We all love to quote things to each other: axioms, proverbs, famous politician and celebrity quotes, iconic statements, and remarks from history. Heck, even funny lines we see on television shows and viral memes we watch on social media. Quoting other people’s clever and creative remarks has been going on throughout human history for as long as people have been making clever and creative remarks. But with all that quoting, there are bound to be some messed-up and mistaken quotes floating around out there!
That’s what this list is about. Today, we’ll take a fascinating journey through ten very famous quotes that are very often mistakenly quoted. Whether taken out of context, only half-shared in a way that totally changes their original meaning, or just outright misattributed or misremembered altogether, these ten quotes are extremely well-known… and extremely wrong. Oops! So let’s set the record straight once and for all!
Related: 10 Quotes From Experts Who Were Proved Wrong
You’ve undoubtedly heard the quote, “Money is the root of all evil.” But that’s not actually the entire quote as it originally stood—in the Bible, no less. See, people like to drop that quote on you when it comes to the importance of money. But the full quote misses three key words that add a good bit of context right up front. It actually goes: “The love of money is the root of all evil.” See how that changes the tone just a little bit?
Quoting from the Bible in the first book of Timothy (chapter six, verse ten), the wording goes: “For the desire of money is the root of all evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.” And other translations of the Bible have the same quote, of course, but worded slightly differently.
But again, the key context here is “the love of money” and not simply money itself. Money is, of course, a means to an end. You need money to live a comfortable life, buy a safe home, a reliable car, and everything in the modern age. So, to that end, money is a tool you should use to achieve positive ends and help you live the life you want. It’s not categorically “evil” in all senses just because it exists.
But there’s a line to cross there, too. When you go from earning money to live a better life to becoming obsessive over hoarding as much money as possible, well, you’ve crossed into “evil” territory. And now you know the difference—and the full quote that infamously warns about it![1]
To hear casual fans of Sherlock Holmes tell it, you’d think Sherlock said, “Elementary, my dear Watson,” right from the very start. After all, it’s one of the most quoted lines from Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories. But it’s completely wrong! Sherlock Holmes never said that in any original Conan Doyle tale!
Despite that, the quote has been used frequently in movies throughout the years. And it has been so misattributed that it was even placed (mistakenly!) in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations in both 1937 and 1948. That’s a big bungle!
In the original Conan Doyle, Holmes’s iconic quote is actually broken up into two separate pieces and set out differently. It starts with Holmes saying this to Watson: “I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson. When your round is a short one, you walk, and when it is a long one, you use a hansom. As I perceive that your boots, although used, are by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are at present busy enough to justify the hansom.”
And then, after Watson cries out “Excellent,” the second part of the Holmes quote rears its head: “Elementary. It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of the deduction. The same may be said, my dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of yours, which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does upon your retaining in your own hands some factors in the problem which are never imparted to the reader.”
It’s a bit of text to parse through, but clearly, that mix-up is where the mistake occurred: Holmes does indeed say “my dear Watson” and criest out “elementary.” And they come in quick succession across a single conversation! But they don’t come packed together in one quotable quote. But for whatever reason, the quote was transcribed this way into all of our brains, and it has stuck incorrectly in the public consciousness like this.[2]
The iconic 1995 film Apollo 13 may have popularized the quote, “Houston, we have a problem,” but that memorable movie line is actually incorrect. Yes, we know, it pains us to say that anything Tom Hanks is involved in wouldn’t be 100% above board, but Hanks and his co-stars in that blockbuster film actually got the scene wrong—but only very slightly.
Instead of “Houston, we have a problem,” the actual line comes in the past tense: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” On April 14, 1970, an explosion occurred on board the Apollo 13 spacecraft as it approached the Moon. The command module pilot, Jack Swigert, noted the explosion immediately and radioed into NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas.
He used these exact words: “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” The radio operators in Houston didn’t hear him correctly when he first said it, though, and they asked him to repeat it. Speaking from down in Texas, Mission Control capsule communicator Jack R. Lousma asked for Swigert to speak again. At that point, mission commander Jim Lovell jumped in from his place on the spacecraft, confirming the exact same words with the exact same tense: “Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
It’s a very minor misquotation, of course, to go from “we’ve had a problem” to “we have a problem.” But it’s a big deal in how the movie is structured. When you see “Houston, we have a problem” on the big screen, you get to watch Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Pullman desperately trying to figure out what happened in real time. It makes your heart pound!
