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42 Iconic Quotes Everyone Gets Wrong

‘Don’t believe every quote you read on social media’ — Abraham Lincoln

42 Iconic Quotes Everyone Gets Wrong

August 26, 2023

If you’ve ever browsed a social media site, you’ve most likely stumbled upon an epic or inspirational quote attributed to a beloved famous person. We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but those quotes are most likely wrongly attributed, or just totally made up. Like these 42 quotes…

42

NOPE Et tu, Brute? - Julius Caesar Caesar is generally thought to have said kaì sú, téknon, which translates to even you, son? But some historians think it was something a bit more defiant; roughly, you're next! CRACKED.COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

41

CRACKED.COM Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference. ROBERT FROST The Road Not Taken was Frost's way of criticizing a friend for crying over what might have happened. — Poets.org

40

Wear sunscreen. Kurt Vonnegut We all know the Vonnegut commencement speech that inspired the Baz Luhrman song, right? It was actually a 1997 column by Mary Schmich for The Chicago Tribune. CRACKED.COM — Source

39

My mama always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates. Forrest Gump People don't realize that this is a sweetened version of a more negative quote in the original novel: CRACKED.COM Let me say this: Bein' a idiot is no box of chocolates. People laugh, lose patience, treat you shabby. — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

38

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

NEVER HAPPENED Let them eat cake. - Marie Antoinette The flippant tone is accurate, but it was philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau who attributed the quote to a hypothetical great princess. CRACKED.COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

37

Dracula

I vant to suck your blood! Dracula In the 1931 movie, Dracula just straight-up never says it! The closest he comes - and it's also unnecessarily creepy - is ' I never drink... wine. CRACKED.COM — Source

36

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched -they must be felt with the heart. For us, this quote implies that emotions are more important than material goods. Its original meaning is more direct: The deaf-blind author, lecturer, and activist Helen Keller (1880-1968) wrote it down from the words of her teacher Anne Sullivan to make a point that people who can't see and hear can still experience beauty and happiness like everybody else. CRACKED COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

35

NEGATIVE HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM - Jack Swigert What he actually said was okay, Houston, we've had a problem here, which sounds a lot more like a guy calmly doing his job than a frantic ASA engineer suddenly SUNGER! freaking out about the vacuum of space. CRACKED.COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

34

CRACKED.COM Be yourself, everyone else is aleady taken OSCAR WILDE There's no credible source that links this to Wilde. Не did write, Most people are other people. Their thoughts are some one else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. — Quote Investigator

33

OW Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter. Dr. Seuss Sometimes attributed to Sir Mark Young, sometimes to Bernard Baruch. In both cases, it was more about rich people complaining about seating at fancy 1940's dinner parties, and less about seizing the day after you graduate high school. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

CRACKED.COM ILLIGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM is a phrase taken to mean Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down. It's really fake Latin from the twentieth century. There's no verb, so the closest translation is: Outlaws Are Not Silicon Carbide. (an industrial abrasive) Crap Latin aside, Harvard still uses the phrase in the school fight song. — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

31

SORRY, NAH First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. then they attack you. Then you win. - Gandhi Wise words! Just... actually said by a union activist, to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, in 1918. CRACKED COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

30

CRACKED.COM Who watches the watchmen? JUVENAL The original text is about women being unfaithful liars: 'Bolt her in, constrain her!' But who can watch the watchmen? They keep quiet about the girl's secrets and get her as their payment; everyone hushes it up. — 13 Famous Quotes We've Been Getting All Wrong

29

42 Iconic Quotes Everyone Gets Wrong — Source

28

The phrase Now is the winter of our discontent is from Shakespeare's play Richard III and is used to imply that the speaker is unhappy. The actual phrase is Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York. A reference to the House of York having turned the tide in the Wars of the Roses to their favor, it is a pun within a metaphor meaning Now the good times are here. CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

27

MISQUOTE The ends justify the means. -Machiavelli What he actually said was one must consider the final result, which is slightly less... Machiavellian. CRACKED.COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

26

CRACKED.COM Music has charms to soothe a savage beast WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE The quote is taken from playwright William Congreve, not Shakespeare, who wrote Music has charms to soothe a savage Breast. Не was referring to people's hearts, not animals. — Columbia Journalism Review

25

Lucy! You got some 'splainin' to do!! Ricky Ricardo Ricky asked Lucy to 'splain plenty of things, but he never actually said this particular catchphrase. People weren't obsessively watching reruns at the time, SO no one caught it when a reporter printed the misquote. CRACKED.COM — Source

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24

The line from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Discretion is the better part of valor, implies the wisdom of being cautious and avoiding unnecessary risks; but it's a corruption of Falstaff's excuse when he's discovered to have faked his death to avoid fighting in battle, and quoted correctly, reads: The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part | have saved my life. CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

23

10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

22

Lord Acton

CRACKED.COM Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely, LORD ACTON The full quote is Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men... Although the difference is subtle, the indication that not all power corrupts is important. — Hanover

