Leonard Courtney
National Review, where he quoted it as the words of an unnamed "Wise Statesman", 1895
The quip's real history is hazy. The earliest printed use is useful, though: it was already described as a saying, not a new coinage.
the myth (Benjamin Disraeli): Twain credited it to Disraeli in 1907, but no one has found it in Disraeli's words. The earliest printed use is Courtney's from 1895, and even he was passing on someone else's line.
Source: Wikipedia