In the actual space launch, Swigert and Lovell were no less alarmed or worried, but they had to work backward through a technical checklist to figure out what went wrong after the actual problem occurred. And so the past tense of reality with “we’ve had a problem” becomes the present tense terror of the silver screen with “we have a problem.”[3]
One of the most famous quotes in all of human history is the line ascribed to Marie-Antoinette: “Let them eat cake.” As the story goes, when hearing that French peasants had no bread to eat and were going hungry, Marie-Antoinette supposedly said, “Let them eat cake,” proving how out of touch the royal class was to the sufferings of their subjects in the 18th century.
However, there’s just one little problem with it. Marie-Antoinette almost certainly didn’t say that. In fact, when the quote was first written down and recorded for history, she was a very young child who hadn’t even been to France yet and certainly wouldn’t have been able to think about the implications of such a statement on hunger and poverty!
Historians who did the smallest amount of digging found the quote listed and discussed in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, written in 1765. That was published nearly three decades before the French Revolution. And when it was published, Marie-Antoinette was only nine years old—and had never even been to France yet! So it’s pretty unlikely that she said it, right?
But it gets even deeper from there! In 1843, a French writer named Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr reported that he found the quote in a separate book that was published five years before Rousseau’s work in 1760. If that’s true, Marie-Antoinette would have been just five years old at the time of that publication, and she certainly wouldn’t have said the infamous cake quip.
Unfortunately for Rousseau, Karr, and every other writer and historian who has been trying to debunk this thing for decades, the cake comment has been stuck to Marie-Antoinette even though it almost certainly wasn’t her who said it. Ah, well. History can be quite a fickle mistress, can’t it?[4]
Niccolò Machiavelli never said, “The ends justify the means,” even though that famous quote is very often attributed to him. Of course, he was a prolific thinker—and a prolific writer—so there is no shortage of quotes you can rightly and correctly attribute to the Italian philosopher and social theorist. But “the ends justify the means” is not one of them.
That quote, as it stands, is not found in any of his works, nor is a translation into English enough of a parallel to likely give that quote to him. Historians and philosophers today instead believe the Roman poet Ovid ought to be the one credited with “the ends justify the means.” But for whatever reason, Machiavelli unfairly gets all the mistaken credit.
Now, Machiavelli wrote some things that were somewhat similar to the quote. In Discourses, one passage goes: “For although the act condemns the doer, the end may justify him….” And in his famous work The Prince, he goes on to write, “Let a prince have the credit [as] the means will always be considered honest… because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it.”
From those quotes, it is perhaps easy to see how his writing has been very liberally (and very incorrectly) reframed over the centuries to get down to the pithy “the ends justify the means” commentary we have today. However, for Machiavelli, the reality of ends and means wasn’t as simple as that justification though. As he notes in his writing, sometimes the ends may indeed justify the means—but not always.
For him, thinking of ends when it came to the means to get there was more of a warning not to be pious in political dealings rather than an outright suggestion that there would be no consequences should one cast aside virtue and honor. That’s a big difference and one that philosophers have hotly debated ever since. But once and for all, let’s take that mistaken Machiavelli quote off the board, shall we?[5]
We’ve all heard the very common axiom, “The proof is in the pudding.” But did you know that isn’t actually the correct quote? Okay, if you’re reading this list and you’ve made it this far down the list, you probably already know that the quote is going to be corrected shortly. So, let’s not insult your intelligence with that question and just get on with it!
Jokes aside, “the proof is in the pudding” is the evolution of an old proverb that started out with a very important and different distinction. The full old proverb goes something like this: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” In the end, it means the same thing as it does in our modern misremembrance of how it goes. That is, the value of the thing in question (the “pudding” in this case) must only be judged on direct, actual experience with it rather than in theory or appearance.
It might be a good idea in your head, but if the “pudding” in your brain comes out flat as a project or product or whatever else, well, that proves the “pudding” wasn’t any good to begin with. Coincidentally, that proverb actually got its start with literal pudding. Centuries ago, people used it to quite literally explain how they had to try out the food they made to know if it was worth eating. Recently, society has reorganized that to a more metaphorical usage, but the ultimate meaning is all the same. Still, it’s important to share the actual quote so that you can use it correctly![6]
The quote “blood, sweat, and tears” is one of the most common phrases used by people for nearly a full century now—and in that exact order, too. But if you ask many people about the quote, they either don’t know where it’s from, or they almost always say it came from a famous speech by Winston Churchill during the beginning of World War II. That’s actually not correct, though.
