NMFA
Alfred Henry Lewis: American journalist Alfred Henry Lewis first used the expression in Cosmopolitan Magazine in March 1906, writing that "there are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy."
By Katt
2026-09-16 · 1 min read
The sentiment actually predates 1906 — Lewis had used a very similar phrase a decade earlier, in an 1896 newspaper piece:
"the only barrier between us and anarchy is the last nine meals we've had. It may be taken as axiomatic that a starving man is never a good citizen."