Actually said by Charles de Gaulle, on leaving his presidency, Life, May 9, 1969. 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.
This appeared in Banneker's Almanac in 1794, and is commonly attributed to him, but originates earlier in "Reflections on different Subjects of Morality, by Stanisław Leszczyński, King of Poland, Duke of Lorrain and Bar" in The Universal… Read the full notes
The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page Retrieved 2013-07-07 Read the full notes
God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.
For a discussion of this quotation, which is uncertain in origin but was quoted long before Voltaire, see the following Read the full notes
Morning Has Broken, was widely popularized by the Cat Stevens version on Teaser and the Firecat (1971), but was actually written by Eleanor Farjeon in 1931. · A performance by Cat Stevens (1976) Read the full notes
To preserve the life of citizens, is the greatest virtue in the father of his country.
The quote is from a Roman tragedy Octavia; Act 2, Line 444, where Seneca advises Nero against carrying out his tyrannical plans. Seneca's attribution to the play is generally discredited by modern scholarship. Read the full notes
When I hear the word culture, I reach for my Browning!
"When I hear the word culture, I reach for my revolver" was also is used in the 1981 Cannes Film Festival Award winner Mephisto spoken by a character known as "The General" in the English dubbed version. Read the full notes
You will never find justice in a world where criminals make the rules.
Seen on protest signs and social media posts against U.S. President Donald Trump. Read the full notes
Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Gustav Friedrich Waagen in "On the Purpose of the Berlin Gallery" [Über die Aufgabe der Berliner Galerie] (1828); occasionally attributed to von Humboldt, who had quoted Schinkel and Waagen in a report. Read the full notes
No person can be a great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the successes of those under him.
Not by Auden; sources from the 1980s attribute it to the Rev. W. A. Nance (the name seems to have been confused with Auden's) Read the full notes
Robert McAfee Brown. Preface for the 25th anniversary edition of Night. Page v, Bantam Books paperback; 1982 reissue edition. Read the full notes
Joseph Butler, Human Nature and Other Sermons, pt. 7, as quoted in Arnold's St. Paul and Protestantism (1870) Read the full notes
All free governments are managed by the combined wisdom and folly of the people.
James A. Garfield, as quoted in Many Thoughts of Many Minds : A Treasury of Quotations from the Literature of Every Land and Every Age (1896) edited by Louis Klopsch, p. 116 Read the full notes
The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.
John Locke, in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), Book I, Chapter II, paragraph 3 Read the full notes
Kitchener, a great man or a great poster?
Attributed to Margot Asquith, as in Sir Philip Magnus, Kitchener: Portrait of an Imperialist (1938, ch. xiv): "Mrs. Asquith remarked indiscreetly that if Kitchener was not a great man, he was, at least, a great poster." Asquith herself… Read the full notes
The Proverbs of Alfred, st. 19, as published in The Dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus (1848), edited by John Mitchell Kemble, p. 247 Read the full notes
Sometimes attributed to Penn, this is actually from a document Concessions and Agreements of West New Jersey (13 March 1677) Read the full notes
Margaret Mead, quoted in "Growing Old in America: An Introduction with Margaret Mead" by Grace Hechinger, Family Circle (26 July 1977), p. 27 Read the full notes
This has been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever.
Actual quote was "NAFTA is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, but certainly ever signed in this country." Read the full notes
Buy stock in a business that's so good that an idiot can run it, because sooner or later one will.
While Buffett is fond of repeating this adage, he also often credits it to contemporary value investor Peter Lynch Read the full notes