Even though “blood, sweat, and tears” have been misattributed to Churchill to the point where they likely always will be, his actual words were slightly different. The date was May 10, 1940, and the occasion was Churchill’s rise to officially become the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister. Upon his ascension during the political turnover, he gave a speech to the House of Commons while asking them for a vote of confidence in his new government.
Labour backed him, but the Conservatives were a bit more lukewarm; they had remained steadfast in their support of Neville Chamberlain. Of course, Churchill eventually took power and carried Britain through the awful war years. But on that day, he was moved to give his speech to the House of Commons, where the wrongly credited “blood, sweat, and tears” came up.
In reality, during the speech warning of the long years of war ahead, Churchill said: “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.” And that’s how history actually happened—not “blood, sweat, and tears,” but “blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” A minor difference, perhaps, but a major change from the quote we all know so well.
Chillingly, as Churchill ascended to the role of Prime Minister and was accepted by the UK’s shell-shocked, war-torn government, he also famously made a very foreboding comment warning of the long war years to come: “Poor people, poor people. They trust me, and I can give them nothing but disaster for quite a long time.”
Sadly, that ended up being all too true for the UK and its Allies in their years-long fight to defeat Nazi Germany.[7]
The term “survival of the fittest” is very often attributed to Charles Darwin and his groundbreaking theory of evolution. But he did not coin it, and for a long time, he did not even use it in any of his writing! Granted, it has everything to do with Darwinian evolutionary theory.
As you no doubt know, “survival of the fittest” occurs when the fittest iterations of a thing—be they humans, animals, plants, or otherwise—have the greatest chance and likelihood of successfully breeding to produce future generations. The “fittest” genes generally survive in the long run because they were the hardiest ones that stuck it out when the proverbial going got tough. Makes sense, right?
Well, it wasn’t Darwin. Interestingly enough, another biologist, Herbert Spencer, came up with that phrase. He got to it right after reading Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. In 1864, Spencer published Principles of Biology. In it, he used Darwin’s evolutionary claims to draw parallels between his own economic theories and natural selection.
Now, here’s the thing: Herbert Spencer had some of what we might call, um, interesting theories about race in his day. And you’ll see what we mean when you read the full quote of his that coins the term and harkens back to Darwin’s work: “This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called ‘natural selection,’ or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.” Yeah…
Interestingly, economic racism aside, Darwin really liked the phrase “survival of the fittest” as it applied to natural life. Another scientist named Alfred Russel Wallace wrote to Darwin and suggested he use Spencer’s phrase in his own work to perfectly encapsulate what he meant by “natural selection.”
Darwin agreed and first used “survival of the fittest” in his 1868 publication The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication. Then, in 1869, he introduced the phrase again in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species.[8]
Surely, you’ve heard the phrase, “Great minds think alike.” Whenever two people come to the same conclusion about the same thing at the same time, they often chuckle about it, and somebody will utter the saying. “Great minds think alike,” you’ll say as you shrug, laugh, and go on about your day.
But would you still utter that phrase if you knew the second half of the quotation? That’s right! As it turns out, “great minds think alike” is only half the story when it comes to this very popular quote. The full read-out goes a little something like this: “Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ.”
That doesn’t seem so fun and sweet now, does it? Suddenly, we feel like fools! But then again, maybe that was the point. For what it’s worth, the (full) quote began appearing in written documentation at the beginning of the 17th century. Some historians believe it dates specifically to a 1618 book, in which its Old English equivalent of “good wits doe jumpe” was first used.
Undoubtedly, though, the quote, exactly as we know it today, was first published in a work in 1816. That year, Carl Theodor von Unlanski published his biography The Woful History of the Unfortunate Eudoxia, which included the “great minds” quote.[9]
The phrase “God helps those who help themselves” is so popular, and it has been so common for such a long time that religious pollsters consistently find that people believe it is written in the Bible. But it isn’t anywhere in the Good Book at all! In fact, so many people mistakenly think it’s a biblical quote that it is often cited as the single most incorrectly attributed phony Bible verse ever. That really says something!
But that’s not even the only misattribution that the quote suffers from! Throughout history, people have also incorrectly cited it as being a quote first penned by Ben Franklin in his 1757 publication of Poor Richard’s Almanac. But that’s not correct, either. The real quote goes back almost a century before that!
