2001年，昆汀·斯塔福德·弗雷澤（英语：Quentin Stafford-Fraser）在博客上发表了两篇文章，引述了来自約瑟夫·E·比格勒（Joseph E. Bigler）的邮件，阐述了汉隆的剃刀的起源[7][8]。文中写道，《墨菲定律》（Murphy's Law, and Other Reasons Why Things Go WRONG!）一书的作者亞瑟·布洛赫（英语：Arthur Bloch）曾向公众征集自创“定律”的投稿，而汉隆的剃刀正是約瑟夫的好友，来自賓夕法尼亞州斯克蘭頓的罗伯特·J·汉隆（Robert J. Hanlon）的作品，被收录在《墨菲定律第二册》（Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong!）中[9]。
^ 1.01.11.21.3Andrew S. Wigosky. RAPID Value Management for the Business Cost of Ownership. Digital Press. 2004: 5. ISBN 9781555582890. [...] Hanlon's Razor: 'Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.' This definition comes from 'The Jargon File' (edited by Eric Raymond), but one poster attributes it to Robert Heinlein, in a 1941 story called 'Logic of Empire.'
^introduction, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ; translated with an; Constantine, notes by David. The sorrows of young Werther. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 978-0199583027.
