Misattribution quoted by Taika Waititi in March 2019 after the New Zealand Mosque shootings. Read the full notes
Misattributed quotes
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.
Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.
Actually by the Chinese philosopher, educator and popular lecturer Dr. Tehyi Hsieh, Chinese epigrams inside out, and proverbs, 1948. Read the full notes
Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize.
Pauline Kael, in "Trash, Art and the Movies" (February 1969) from Going Steady (1969) Read the full notes
This is clearly spurious. The only published appearance of this attribution yet located is in Baking Recipes of Our Founding Fathers : Authentic Baking Recipes from the Wives and Mothers Of, & Trivia About, the Signers of the Declaration… Read the full notes
Jeremy Taylor, "Apples of Sodom," Part II, Sermon XX of Twenty-Five Sermons for the Winter Half-Year, Preached at Golden Grove (1653) Read the full notes
I do not see why man should not be as cruel as nature.
While the source of this misattribution is unknown, it is cited frequently across the internet, with no source. Read the full notes
These remarks in support of a government-regulated money supply were written by Gerry McGeer, who presented them as his interpretation of what Lincoln believed. cite book Read the full notes
I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.
Attributed to Lincoln in Mark Gold (1998), Animal century . Also attributed to Rowland Hill in Henry Woodcock (1879), Wonders of Grace Read the full notes
The greatest cunning is to have none at all.
This line appears in section 94 of "The People, Yes" (1936), but that section contains many common proverbs and expressions not original to Sandburg which he is merely quoting within the poem, including this one. Read the full notes
One person can make a difference, and every person should try.
Political scientist Thomas E. Cronin, "Leadership and Democracy", in 'Liberal Education', 1987 Read the full notes
It is the fortunate who should extol fortune.
Though attributed to Tasso this is in fact from Goethe's Torquato Tasso, Act II, scene iii, line 115. In the original German: Das Glück erhebe billig der Beglückte! Read the full notes
Jesters do often prove prophets.
Not found in Addison's works, and "Jesters do oft prove prophets" is actually William Shakespeare, in King Lear, Act V, sc. iii Read the full notes
No burden is so heavy for a man to bear as a succession of happy days.
Max Müller, as quoted in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources (1899) by James Wood Read the full notes
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.
No findable citation to Socrates. Found ascribed to Socrates in Stephen Covey (1992), Principle Centered Leadership (1990) p. 51. Read the full notes
Commonly repeated by far-right politicians. Read the full notes
There was no involvement between the Trump campaign and the Russians (variously quoted)
The full statement made by Clapper in testimony before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee was "During my tenure as DNI, it was my practice to defer to the FBI director, both Director Mueller and then subsequently Director Comey, on whether… Read the full notes
A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.
Attributed to Hubbard on social media, but this sentiment is also reflected in biblical teachings, such as Proverbs 17:17, which states, “A friend loves at all times”. Read the full notes
This attribution is unsupported by any published speech, letter, or bull of Urban II. It appears to originate in the work cited above, as no earlier attribution can be found. It most likely refers to the papal bull of Urban II Bullæ Sacræ… Read the full notes
Actually from State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin, paraphrasing Marx in The Civil War in France. Read the full notes
I don’t like spinach, and I’m glad I don’t, because if I liked it I’d eat it, and I’d just hate it.
This quote was attributed to Darrow in the biography Clarence Darrow for the Defence (1949), but its earliest known source is from a journal entry of George Sand from 1835. Read the full notes