21

Jerry Seinfeld

What's the deal with airline food?? Jerry Seinfeld Seinfeld never earnestly began a joke that way. The two times he said it - once on an SNL gameshow sketch, once in-character on Seinfeld - he was mocking the myriad hack comedians who lazily ripped him off. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Many people find comfort in Exodus 14:14, in which Moses tells the Israelites: The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. But most forget the next verse, in which God directly contradicts Moses: And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

19

WRONG AGAIN If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best. - Marilyn Monroe No one knows who actually said this, but it wasn't Marilyn. The ironic thing is that she hated misattributed quotes: When I was a little girl I read signed stories in fan magazines and I believed every word of them. Then I tried to model my life after the lives of the stars I read about. If I'm going to have that kind of influence, I want to be sure it's because of something I've actually said or written. CRACKED.COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

18

Money Misquote

CRACKED.COM Money is the root of all evil 1 TIMOTHY 6:10 The full translaton is For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Greed, not money itself, creates some, not all, evil. — Bible Gateway

17

Mr. T

I PITY THE FOOL B. .A. Baracus Sure, Mr. T said it all the time - but never in an episode of The A-Team. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it. - attributed to Bill Gates The original quote, from a 1947 Senate hearing, doesn't say it's smarter to hire a lazy person than a hard worker. job beyond what he can do, because he can't do it all day. So if you have got a job that is tough-I have taught my foremen this for some months now-if you get a tough job, one that is hard, and you haven't got a way to make it easy, put a — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

15

NOPE Our deepest fear is not that we are weak. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. - Nelson Mandela This is actually a 1989 quote from Marianne Williamson. Yeah, that Marianne Williamson. CRACKED.COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

14

CRACKED.COM Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN The quote was in regards to a tax dispute, encouraging a family to pay taxes for frontier defenses. Instead of being pro-privacy, it's actually pro-taxation and pro-defense spending. — NPR

13

May the Force be with you. Obi-Wan Kenobi It's actually first said by General Jan Dodonna before the mission to destroy the Death Star, and later popularized by Han Solo, of all people. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

GOD WILL NEVER GiVE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE. The text it misquotes is actually about temptation: if you're tempted beyond what you can bear, God will provide a way to resist. CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

11

NOT QUITE Nice guys finish last. - Leo Durocher Не actually said the nice guys are all over there, in seventh place. That's an important distinction; his original intent - encouragement to toughen up, to change, to become better-is a far cry from the hopeless mantra of misogynist gremlins who wish they could be meaner to women. Also? Seventh place is technically second-to-last. Checkmate, sexism. CRACKED.COM — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

10

CRACKED.COM Curiosity killed the cat. ENGLISH IDIOM The original phrase, dating back to a play in 1598, was care killed the cat, meaning that worry/sorrow killed the cat. — University of Utah

9

Martin Luther King Jr.

DIDN'T HAPPEN I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one. - Martin Luther King, Jr. Jessica Dovey The quote has I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, addin been traced to cannot drive out darkness: only light can do th this random Yesterday at 2: 15pm Like Comment Christina S David T Amber a Facebook post, Reena S made after the beautifully said!!!j would Yesterday at 2: 19pm Unlike 1 person killing of bin Julia S I agree, but I am still glad — 10 Historical Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

8

CRACKED.COM Blood is thicker than water. MEDIEVAL PROVERB The phrase may come from the older Arab phrase Blood is thicker than milk meaning that a strong relationship is more meaningful than one created from sharing a mother's milk. — The Blood Covenant

7

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - EDMUND BURKE His actual words: When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. So, Burke only pointed out that it's vital to work together against bad men- he said nothing more. CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

6

CRACKED.COM The proof is in the pudding ENGLISH IDIOM The original proverb was The proof of the pudding is in eating, meaning you have to try something before you can judge it. — NPR

5

GRACKED.COM The quote WINNING IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, stops being so motivational when you know the ending: IT'S THE ONLY THING. — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

4

Rome wasn't built in a day, HEY DON'T GET DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU DON'T SUCCEED RIGHT AWAY! ...but it burned in one. HEY! YOUR HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS ARE FLEETING AND CAN BE TAKEN AWAY AT ANY MOMENT! CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

3

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops by Henry Adams is widely used as a slogan in classrooms and lecture halls. However, it was intended as a criticism on the dogmatic nature of education, branding teachers as worse than murderers, as shown in the oft-neglected preceeding sentence, A murderer takes life, but his deed stops there. CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

2

CRACKED.COM The expression When one door closes another door opens is incomplete. The part that's left out turns this inspirational saying into a criticism of pessimistic society: ...but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

1

The phrase My country right or wrong, is actually a trimmed down version of My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right. The full quotation implies that every citizen has the obligation to set their country right instead of being blindly loyal. CRACKED.COM — 20 Inspirational Quotes That Everyone Gets Wrong

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