History often gets condensed to bite-sized pieces. In fact, some of history’s most significant people and events are often remembered through a snappy one-liner. The problem is that, even when reduced to a quick little aphorism, we don’t always get the quotes quite right. After being repeated thousands of times for hundreds of years, that’s quite understandable, but you might be surprised to find out that some of the most famous quotes of all time are wrong:
“There’s a sucker born every minute” – P.T. Barnum
The original Cardiff Giant.
This is a case of misattribution, and there’s actually an interesting story behind it. While the quote regarding people’s gullibility is attributed to notorious showman and promoter P.T. Barnum, it was actually David Hannum, one of Barnum’s competitors, who said it.
Hannum had recently purchased the famed Cardiff Giant and was making a lot of money by exhibiting it so, naturally, Barnum wanted it for himself. He engaged in a failed attempt to buy it, but Barnum, ever the shrewd businessman, thought of an even better idea.
He simply commissioned another statue, called it the genuine Cardiff Giant and then claimed that Hannum was the one with the phony statue. His plan worked, and people started flocking to see Barnum’s giant instead. And that’s when Hannum uttered his now-famous phrase.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world” – Gandhi
Source: Nonviolence International
If Facebook statuses and bumper stickers are a good way to judge anything, then this is one of Gandhi’s most memorable quotes. It sure sounds like him, anyway. But the truth is that this is a condensed version of a longer speech of his, likely done so it could be sold on a bumper sticker. This is the part of Gandhi’s speech which is similar to the misquote – “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.”
“Let them eat cake” – Marie Antoinette
This might just be the most famous misquote in history.
Nowadays it gets repeated by people who completely changed the quote’s original meaning and don’t even know who the wrong person who supposedly said it was. Partly, this is because the quote is incomplete. In full, it should be “if they have no bread, let them eat cake.” According to legend, Marie Antoinette uttered this painfully out of touch phrase when told that her people were starving because they had no bread.
The problem is that there is no evidence that Marie Antoinette ever said this. In fact, the quote was used in anti-royalist propaganda of the time. It is usually attributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau who mentions it in his autobiography Confessions. However, not even he attributes the quote to Marie Antoinette, rather speaking only of a “great princess.”
“Et tu, Brute?” – Julius Caesar
The Death of Julius Caesar by Vincenzo Camuccini.
“You, too, Brutus,” the line spoke by Caesar during his assassination, became the default reply for any shocking betrayal. However, we really have no idea what Caesar’s last words were. He was in a room surrounded by approximately 50 people, all of whom were trying to kill him, and had already been stabbed dozens of times. To think that he still had the opportunity to deliver a memorable epitaph—and that there was someone there to record it—is a little unbelievable.
If we go by ancient sources that covered Caesar’s assassination, his last words might have been “You, too, child?” spoken to Brutus. Others, like Suetonius, simply claim that Caesar said nothing or that his last words are unknown. As for the “Et tu, Brute” line, that comes from the same place where most other memorable quotes come from – Shakespeare.
“Sic semper tyrannis” – Brutus
It’s also the state seal of Virginia. Source: WordPress
It’s quite uncommon for a single event to generate two memorable (mis)quotes. However, Marcus Junius Brutus supposedly delivered this line when he was assassinating Caesar. Even so, there are no ancient historical sources to attribute the quote to Brutus. In more modern times, the line regained infamy when it was uttered by John Wilkes Booth when he shot Lincoln. However, the line is often mistranslated as death to tyrants when, actually, it means “thus always to tyrants”.
“The ends justify the means” – Niccolo Machiavelli
Source: Rost Online
As a pioneer of the consequentialism movement, Machiavelli’s work certainly embodies this iconic phrase, but he never actually said it. He gets closest when he writes that the final result must always be taken into account before acting. As far as the line itself goes, we don’t know who first said it in this current form. Similar sayings have been attributed to writers like Ovid and Sophocles ever since ancient times.
“We are not amused” – Queen Victoria
According to those who knew her, Queen Victoria was amused quite often and had a roaring laugh.
British royals are usually portrayed as grumpy, prudish and generally no fun. This unflattering image primarily comes from the Victorian era which, as the name suggests, was named after Queen Victoria. Obviously, as the main representative, the queen had to be the grumpiest of all. This reputation was solidified through Victoria’s most memorable one-liner – We are not amused.
However, establishing the veracity of the quote is somewhat problematic. There are numerous stories about where and why the queen uttered the famous words, but they all involve different places and people. To say which one of them, if any, is correct, is impossible. Most of them claim that Queen Victoria declared her lack of amusement when she heard a racy joke or story. But in a 1977 interview, Princess Alice, Victoria’s granddaughter, said she had asked her grandmother about the quote, and Queen Victoria replied that she never said such a thing.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” – William Congreve
Source: Wikimedia
Unfortunately for Mr. Congreve, he really gets the short end of the stick when it comes to quotes. For starters, he gets misquoted a lot since the famous line actually is Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.
Even worse, though, everyone thinks Shakespeare wrote it, mostly because it sounds like something Shakespeare would write. And last, but not least, this isn’t even the only quote of Congreve that gets this treatment. In the same play where this quote can be found, The Mourning Bride, he also says Music has charms to soothe a savage breast. The line is, again, misquoted (he says breast, not beast) and is oftentimes attributed to Shakespeare.
“Elementary, my dear Watson” – Sherlock Holmes
You would think that one of the most popular characters in literature would remember to say his most famous line. But that’s not the case with Sherlock Holmes, who never once said “Elementary, my dear Watson” in any of the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He did say “Elementary” on several occasions and “Exactly, my dear Watson” in three stories. The iconic line didn’t appear until the movies.
“The only two certainties in life are death and taxes” – Mark Twain
Source: Oregon Live
Mark Twain was certainly known for his wit, which is probably why everyone thought that he said this, as well. However, this one isn’t his. There are two versions of the quote uttered relatively close together. In 1716, Christopher Bullock said it’s impossible to be sure of anything but death and taxes, and eight years later, Edward Ward said that Death and taxes, they are certain.
If you enjoyed these historical quotes, read our other posts on interesting quotes and deep quotes about life! Then, read the last words uttered by some of history’s most famous figures.
