“There lies the cause of most conflicts in advertising. The layman pays the bills. He naturally assumes the right to dictate. He is not apt to exercise that right in the early stages. The scheme is too new to him. But there comes a time when he feels that he is also an advertising expert. It is curious how we all desire to excel in something outside of our province.
That leads many men astray. Men make money in one business and lose it in many others. They seem to feel that one success makes them super-business men.
These men would not venture to dictate to a surgeon. Or tell a lawyer how to win a certain case. Or an artist how to paint a picture. They recognize technical knowledge in vocations like those. But not in advertising, which seems so simple to them, because it aims at simple people. They do not realize that no lifetime is long enough to learn much more than the rudiments.”
My Life in Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins, 1866-1932