental exercises to jumping to conclusions.
27 April 1927, The News (Frederick, MD), pg. 20, col. 5:
Jumping to conclusions is dangerous exercise because one so often alights on one that is not sound.
20 June 1930, Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, “Sermon Sentences,” pg. 9, col. 3:
Jumping to conclusions is about the only mental exercise some people ever take.
Google Books
The Roundabout, a comedy in three acts
By J. B. Priestley
New York, NY: Samuel French
1933
Pg. 8:
Lord Kettlewell. You’re always jumping to conclusions. (Moving down l. of settee.)
Saunders. I know I am, but it’s the only exercise I get.
23 August 1946, Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, “Voice of the People,” pg. 14, col. 4:
It has been truly said that “the only exercise the minds of some people get is jumping to conclusions.”
(Letter by B. P. Strickland of Richmond—ed.)
14 September 1955, The Register-News (Mt. Vernon, IL), “The Oddity Almanac” by Hal Boyle, pg. 10, col. 4:
“Too many people confine their exercise to jumping at conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth and bending over backward.”—Margaret Firth, author of “It’s Fun to Reduce.”
16 March 1956, State-Times (Baton Rouge, LA), “In Hollywood” by Jimmy Fidler, pg. 9B, col. 3:
Mebby so: Jeff Hunter says the only exercise some folks get is jumping to conclusions.
Google News Archive
14 November 1957, Kentucky New Era (Hopkinsville, KY), “Try and Stop Me” by Bennett Cerf, pg. 7, col. 4:
There’s a reason, maintains Anne Baxter, why so many Hollywood big-shots are overweight. The only exercise they get is jumping to conclusions.
30 December 1958, Chicago (IL) Daily Tribune, pt. 2, pg. A4:
The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, sidestepping responsibility, and pushing their luck.
28 February 1961, Jefferson (IA) Bee, The Quill (students of Jefferson High School), pg. 1, col. 1:
The ony exercise some students get is:
jumping to conclusions,
running down their friends,
side-stepping responsibilities,
pushing their luck.
Google News Archive
7 November 1963, Windsor (Ontario) Star, pg. 17, col. 6:
Only Exercise
[Galt Reporter]
The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, sidestepping responsibility and pushing their luck.