Absent are always wrong

Often appears in the form of he or she who is absent is always wrong or the absent are always wrong. The French dramatist Philippe Néricault Destouches (1680-1754) used the expression in his play L’Obstacle Imprévu written in 1717, Act I, Scene VI, “les absents ont toujours tort”, “the absent are always wrong”. The OED maintains it was a well-known saying in English before this and gives c. 1640 as first citation.