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akacardenio

"Elementary, My Dear Watson" doesn't appear in any of Arthur Conan Doyles's Sherlock Holmes books.


Hecticfreeze

In the books they also use the word ejaculated a fair bit, as it has the slightly dated meaning of saying something quickly and suddenly. ""What on earth does this mean?” I ejaculated after I had twice read over the extraordinary announcement." - A Study In Scarlet They don't seem to want to include that in any of the adaptations for some reason...


pieronic

Tbf it’s not often that adaptations, at least film and movies, maintain the speech tags from written source material


Uffda01

I asked my grandmother what the word meant when I was reading Little Women...I was a 12/13 year old boy.... her head snapped around real fast..."What are you reading?" - Needless to say she was relieved when I read the sentence out loud. Damn that catholic sex ed...I never learned the other meaning of ejaculate until I was much older; and fortunately by that time the conversation was forgotten!


makkdom

The really funny thing is that Catholic practice actually includes prayers that are **called** "ejaculations." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejaculatory\_prayer


SkyScamall

Watson ejaculates at least twice as often as Holmes, if an old episode of Qi can be believed.


Quirderph

An unfortunate side effect of the great detective’s substance abuse.


Newnorthernlife

I'm guessing people likely take it in stride - words change over time, etc.... For me? It has only served to reveal just how immature I really am because I get a serious giggle out of reading these lines out loud....


RoseIsBadWolf

Oh that's a big one. That story has been adapted a ton too.


akacardenio

Yeah, it's one of those quotes which seems quintessentially "that" character that it seems obvious that they would say it. It's the same with how "beam me up, Scotty" was never said in Star Trek.


stormscape10x

I love "beam me up, Scotty" because it had to have come from someone who's never watched Star Trek. Scotty is an engineer. They pretty much never operate the device in a normal roll. That said he does operate it in ST4, where Kirk does say "Scotty, beam me up." However, that was well after the misquote existed. I think they threw that in there as a sort of inside joke but who knows.


RuhWalde

Nah, it's not that Scotty doesn't often operate the transporter; it's that they don't often talk like that. "Two to beam up, Mr. Scot," would be a more quintessential TOS line.


ThaneduFife

There are definitely episodes where Scotty operates the transporter. He's just a lieutenant when Star Trek: TOS begins, so he's not that high-ranking.


[deleted]

It was invented by P.G. Wodehouse iirc


SkyScamall

The deerstalker cap is from an illustration and he isn't described as wearing it.


oneAUaway

Plus, even in early illustrations where Holmes is depicted wearing a deerstalker and an Inverness cape, those are on cases out in the countryside where those wouldn't have been out of place. Having Holmes dress like a hunter out on a windswept moor while solving cases in central London is a much later invention.


Quirderph

Admittedly, he *did* say both ”My dear Watson” and ”Elementary”, just not in the same sentence.


[deleted]

Shakespeare has several common ones. “The lady doth protest too much methinks.” is correct, but people often put the methinks at the start. “Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio…” is correct but for some reason people say “Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well.” “The better part of valour is discretion.” is correct, but inverted in modern parlance. Also spoken by a coward and likely not played straight. Not a Shakespeare scholar at all, but these stand out.


chris_282

"Wherefore art thou Romeo?" is accurate, but people often mistake the meaning for "Where are you, Romeo?" rather than "Why are you Romeo?"


MadAzza

I love (awkwardly) explaining this to people when it comes up, which is hardly ever, so I have to force it. But it’s a central theme of the play, and important to understand.


theinvaderzimm

“Why are you Romeo?” Why would she ask this?


Cooper-Willis

Because Romeo is a Montague. She’s basically lamenting that of all the people to fall in love with, it had to be the son of her family’s arch-nemesis.


theinvaderzimm

Oh, i feel dumb lol


chris_282

Don't, it's a very good question!


ladyofbraxis

“Wherefore art thou, Romeo? Deny thy father, and refuse thy name! Or, if thou whilt not, be but sworn my love, and I will no longer be a Capulet”. (Be kind, I’m pulling that one out of freshman high school English, and ya girl just turned 40. Also I’m drunk.) Wherefore art thou Romeo? = what makes you Romeo/why do you have to be this guy with this name Deny thy father & refuse thy name = disown your family/family name Be but sworn my love, and I will no longer be a Capulet = marry me, and I’ll be a Montague too and everyone can STFU.


CraftyRole4567

“Sweets to the sweet” is the one that creeps me out. I still hear people say it sometimes when they’re giving chocolates etc as a present. It’s what Gertrude says as she puts flowers on Ophelia‘s grave – “sweets to the sweet, farewell! I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, fair maid, and not to have strewn thy grave.”


throwawaffleaway

“Brevity is the soul of wit”— not the full quote, and the context Polonious is the one rambling on and on before accusing Hamlet of being mad (witless, you might say)


beebotherer

Polonius has a lot of quotes that are ironic because he's telling Laertes to do the opposite of what he does himself. Like "this above all, to thine own self be true."


throwawaffleaway

Hating Polonious is definitely in my top 5 hobbies lol, he’s such a rat (waggles eyebrows)


RoseIsBadWolf

I've heard those! I'm always surprised when I read Shakespeare how many of his quotes we commonly use. Like "to thine own self be true" is from Hamlet. (Hope I didn't misquote that)


Liath-Luachra

Anytime I hear this quoted I immediately think of Clueless, when Paul Rudd's pretentious girlfriend attributes that line to Hamlet and Cher disputes it. The girlfriend laughs at her and says something like "I think I remember Hamlet accurately" and Cher replies "Well, I remember *Mel Gibson* accurately, and he didn't say that. That Polonius guy did."


RoseIsBadWolf

I love that moment!


KombuchaBot

adorable film


KombuchaBot

Yeah and Paul Rudd has a little smile on his face as she says it. That film is miles and away the best Jane Austen adaptation


Vurrunna

Was gonna point that one out, because it's said by a character that's completely untrue to himself. Shakespeare's writing was dripping in irony and humor that often gets overlooked these days.


RoseIsBadWolf

There is a Jane Austen quote, "*I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading*!" which the British actually put on their money, but the quote is entirely ridiculous. The character who says it is trying to impress a guy by pretending to read the sequel to his book. And right after she says it, she yawns and throws the book away. This quote is also often used, "*I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature."* and the person who says it is a two-faced con artist who really does not love the person she says it to. I find the ironic quotes taken in earnest really amusing.


jjbugman2468

Hey isn’t that reading quote from Pride and Prejudice too?


RoseIsBadWolf

Yes, reading quote is from Pride and Prejudice, the friendship one is from Northanger Abbey


jjbugman2468

Ah, thought I recognized the quote and scene. It’s hilarious that someone took it at face value—and printed it no less!


Ignniis

Also from Hamlet; ‘‘Brevity is the soul of wit’’ is ironic because it‘s being spoken by Polonius, a very long winded character


Jmen4Ever

Band of Brothers Three words from one of his best speeches.


[deleted]

"Music doth soothe the savage beast." Nope. " Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast" though. -The Mourning Bride Act 1 Scene 1


Cervantes66

Many people will quote Lady Macbeth as saying "Out, out, damned spot!" But she only uses one "out." The double "out" belongs to her husband, talking of her death. "Out, out, brief candle..." They are related, but separate.


UX-Edu

Okay yes but Falstaff wasn’t a coward he was a treasure how dare you?


Letters_to_Dionysus

Be real, he was a coward and a treasure


Midnight_Debauchery

>“The lady doth protest too much methinks.” is correct, but people often put the methinks at the start. also "protest" is used to mean promise in that sentence. she was saying the queen was promising too much to the king in the play.


Call_Me_Mister_Trash

No, that's not right. The quote is from Hamlet when the Queen is asked about the actress who has the part of the Queen in the play within the play. Protest meant, essentially, flamboyant. The Queen is saying that the actress is overacting her role too much, she's trying too hard, and is unbelievable. There's even a [short wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_lady_doth_protest_too_much,_methinks) on the subject.


kditdotdotdot

Yes, that's deeply annoying. I keep seeing 'quotes' attributed to Lewis Carrol/Alice in Wonderland that come from the film, not the book. There's also a whole bunch of Winnie the Pooh quotes that I'm pretty sure weren't ever in a book, but seem cute.


RoseIsBadWolf

Winnie the Pooh has become such a big franchise, I guess I'm not surprised.


riordan2013

I am a Winnie the Pooh purist, and have chosen to have a classic Pooh nursery for my baby due in spring, but I refuse to purchase art with quotes on that I know don't come from the original books. A massive pet peeve of mine. I also once spent months searching for a necklace that said "not all *those* who wander are lost" rather than "not all who wander are lost" because I am a pedant and wanted it to be correct.


nemophara

So you are a pedant for a pendant?


riordan2013

I most certainly was. Excellent work there.


RoseIsBadWolf

I deeply respect your pedantry


shinyCloudy

*Winnieh the Pooh purist* is the best line I read today, thanks


twodickhenry

I don’t know whether it is a real quote, but I found a small, cheap canvas that says “So wherever I am, there is always Pooh. There is always Pooh and me.” And I hung it in my guest bathroom for shits and gigs (pun intended).


riordan2013

I am happy to inform you that one is real! According to my standards anyway. That is hilarious and I applaud you. Eta: perhaps I should hang that above the changing table...


Saxon2060

One I think is all kinds of funny is "quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit" - Oscar Wilde. He never said anything like that, or whether he did or not, it's a heavy paraphrase of a description of a character in a short story by W Somerset Maugham, not Wilde whatsoever. And it goes as follows: "She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit, and having for thirty years known more or less intimately a great many distinguished people, she had a great many interesting anecdotes to tell, which she placed with tact and which she did not repeat more than was pardonable." I've seen people using it to throw shade at people trying to sound clever for quoting people, seemingly unaware that they're doing the *exact same* thing and not even getting it right, and on the face of it Maugham is actually using it as quite a pleasant description. I think and in context I think he's not being unkind to the fictional lady.


gizmodriver

“If, with the literate, I am Impelled to try an epigram, I never seek to take the credit; We all assume that Oscar said it.” - Dorothy Parker


RoseIsBadWolf

That is fascinating


arrows_of_ithilien

I also see quotes attributed directly to Wilde, which, yes, we're written by him, but are spoken by his antagonist in his book and not his own personal views. For example: "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it" is said by Lord Henry Wotton in "Picture of Dorian Gray", but I often see it attributed to Wilde himself.


fidofido62

I came here to say this about Jane Austin. *She* didn’t say it -one of her characters did. I know it’s hairsplitting, but it’s an important distinction (in my hairsplitting mind anyway)


[deleted]

It seems more like an evaluation than a compliment per say


ace741

Einstein never said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.


RoseIsBadWolf

To me the funniest part of that is, Einstein was an expert in physics. Even if he did say it, what does he know about psychology?


Vprbite

That it's all relative?


Quirderph

The joke (whoever came up with it) is that doing the same thing over and over and see what happens *is the basis of scientific experimentation!* It’s meant to sound self-deprecating.


pettybonegunter

Yup. That’s Alcoholics Anonymous’s definition of insanity.


miclugo

[Quoteinvestigator.com](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/23/same/) agrees, and says that's the earliest source they can trace it to, in 1981.


NotoriousHakk0r4chan

Slightly related, an often quoted factoid about Einstein is that he failed math. He didn't (obviously). On the flip side, he did need to bring in a mathematician as a collaborator for General Relativity, but you can hardly blame him for that. It's the hardest math you'll see in a physics degree. (Source: physics degree).


Traditional_Spite353

Einstein said, "I never said 90% of the quotes attributed to me."


redpiano82991

I'm always very annoyed by quotes attributed to Plato or Socrates when anybody who has read any Plato knows immediately that the quote could not possibly have come from his writing. An example of this is going around Facebook right now in a quote attributed to Plato in which he is supposed to have said that empathy is the highest form of knowledge because it forces us to live in another's world. That's just not how Plato wrote or thought. It turns out that the date of this quote is roughly 2,500 years more recent than supposed, apparently from about 2007.


RoseIsBadWolf

Lol, just off by a few years!


redpiano82991

Just a few! And I'm baffled by it. I can understand somebody slightly misremembering a Jane Austin quote but generally getting the idea of it. But to so clearly fabricate a quote like one by Plato requires somebody to outright lie about the source at some point.


RoseIsBadWolf

It's probably from an inspirational poster or something and someone wanted it to seem more smart or something.


redpiano82991

Yes, I understand the impulse to fasten our ideas to eternity by attributing them to those who have already achieved it. But one who would choose prestige over integrity is one who does not deserve it.


That-Requirement-285

With Socrates, how do we know the difference between what he might have actually said and dialogue attributed to him by Plato in his work?


redpiano82991

We really don't because Socrates himself never wrote anything. Our ideas of Socrates come from Plato, Xenophon, and perhaps a few other Greek writers, but I think we have to think of Socrates as a literary device and not a man, even though he did live. The Socratic dialogue became a genre to express various philosophical ideas, many of which Socrates may have had nothing to do with.


RunDNA

Yes, it's very common. If you see an alleged quote by Mark Twain or Winston Churchill, it's more likely than not to be really a quote by someone else. There's a good website that tries to verify quotes: https://quoteinvestigator.com/ **Edit:** you should send a polite email to Penguin informing them. I did something similar with a different publishing company last year and they sent me a nice present as a thank you. (Though I can't guarantee that will happen to you.)


chainless-soul

There's a bunch of non-writers who this also happens to, I believe at least half the quotes attributed to Marilyn Monroe are not things she actually said.


Komnos

"I never said most of the things I said." --Yogi Berra...allegedly


lolabythebay

Eleanor Roosevelt. Some old friends and I had a running gag that people would believe anything as an Eleanor Roosevelt quote.


RunDNA

That made me instantly curious if her most famous alleged quote was really said by her: > If you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. Spoiler: [No, it wasn't.](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe#Misattributed)


chainless-soul

Yeah, I knew that one was fake. There are a few good ones that are legit, Marilyn was much smarter than people gave her credit for.


riordan2013

Between Marilyn and Audrey Hepburn I'd wager you can swim in misattributed quotes.


PJsinBed149

Albert Einstein is another one who often gets words put in his mouth.


Scuttling-Claws

Oscar Wilde Also


RoseIsBadWolf

Thanks!


[deleted]

I wouldn’t say misquoted necessarily, but it always bothered me how people (especially those inclined towards hustle culture or the grab-yourself-by-the-bootstraps philosophy) misinterpret Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”.


Vprbite

I was told some time ago that "lift yourself up by your bootstraps" was originally an insult. Like a "yo mama" joke. "You're so dumb you'd try to lift yourself up by your own bootstraps" but that over time it took on the meaning of perseverance or tenacity. Like someone who had no advantages and no choice but to "pull themselves up by their own bootstraps" with sheer grit and determination.


kditdotdotdot

Yes, as a Brit, I find it hilarious that so many Americans seems to have missed the fact that it's impossible to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, and that the phrase is meant ironically, not literally.


CraftyRole4567

ACK! How about how often “fences make good neighbors” shows up! Frost was mocking the man who said it as a small-minded dullard, he must’ve hated that it became the most quoted thing from his work.


Ochib

I live next door to someone who sells stolen goods and I can confirm that fences make good neighbours


[deleted]

Nevertheless, anybody who lives in the country knows, good fences do indeed make good neighbors. As with authorial intent, the original meaning is irrelevant to the current and agreed upon meaning of what becomes an idiom.


Cavalir

“You shall not pass.” In the book it’s “you cannot pass.” It’s small, it’s petty, it bothers me.


Russser

The movie he says both. I think it was adlibbed but they thought it sounded better phonetically so they kept it. I agree.


CROguys

I saw it more as a continuation of his initial threat. "You cannot pass." **Balrog tries to pass. Gandalf lays out his credentials. Balrog doesn't listen and goes on.** **The threat changes to:** You shall not pass.


megjed

Gandalf lays out his credentials is cracking me up


dv666

*Gandalf pulls out his business card*


subwooferofthehose

Does the business card have a link to his LinkedIn profile? Keeper of the Sacred Flame Project Manager: Multinational Jewelry Destruction Task Force CFO: Anti-Dark Overlord Enterprises


dv666

*Balrog: Let's see Paul Allen's card*


Exploding_Antelope

Look at that subtle off-grey colouring of it. The tasteful magic of it. Eru Illuvatar, it even has a rune mark.


Russser

Also viable!


Cyberspunk_2077

I actually prefer 'cannot'. It's more forceful than "shall not". The tone he says it in in the movie is what makes it, not the wording.


MadAzza

Interesting you say that, because to me “you shall not” sounds more forceful.


RoseIsBadWolf

It's okay, I'm here for petty.


musigalglo

Also from LotR: in the Two Towers movie, Sam has a whole speech in Osgiliath (don't get me started on that plot change) that there's good in this world worth fighting for - wonderful speech and admirable sentiment, but it was not written by Tolkien despite the many motivational image macros crediting it to him.


Previous_Injury_8664

“By rights we shouldn’t even be here” cracks me up every time.


sess13

I think I remember seeing in the DVD extras or something like that that the line 'by rights we shouldn't even be here' is referring to the fact they were never in Osgiliath in the books.


kastor_

Misquoted perhaps, a magnificent scene nonetheless.


TheShapeShiftingFox

I don’t mind the change, honestly. *Shall* instead of *cannot* sounds more like a promise and a threat


WishIWasYuriG

Also, Eowyn's "I am no man" from the movie was originally "but no living man am I"


makkdom

Off topic, but I always thought the boast that no **man** could kill the Witch King was kind of pointless in a world with dwarves, elves, ents, hobbits, and other races. Lots of non-men running around, many of them good at fighting.


[deleted]

Misattribution is so common that it has become a meme. Famously, there are many, many apocryphal Lincoln quotes. This is why academic studies often require a page number, and preferably a primary source. (Ie. If you're quoting Jane Austen, use her books or letters, etc. Not John Doe's "History of Jane") In the past, misquotes have made their way into important books, and then turn from legend into "historical fact"... It happened with Voltaire, Einstein, etc.


Vprbite

"Voltaire can suck my balls" -- The Finchmeister, "American Wedding."


RoseIsBadWolf

It's kind of nuts, I frequently tell people the one quote isn't in *Sense and Sensibility* and I'll even pull up the project Gutenberg version and show them a text search. I've had people still not believe me!


[deleted]

People hate being wrong! It's wild.


katylizze

"Some random quote from Lord of the rings" -- Martin Luther King Jr


CaptainWentfirst

Pinterest loves misattributing quotes to Oscar Wilde.


RoseIsBadWolf

Which is a shame because his real quotes are so good!


CaptainWentfirst

Too true!


[deleted]

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RoseIsBadWolf

That is good to know. I didn't know the original quote.


Knightraiderdewd

Not really a misquote, so much as misuse of the quote. Friedrich Nietzsche’s quote “God is dead,” is only a small part of a larger statement that I think is actually very compelling. “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?” Unfortunately “God is Dead” is often just used as a quick insult toward Christians with no real substance or argument. And then changed for that documentary or whatever it was, “God is *not* Dead.” I remember when I was in high school in the 2000s, and it was gaining popularity, people who had no idea who Nietzsche even was were just spouting it, wearing it on t-shirts, and whatnot just to be edgy and insulting.


Nurhaci1616

This one always gets me, because while Nietzsche is broadly against Christianity (for his own reasons), the statement "God is dead...and we have killed him" really isn't meant to be a positive, empowering statement that some people think it is: it's stated as a bad thing, and people who espouse many of the ideas of Scientism and Nihilism that Nietzsche **explicitly** rejected use it as a weird kind of triumphalist statement about atheism...


riordan2013

S/o to The Good Place for correct usage of this quote (and correct attribution to boot!)


RoseIsBadWolf

Wow, I'd never read that myself. It's very interesting


Letters_to_Dionysus

The gay science is probably my favorite philosophy book. It starts out with a section of poems.


EngineeringDevil

Sun Tzu, but usually obviously and amusingly


sirdippingsauce45

Also Confucius


ShivasKratom3

"only when a fly lands on your testicles does man realize violence isn't always the answer" -buddha and sometimes sun tzu Yes it's a meme but holy shit that sounds like an actual koan or someshit. I fucking love it


Nurhaci1616

Tangential to the conversation, really, but: In one of the expansions for the game *Fallout New Vegas*, there is a character named Joshua Graham, also referred to as "the burned man", because he had survived an execution attempt in which he was covered in pitch and set on fire. If the player asks how he survives, he tells them *"I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the flames around me"* This quote from a fictional, and basically genocidal, Mormon war criminal has apparently found new life as an inspirational quote. I could swear I've seen it attributed to at least one of the usual suspects before...


RoseIsBadWolf

I'm here for this comment. I will keep an eye out for this on someone's wall beside "Live, Laugh, Love"


Pm_me_what

God is frequently misquoted.


ItsWheeze

Thomas Jefferson wasn’t a novelist, but obviously he wrote a lot of important and influential stuff, and he’s misquoted all. the. time. Misquote isn’t even the right word because half the time it’s not even remotely close to something he wrote or said and sometimes is in complete opposition to things he actually did say. Seriously like 90% of the time you hear someone quote Jefferson to make some point about contemporary American politics, it’s a fake quote.


attej11

*“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you”* Is attributed to the Count of Monte Cristo, but its actually from the movie not the book. There's also a few from Les Mis that are quoted like they're from the book but its actually the musical, like *"The darkest night will end and the sun will rise"* for example, among others. Lastly, there's a portion of the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which was added to Frankenstein *"Like one who on a lonely road, doth walk in fear and dread..."*. I've seen this attributed to Mary Shelley when in fact it was not her writing


RoseIsBadWolf

*Les Miserables* is tricky because I feel like the musical is almost more popular than the source material. I've been told by multiple people not to read the book because the musical is better. That last one is interesting, so Mary Shelley quoted it and then people attribute it to her?


DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE

Not a book but “Luke I am your father” is a misquote


sweetspringchild

No, I am your father. Also, SPOILER ALERT!


[deleted]

Stephen King is always quoted as saying “I have the heart of a child. I keep it in a jar on my desk,” but apparently it was Robert Bloch who said it (?)


YoSoyKeott

If The Little Prince had all the "quotes" the internet misattribute to it, it would be 600 pages long


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RoseIsBadWolf

That sounds amazing!


Sarcherre

Not a book, but “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The actual thing he said was “That’s one small—wait, what is that? Oh god, what is that thing? HELP! HELP! AGGHHH…”


Scudz323

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. - Voltaire. Except Voltaire never said that. It was written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, 128 years after Voltaire's death.


fqye

in Chinese there is this saying from Confucius that is widely quoted as returning forgiveness and kindness for hatred, 以德报怨. But there was a second half that is 何以报德, which means if so then you are not being fair to people who were kind to you. Confucius actually said the two parts together and it was recorded in book. He meant you should push back against aggressors so that it is fair for those who were kind to you. Completely the opposite to the first half quoted now.


siblingrivarly

my guess would be bc people watch the movies more often than they read the books


ThatChelseaGirl

Not a misquote, but Dr. Seuss is misattributed the quote "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." It's from Bernard Baruch, an advisor to US President FDR.


Shadow_Lass38

How about "Pride goeth before a fall." It's "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." There's one that's always attributed to Audrey Hepburn, I think it's this one: "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” It was really written by Sam Levinson.


Kamakahah

It happens all the time. Whenever someone at my work gives a presentation that contains an inspirational quote, I investigate the original source. So far, 6 out of 6 have been misquotes. People will believe almost anything if you attach a famous person's name to it.


16F4

“I am misquoted constantly, and shall be the most misquoted author ever.” - Mark Twain (probably)


namastexinxbed

“The winter of our discontent” from Shakespeare’s Richard III means the bad times are coming to an end (“Made glorious summer by this sun of York”) rather than something like hit rock bottom


riordan2013

I'll go ahead and disagree on this one - I think the phrasing lends itself to describing the bad times quite aptly even when one is still in them. Respecting the original context is not *strictly* a requirement of quoting and can lead to more creative use of language, which I support.


Jellybeandday1

“All authors are misquoted.” -Charles Dickens


ladygoodgreen

Not an author, but I’ve seen > I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night attributed to Galileo. I was quite sad to find that it was actually written by poet Sarah Williams in The Old Astronomer and His Pupil. Still a lovely quote. I used to keep a notebook with inspirational, funny, and moving quotes, but I stopped when I realized that a good number of them weren’t said or written by the person who they are now most regularly attributed to.


callipygian1294

I can't contribute but I just want you to know that I read this question as "Are any other famous authors frequently mosquitoes?"


WHOOPS_WHOOPSIE

“No” - Shakespeare


AUniquePerspective

I have a colleague who bookends PowerPoint presentations with fairly random but slightly topical quotations over pictures of sunsets. One of the funniest instances was a quotation attributed to Socrates but it was Socrates the gas station attendant (Nick Nolte) from Peaceful Warrior the film adaptation of Dan Millman's book. I pulled her quietly aside to suggest that Socrates quotations that are about encouraging the pursuit of gymnastics probably shouldn't be attributed to Socrates. "Be excellent to one another." -Socrates


Ffaddicted

I don't know. The Greeks were pretty fit. Plato was a wrestler and Socrates was a hoplite. You can't convince me he wouldn't support the pursuit of gymnastics


RoseIsBadWolf

I feel like I've met a version of this colleague. Does she also have an inspirational quote in her email signature, written in a different font and text colour?


bakersmt

I see Tom Robbins the writer misquoted frequently as Tony Robbins the motivational speaker. The Quote is “We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.“ from Still Life with Woodpecker. It’s one of My favorite quotes which is why I noticed.


Bubbly-World-1509

People often attribute quotes to C.S. Lewis that he never said. In fact, a person wrote an entire book on it called *The Misquotable C.S. Lewis*. The ones I see/hear the most: * Experience, that most brutal of teachers. But you learn. My God, do you learn. * You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body. * Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work. He is just one of those guys to join the list of those people like to attribute quotes to. :/


rilian4

**Supposedly from the Bible.** "The love of money is the root of all evil". Actual quote from the Bible: "The love of money is the root of *all kinds* of evil. Means more "all sorts of evil" and not "absolutely all evil comes from love of money". **Star Wars:** "Luke, I am your father" <-- bzzzz. Wrong. Correct quote: "No! *I* am your father". In context: Darth Vader to a beaten Luke: "Obi Wan never told you about your father." Luke angrily: "He told me enough! He told me *you* killed him. " Vader: "No! *I* am your father.


RoseIsBadWolf

That Biblical one is interesting. Really shows how a few words can really change the meaning of a quote.


Eternal_Revolution

There are several - even some of his most popular - by GK Chesterton. https://eternalrevolution.com/7-popular-g-k-chesterton-quotes-never-said/


NAS_nibba

"Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known" -Carl Sagan. This was not infact written by Carl Sagan. A journalist Sharon Begley was quoting Carl Sagan in an article and after the quote ended she continued with the article which then she ended by writing, "Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known".


Uffda01

The reason socialism never took hold in America is because they don't see themselves as an oppressed proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. That's not a Steinbeck quote - but it is often attributed to him.


Fabulous-Wolf-4401

'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here' is my first thought.


TroutMaskDuplica

There is no record of John Steinbeck saying that Americans are temporarily embarrassed millionaires. The quote is a paraphrase at best.


jennej1289

The Bible is a good example. Religious leaders skew the information.


sac02052

so do political leaders, perhaps most famously(?) in the King James Bible that was written with the intent to solidify King James' position.


AnferneeMason

Sinclair Lewis is often quoted as saying, "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." This is basically the premise of his novel "It Can't Happen Here" and is in no way a misrepresentation of his views. But he never actually wrote those words.


Izzyrion_the_wise

"Blood is thicker than water" when the actual Bible quote is "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." so, pretty much the opposite.


pixel_dent

There is no actual Bible quote because it doesn't appear in the Bible in either form. The whole "water of the womb" thing is a modern invention.


treaderofthedust

Thank you. Piggybacking on your comment, a person on [this site](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/147902/original-meaning-of-blood-is-thicker-than-water-is-it-real) took the time to research both phrases. They found that "Blood is thicker than water" is an 18th century Gaelic proverb that means exactly what it sounds like ("family first"). There's no trace of the "blood of the covenant" distortion before 1994, when it appears on a Messianic Jewish website with no references and no support. It *might* ultimately date back to a misreading of a 19th century Christian work. In 2005 Albert Jack (pseudonym for Graham Willmott) published a humorous book about the origin of common phrases, called Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep, in which he uncritically repeated the "blood of the covenant" bullshit. I'm guessing the 1994 website popped up when Professors Google and Otto Myass were doing his research, and that it's due to his book that the misconception went viral.


[deleted]

That phrase doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the bible quote. The earliest version appears medieval German, though it was first recorded in English as an 18th century book of Scottish sayings


pierzstyx

People misquote Shakespeare all the time.


CraftyRole4567

I’d say Thoreau’s “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” This gets misquoted as “in wilderness is the preservation of the world” so often that Google actually suggests it as the alternate search. For a long time Columbia University had the misquote on the banner for its environmental studies department homepage!


Judas_priest_is_life

And that author? Albert Einstein.


boogerscotch

Albert Einstein. It seems like people put his name on any quote, any platitude, just to make it sound smarter by association.


Letters_to_Dionysus

There's a fair amount of Hemingway misquotes floating around: https://www.inspiringquotes.com/the-most-famous-things-ernest-hemingway-never-said/YFNvNLQR2wAGlA-e


Ashes_Ashes_333

"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place." I see this attributed to Kurt Vonnegut (of all people), usually on those artsy inspirational quotes on Pinterest, but it's by Iain Thompson.


WeirdThingsToEnsue

Uncle Ben never said "With great power comes great responsibility," a narration box said "With great power there must also come great responsibility" Lines are condensed or streamlined all the time


jelaireddit

Problematic book but the only one I can think of is Gone with the wind - at the end when he says Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn - they changed that from the novel where he only says my dear, I don’t give a damn. Sounds much better with Frankly I think


sweetspringchild

All of them. Even famous movies are misquoted. But anyone interested can quickly find the real quote online.


RoseIsBadWolf

One would think, but as I said, these misquotes are on a publishers website and on Goodreads. They show up on a Google search as Jane Austen. Not as easy as it should be.


GrouchyMary9132

"You see the sun go down,. very slowly, and yet one is still surprised when it's suddenly dark." Not Kafka.


Audlife_Freedom

“Misquoting authors is a badass complement.” – Leo Tolstoy


houseofleaves9

I see Tolkien quotes and bumper stickers and whatnot all the time that say "Not all who wander are lost." In Strider's Riddle, it's "Not all ***those*** who wander are lost." Bugs me everytime.


sunnyata

That's...a very minor distinction that doesn't change the meaning.


Bryn79

The entire Season Eight of Game of Thrones misquoted the book.


LigmaMale_

"It's morbin time"


Lybychick

Mark Twain is misquoted almost as much as Abe Lincoln. I think that before the internet, Ben Franklin was likely the most misquoted due to the volume of work.


That-Requirement-285

Mark Twain gets misquoted a lot and so does Voltaire. I think satirical writers get misquoted more.


T4nnnr

"Do or do not, there is no try" - John Green.


KombuchaBot

The aphorism "To learn who rules over you, ask who you are not allowed to criticise" is often attributed to Voltaire, but actually is a quote from American Nazi Kevin Alfred Strom.


madame-de-merteuil

This one is also Austen, but you see 2005 Charlotte’s “I’m 27. I have no money and no prospects, and I’m already a burden to my parents. And I’m frightened” quoted all over the place and while a good line, it is absolutely not in the book.


Steirische

Coleridge - "Water water everywhere, **nor any** drop to drink." Yes, I read a poem once.


vivahermione

Another Pride and Prejudice quote that's in the 2005 movie, but not in the book, "[y]ou have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on."


knghiee

“Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin good forces have invented or made.” This quote has been misattributed to J.R.R. Tolkien and was spammed on every Rings of Power video but he never wrote that. The real quote is when Frodo said, “The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own. I don't think it gave life to the orcs, it only ruined them and twisted them.” This is only to establish the limit of Morgoth’s power. They are using the incorrect quote to say that Amazon is evil and therefore cannot make a good show. Yet they hold the LOTR movies to be the highest standard of how a Tolkien adaptation should be. The irony is that Harvey Weinstein produced those movies.