Quote: \u201cI disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.\u201d (\u201cJe d\u00e9sapprouve ce que vous dites, mais je d\u00e9fendrai \u00e0 la mort votre droit \u00e0 le dire\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n What Voltaire actually said was, \u2018Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.\u2019 \u2013 From Voltaire\u2019s Essay on Tolerance. Honestly, the two quotes don\u2019t really seem to have the \u2018same\u2019 ring as each other.<\/p>\n The misquote in actuality comes from a 1907 book called Friends of Voltaire by Evelyn Beatrice Hall.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n George Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cI cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Washington, in reality, never said this! In fact, the story was first told in the 1800s by the biographer Parson Weems. In Weem\u2019s book, the tree was NOT chopped down.<\/p>\n Edward Murphy<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cAnything that can go wrong, will\u201d (Murphy\u2019s Law)<\/em><\/p>\n Edward Murphy sure didn\u2019t say that. What he is mostly likely to have said would something in the neighborhood of: \u2018If there\u2019s more than one way to do a job and one of those ways will result in a disaster, then somebody will do it that way anyway?\u2019<\/p>\n Absolutely, Mr. Murphy!<\/p>\n Mark Twain<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cThe only two certainties in life are death and taxes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n This, seems to be more of a misattribution problem than that of misquotation. Mark Twain wasn\u2019t really the one who had coined this phrase, it was actually coined by Edward Ward in his 1724 \u2018Dancing Devils\u2019 where he wrote \u2018Death and Taxes, they are certain.\u2019<\/p>\n Then then there was Christopher Bullock had written in his \u2018Cobbler of Preston\u2019 (1716), \u2018\u2019Tis impossible to be sure of anything but death and taxes!\u2019<\/p>\n William Shakespeare<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cGild the lily\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The above is a misquote from Shakespeare\u2019s King John. The real quote however goes something like this \u2013 \u2018To gild refined gold, to paint the lily.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Niccolo Machiavelli<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cThe ends justify the means.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Well, at the most, this is a very liberal interpretation of what Machiavelli really wanted to say \u2013 which was \u2013 \u2018One must consider the final result.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Winston Churchill<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cThe only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Churchill definitely didn\u2019t say that at all \u2013 but his assistant, Anthony Montague Brown did. Funny story \u2013 Churchill however DID wish he had said it!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Marie Antoinette<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cIf they have no bread, let them eat cake!\u201d (\u201cS\u2019ils n\u2019ont plus de pain, qu\u2019ils mangent de la brioche.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n This is probably the most unfortunate quote that has been attributed to Mary Antoinette and for a more malicious reason than a simple error of misquotation.<\/p>\n The Queen has been much maligned over this quote and believe it not, she didn\u2019t even say it! It was in reality from the book of Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in which he had said, \u2018I recalled the make-shift of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread and who replied, \u2018Let them each brioche!\u2019.\u2019<\/p>\n The attribution was most likely a result of the strong anti-royal propaganda during an absolutely troubled time in the French history.<\/p>\n Paul Revere<\/strong><\/p>\n Quote: \u201cThe British are coming!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Wikipedia suggests that Revere\u2019s mission depended on secrecy and the countryside was filled with the British Army patrols; also most colonial residents at the time considered themselves British. So the quotation is more likely based on (though not taken verbatim from) the later famous poem, \u2018Paul Revere\u2019s Ride.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/voltaire-234x300.jpg\" "\\"voltaire\\"")
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