by Herbert Watkins
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG Ax39766
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David Pitt
29 March 2019, 10:35
Charles Morris Roupell is the supposed source of a famous quotation, quoted by Herbert Spencer and recorded by David Duncan in The Life and Letters of Herbert Spencer (1908) ch 20 p 298:
"It was remarked to me by the late Mr. Charles Roupell ... that to play billiards well was a sign of an ill-spent youth".
The quotation is often misattributed to Herbert Spencer or Mark Twain, and is most often misquoted as "Proficiency at billiards is the sign of a mis-spent youth".