Posted on 02/13/2019 9:16:42 AM PST by SeekAndFind
We've all heard Albert Einstein's famous line: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." As it turns out, insanity might be crediting that quote to Einstein over and over again. He never said it.
Misattributions like this happen pretty often. One person quotes someone else without a shoutout, and all of a sudden, they become the original speaker. Or we just decide a quote sounds like something Mark Twain would say.
These 12 surprising examples are credited to people who never really said them.
1. "Let them eat cake." not Marie Antoinette
Not only did Marie Antoinette not utter these words, if she had, everyone probably misunderstood her.
In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Book 6" of his 12-volume autobiographical work, "Confessions," he writes, "At length I recollected the thoughtless saying of a great princess, who, on being informed that the countrypeople had no bread, replied, "Then let them eat pastry!" according to Phrase Finder.
Most people assume "great princess" refers to Marie Antoinette. But Rousseau wrote those words in 1767 when Marie Antoinette was 12 years old. She also didn't marry Louis XVI until 1770.
Even if Marie Antoinette did utter the phrase, the original version in French, "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche," means "Let them eat brioche" a type of crumbly French pastry (not unlike cake but not totally the same) eaten by the upperclass. The misinterpreted quote portrays Marie Antoinette as a callous patrician, unconcerned with the plight of the poor. But she could have meant the wealthy should stop monopolizing food and share with the lower classes if she said it.
Other sources credit Marie-Therese, Marie Antoinette's eldest child (and the wife of Louis XIV).
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I’m glad to hear about number 12. As I’ve posted before and elsewhere, the statement isn’t true. That’s a symptom of neurosis, not psychosis. Glad to know it wasn’t the guy with the messy office.
But who did say it? Can’t read the article because of my ad blocker.
Often persons claiming an attribution is false, mean instead that there is no public record of so-and-so saying it First. However, not only does public record miss a lot, but any clever statement was probably said first centuries ago by someone none of us have heard of.
“You dirty rat!”
Not according to the internet.
I heard it was Sloan before Google, FWIW. Internet says it's attribution to Sloan is not certain.
I know what you're thinking, and I don't mean:
In fact, I think the opposite is true:
“When you ask for something in prayer, don’t try to help God out.”
Were going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.
~~Not Hitler.
~~Not Hitler.
I see what you did there! Very good!
“Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie...” - NOT The Rascals
1. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
2. You can observe a lot by just watching.
3. It aint over till its over.
4. Its like déjà vu all over again.
5. No one goes there nowadays, its too crowded.
6. Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.
7. A nickel aint worth a dime anymore.
8. Always go to other peoples funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours.
9. We made too many wrong mistakes.
10. Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
11. You better cut the pizza in four pieces because Im not hungry enough to eat six.
12. You wouldnt have won if wed beaten you.
13. I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.
14. Never answer an anonymous letter.
15. Slump? I aint in no slump I just aint hitting.
16. How can you think and hit at the same time?
17. The future aint what it used to be.
18. I tell the kids, somebodys gotta win, somebodys gotta lose. Just dont fight about it. Just try to get better.
19. It gets late early out here.
20. If the people dont want to come out to the ballpark, nobodys going to stop them.
21. We have deep depth.
22. Pair up in threes.
23. Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.
24. Youve got to be very careful if you dont know where you are going, because you might not get there.
25. All pitchers are liars or crybabies.
Not Yogi The Bear
I wasn't old enough to have a thought like that when the song was on the radio, but plausible, yes.
BTW, here's a version I like maybe more than the original:
Kenny Rankin, Groovin. Arrangement by Don Costa.
The whole thing of “said” or “never said” is really a hard one to pin down in my opinion. If someone were referring to me, how could they, with any authority ever decree what I’ve said and what I haven’t said? Heck, I can’t even do that myself!
When they use the word “said” do they mean “wrote it down on paper themselves”? Or do they count it if someone that was present in a crowd wrote it down after they heard it? If so, did that person hear it and quote it correctly?
Even in a world with millions of recording devices, newspapers are still willing to “quote” people with words the speaker never said (as we well know). So when I see these kinds of articles, I have to ask, “How can you REALLY know whether someone 200 years ago said something or not?” You can’t.
Ask not what your country can do for you. ..JFK
He stole it from Henry Ford who said company not country.
Bartlett’s always seemed to know the difference between attributed and authenticated.
Hold me closer Tony Danza - not Elton John
***1. “Let them eat cake.” not Marie Antoinette ***
I’ve heard variations on this and the meaning...
“Let the eat Rolls.”
But another says the “cake” is a reference to the burnt scrapings that comes out of the baker’s ovens at that time.
Reverend Blue Jeans ... not Neil Diamond
Don’t know if this accurate, but I hope so:
“I haven’t committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.” -—David Dinkins, New York City Mayor, answering accusations that he failed to pay his taxes.
“Wrapped up like a douche in the middle of the night” - Not Manfred Man
Manfred Mann
I listened to Snoopdog And Tupac while smoking pot in college.
Not Abraham Lincoln
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