Ezra Pound supposedly told Ford Madox Ford that he, Ford, could be placed naked in an empty room and within half an hour reduced it to complete disorder. Given

Ezra Pound supposedly told Ford Madox Ford that he, Ford, could be placed naked in an empty room and within half an hour reduced it to complete disorder. Given the wide circulation of quips of this form, there may be some ur-form millenia old. [edit: corrected "of this source" to "of this form"]