The quotation is attributed to Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, US. According to his friend Joseph Bigler, Hanlon first used it as part of something he wrote for a compilation of various jokes related to Murphy's law. The compilation book was published in 1980 titled "Murphy's Law Book Two, More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong". The name was inspired by Occam's razor.
ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY k w oʊ t eɪ ʃ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ t ɹ ɪ b j uː t ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY t ə WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɑ b ə ɹ t WORD_BOUNDARY d̠ʒ eɪ WORD_BOUNDARY h æ n l ə n WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY s k ɹ æ n t ə n WORD_BOUNDARY p ɛ n s ɪ l v eɪ n iə WORD_BOUNDARY j uː ɛ s WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ k ɔ ɹ d ɪ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY t ə WORD_BOUNDARY h ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY f ɹ ɛ n d WORD_BOUNDARY d̠ʒ oʊ s ə f WORD_BOUNDARY b ɪ ɡ l ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY h æ n l ə n WORD_BOUNDARY f ɜː s t WORD_BOUNDARY j uː z d WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ t WORD_BOUNDARY æ z WORD_BOUNDARY p ɑ ɹ t WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY s ʌ m θ ɪ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY h iː WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ oʊ t WORD_BOUNDARY f ə ɹ ɹ ə WORD_BOUNDARY k ɑ m p ɪ l eɪ ʃ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY v ɛ ɹ iə s WORD_BOUNDARY d̠ʒ oʊ k s WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɪ l eɪ t ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY t ə WORD_BOUNDARY m ɜː f i z WORD_BOUNDARY l ɔ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY k ɑ m p ɪ l eɪ ʃ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY b ʊ k WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ z WORD_BOUNDARY p ʌ b l ɪ ʃ t WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY n aɪ n t iː n h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY eɪ t i WORD_BOUNDARY t aɪ t ə l d WORD_BOUNDARY m ɜː f i z WORD_BOUNDARY l ɔ WORD_BOUNDARY b ʊ k WORD_BOUNDARY t uː WORD_BOUNDARY m ɔ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ iː z ə n z WORD_BOUNDARY w aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY θ ɪ ŋ z WORD_BOUNDARY ɡ oʊ WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɔ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY n eɪ m WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ z WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n s p aɪ ə ɹ d WORD_BOUNDARY b aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ɑ k æ m z WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ eɪ z ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY