Some of the most-shared quotes were never said by the people they are credited to. Here are the ones Wikiquote lists as misattributed, with what is known about where they really came from.
We rely on the notes and sources recorded on Wikiquote and show them next to each quote. “Misattributed” means the evidence points away from the credited person — it does not always tell us who did say it.
They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing (and variations).
Recognized since the 19th century as a adoption, possibly used by Talleyrand, from a 1796 letter to Mallet du Pan by French naval officer Charles Louis Etienne, Chevalier de Panat: Personne n'est corrigé; personne n'a su ni rien oublier ni… Read the full notes
Saying published anonymously in The Dayspring, Vol. 10 (1881) by the Unitarian Sunday-School Society, and quoted in Life and Labor (1887) by Smiles; this is most often attributed to George Dana Boardman, at least as early as 1884, and to… Read the full notes
This has often been attributed to de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, but erroneously, according to "The Tocqueville Fraud" in The Weekly Standard (13 November 1995). This quote dates back to at least 1922 (Herald and Presbyter… Read the full notes
Crossing the river by feeling the stones.
Meaning: proceed gradually, by experimentation. | Traditional saying, first used in Chinese Communist context by Chen Yun, 1980 December 16, then popularized by Deng 1984 October. Frequently misattributed to Deng.Evan Osnos, Boom Doctor… Read the full notes
A man needs truth like a machine needs oil.
Often attributed to Kerouac's novel Big Sur, the quote cannot be found in that book, nor in any of Kerouac's other published works. It is, in fact, a quote by the Kerouac character in the movie of Big Sur (2013) and therefore composed by… Read the full notes
Misattributed to Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (2010) by Eric Metaxas; there is no actual reference in that book. Previously attributed to Bonhoeffer in Explorations 12:1 (1998), p. 3, as referenced by James Cone (2004)… Read the full notes
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle. Plato? Philo of Alexandria?. Read the full notes
Philip Nicholas Shuttleworth (1782–1842), bishop of Chichester, in an address "Christ's Yoke Easy and Burden Light", published in The Sunday Library; or, The Protestant's Manual for the Sabbath-day (1831) by Thomas Frognall Dibdin; this… Read the full notes
This quote does not actually appear in Albert Einstein: The Human Side as is sometimes claimed. | Only two sources from before 1970 can be found on Google Books. The first is The Theosophist: Volume 86 which seems to cover the years 1964… Read the full notes
Attributed to Locke on various quotes sites and on social media, this quotation is a false rendering of "We are all a sort of chameleons, that still take a tincture from things near us: nor is it to be wondered at in children, who better… Read the full notes
4 January 2009 in page 57, during chapter "The Marriage Contract: The Lock on the Golden Cage" of "Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law" by Nonie Darwish | 3 June 2011 in page 397/424 of "Annie and… Read the full notes
Everyone who believes in telekinesis, raise my hand.
Randi has stated (in an email dated July 11, 2006) that he did not coin this phrase, and he doesn't know who did | Earlier attribution: "How many people here have telekinetic powers? Raise my hand." | Emo Philips, from his live stand-up… Read the full notes
Quote is often seen as attributed to Joan of Arc. However, the quote is actually a line from a script for the 1946 Broadway play entitled Joan of Lorraine by Maxwell Anderson which later become a movie in 1948 entitled Joan of Arc directed… Read the full notes
see Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service, Edited by Suzy Platt, 1989, number 195. Last line: "Evidently, the quotation is spurious." | See also this Google Answers discussion… Read the full notes
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
This phrase was created by reporter Sharon Begley in the end of a 1977 Newsweek article with an extended profile of Carl Sagan. It was a final conclusion about Sagan's work and the topic of hypotethical extra-terrestrial life forms. "Quote… Read the full notes
The first sign of senility is when a man forgets his theorems. The second sign is when he forgets to zip up. The third sign is when he forgets to zip down. | As quoted in Wonders of Numbers : Adventures in Mathematics, Mind, and Meaning… Read the full notes
Never take counsel of your fears.
Without any reference to Jackson in: Conversations of Our Club. Brownson's Quarterly Review, October 1858. p. 459 books.google Read the full notes
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers
Widely misattributed and misquoted. Coolidge was quoting Tennyson in a June 3, 1925 speech to the US Naval Academy. Foundations of the Republic pp 237 : THE NAVY AS AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE The poet reminds us that "Knowledge comes, but… Read the full notes
Why should the Devil have all the best tunes?
Though it is widely attested that Booth used this adage, it originates in the 18th century, being attributed to George Whitefield, in The Monthly Review, or, Literary Journal, Vol. 49 (June 1773 - January 1774), p. 430; it has also been… Read the full notes
This has similarly been attributed to Buchan, but is actually a misrendering of a sentence from the first paragraph of John Bunyan, Discourse on Prayer. Bunyan's original sentence reads: "It is the opener of the heart of God, and a means… Read the full notes