Misattributed quotes

Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky.

Possibly derived from a quote by Bernard of Clairvaux: "Trees and stones will teach you what you cannot learn from masters." Read the full notes

I've been walking through a world gone blind
Can't stop thinking of your diamond mind
Careful creature made friends with time
He left her lonely with a diamond mind
And those ocean eyes

"Ocean Eyes" — though her breakthrough hit after she posted her performance of it to SoundCloud for her dance teacher on 18 November 2015, the lyrics were written entirely by her brother Finneas O'Connell, who also collaborates with her on… Read the full notes

When the water reaches the upper deck, follow the rats.

Mencken quotes this in Newspaper Days, 1899–1906 (1941) as a maxim he learned from Al Goodman Read the full notes

It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual but not religious. It is not necessary to go to church and give money— for many, nature can be a church. Some of the best people in history do not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in His name.

Attributed to Pope Francis in a Facebook image circulated circa , this is debunked in "Mass Exodus" at Snopes.com (15 December 2014), which asserts there are no credible indications Francis ever made such a statement: "It's not clear where… Read the full notes

The best teacher is experience and not through someone's distorted point of view.

Often attributed to Kerouac's On the Road, the quote cannot be found in that book, nor in any of Kerouac's other published works. Read the full notes

He that would pass the latter part of life with honour and decency, must, when he is young, consider that he shall one day be old; and remember, when he is old, that he has once been young.

Samuel Johnson in The Rambler, no. 50 (8 September 1750); many of Johnson's remarks have been attributed to Addison Read the full notes

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

George S. Patton: "Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way", as quoted in Pocket Patriot: Quotes from American Heroes (2005) edited by Kelly Nickell, p. 157 Read the full notes

Die, my dear doctor! That's the last thing I shall do!

Apocryphal account of Palmerston's last words - Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men, 6th ed., comp. by Samuel Arthur Bent. Boston: Ticknor and Co., 1887; [Date of Printout]. via Bartleby.com Read the full notes

To design a flying machine is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything.

Widely attributed to Lilienthal, this was actually an 1898 statement by Ferdinand Ferber dedicated to Lilienthal, published in L'Aviation; ses debuts son developpement [Aviation, its debut and devopment] (1908), translated into German as… Read the full notes

If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.

Tim Minear, in Epiphany", episode 16 of season 2 of Angel; also mentioned in the DVD commentary for the Firefly episode, "Objects in Space". Read the full notes

To tell the truth is revolutionary.

The first number of L'Ordine Nuovo, edited by Gramsci, appeared in 1921 with this motto of Ferdinand Lassalle on the first page. It is often misattributed to Gramsci. Read the full notes

The body of scientific evidence supporting creation science is as strong as that supporting evolution. In fact, it may be stronger.... The evidence for evolution is far less compelling than we have been led to believe. Evolution is not a scientific "fact," since it cannot actually be observed in a laboratory. Rather, evolution is merely a scientific theory or "guess."... It is a very bad guess at that. The scientific problems with evolution are so serious that it could accurately be termed a "myth."

Has been misleadingly quoted without Scalia's statements attributing the assertions to witness testimony paragraphs earlier, "Before summarizing the testimony of Senator Keith and his supporters, I wish to make clear that I by no means… Read the full notes

History is philosophy teaching by example, and also warning; its two eyes are geography and chronology.

This quote was already published in 1853, when Garfield was only 22. Read the full notes

No one need think that the world can be ruled without blood. The civil sword shall and must be red and bloody.

Martin Luther, Von Kaufhandlung und Wucher, 1524, (Vol. XV, p. 302, of the Weimar edition of Luther's works). Read the full notes

The harder I work, the luckier I get.

Originated with Samuel Goldwyn as a paraphrase of a proverb from a collection by Coleman Cox, but similar proverbs have existed since the 16th century. Read the full notes

Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?

Speaking in Warsaw in 2012, Kissinger said that he didn't think the saying originated with him, "I am not sure I actually said it, but it's a good statement so why not take credit for it?" Read the full notes

The most significant characteristic of modern civilization is the sacrifice of the future for the present, and all the power of science has been prostituted to this purpose.

Not found in James' writings. Actually written by Oliver Edwin Baker in Agriculture in Modern Life (1939), p. 5. Read the full notes

I don't know much about Americanism, but it's a damn good word with which to carry an election.

What is Americanism? Damn if I know, but it's going to be a damn good word with which to carry an election. Read the full notes

The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.

Truly from Tacitus, Annals, Book III, 27 Read the full notes

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

Alleged to be from House of the Dead, but no such quotation is present. Read the full notes