"Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far"
About this Quote
The line works because it flatters the listener’s practicality while smuggling in a moral. It’s not "be humble" in the churchy sense. It’s "understand the market for reputation". Self-promotion, Rogers implies, comes with a built-in discount rate. People hear your own trumpet and immediately ask what you’re trying to sell. But let a third party vouch for you and the endorsement arrives pre-sanitized, carrying the glow of objectivity. The "twice as far" is comic exaggeration, sure, but it lands because it’s recognizably true: validation travels faster than vanity.
Context matters: Rogers built a career in vaudeville and early Hollywood while also becoming a trusted public commentator during the churn of the 1920s and the crisis years of the Great Depression. In a culture learning the new arts of mass publicity, he warns that attention is a shaky substitute for respect. The subtext is almost strategic: build relationships, do solid work, let others narrate the story. That’s how reputations outlive the noise.
Quote Details
| Topic | Marketing |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: Put Your Best Foot Forward (Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, Mark Mazzarella, 2002) modern compilationISBN: 9780684864075 · ID: BeDJ8Xtml9wC
Evidence:
... Will Rogers's admonition , " Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far . " The Know - It - All Confidence , like competence , doesn't require that you are right all the time or think you are . If you waver ... |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rogers, Will. (2026, February 15). Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/get-someone-else-to-blow-your-horn-and-the-sound-37875/
Chicago Style
Rogers, Will. "Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far." FixQuotes. February 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/get-someone-else-to-blow-your-horn-and-the-sound-37875/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far." FixQuotes, 15 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/get-someone-else-to-blow-your-horn-and-the-sound-37875/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.