The first verifiable use of “God helps those who help themselves” came in Algernon Sydney’s 1698 article “Discourses Concerning Government.” Doesn’t that sound like an absolutely fascinating read? It must have been a page-turner, for sure. But jokes aside, Sydney came up with the saying. Or, if he stole it from somebody else before him, historians have yet to figure out who that original source might be.
Funny enough, one might argue that the saying is decidedly not biblical at all, even if it mentions God. After all, the Bible has several very well-known passages in which God helps the helpless—and not those who help themselves at all!
Take Isaiah 25:4, for example, which declares: “Because thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress: a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall.”Or what about Romans 5:6, which notes: ” For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, die for the ungodly?” And on and on it goes![10]
]]>Within you lies a wellspring of potential that can transform your life into an incredible journey. Each decision you make, each risk you take, is a step forward toward that transformation.
By embracing your challenges and the opportunities for growth and learning they bring, you build the stepping stones to greatness.
Start believing in your limitless potential and don’t fear failure; instead, use it as a catapult to reach heights you never thought possible. You have the ability, right now, to change your life and make it extraordinary. Here are 10 quotes that can help you do just that if you adapt them to your life.
Related: 10 Quotes The Founding Fathers Never Said
Your life’s story is made from a series of choices. These choices, no matter how small they seem, shape who we are. Doing what’s right—living in alignment with our values—takes courage. It’s never the easiest path, but it’s the one that leads to happiness.
Never compromise your values for the sake of ease or acceptance. Instead, be the person who inspires others to live better and strive for authenticity.
The crowd isn’t always right; they might just be louder. Standing up for what is right might make you a lone voice, but every significant moment in history began with one voice that dared to be different.
Challenge yourself to “do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular.” Do this, and your life will be impactful.
These words resonate with a powerful fundamental truth: The journey toward transformation begins where you are.
It’s easy to get caught up in the swirl of “not enough”—not enough resources, not enough time, not enough knowledge, and so on. You need to flip this on itself.
It’s not about having everything; it’s about utilizing what’s in your hands today. Your experiences, skills, and talents are your unique toolkit. No matter how inadequate they may seem, these are the ingredients for your success.
Ask, “What can you do right now with what you have?” Small, consistent actions will compound over time, leading to big changes. It’s not about the task, but the relentless pursuit, the courage to take that step, however small it may be.
No one else can do what you can do in the way you can do it. Every action you take is a brushstroke in the masterpiece of your life. So, start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can. The world is waiting for your unique impact.
Renata Adler’s words capture the essence of human apprehension. It’s about the future, the uncertainty of what lies ahead, and the unpredictable nature of life.
Reframe fear so it’s not a barrier but a signal. It can become our greatest teacher, guiding us to what we need to confront, learn, or grow. When we feel fear, it’s a sign we’re venturing into the unknown, stepping outside our comfort zone. It means we’re on the brink of personal expansion.
In the grand scheme of life, it’s not the fear we’ll regret; it’s the opportunities we missed because we allowed fear to hold us back.
Your yesterday is your foundation, the lessons learned. Your fear is your map to a more fulfilling tomorrow. Remember, life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Let’s delve deeper into the wisdom that this quote carries. The beautiful dance of life is composed of moments—mere seconds—each one irreplaceable.
Anger, albeit natural, can become a thief, robbing us of these moments. Instead of surrendering sixty seconds of potential joy to anger, why not choose happiness, forgiveness, or understanding?
Choosing happiness doesn’t mean we ignore our emotions; rather, it means we master them. It means accepting anger as a feeling, acknowledging it, and then gently letting it go. By doing so, we free ourselves to feel more positivity and joy.
Don’t allow negative emotions to dull your life. You possess the strength to alter your reality and build a life of fulfillment and happiness. Spend time developing the skills you need to process your emotions, and you’ll live a more fulfilled life.
Mahatma Gandhi is one of the greatest embodiments of living one’s values! This quote compels us to reflect, “What message am I sending with my life?”
Your life is a living testament to your beliefs, values, and actions. It’s literally your autobiography that you author every day. Do your actions align with your spoken convictions? Are you living the life you’re truly proud of?
Transforming your life begins with a simple choice – to consciously choose your message. This is your personal mission statement, your guiding compass in the storm. Once you identify your message, let it permeate every decision you make.
Imagine the fulfillment and peace of knowing that each day, you are crafting a legacy that aligns with your values. It’s easy to say nice things, but your actions scream the truth. Think of every politician that promises the world when campaigning, then does nothing once elected.
Gandhi urges us not just to tell but to embody the message we want to see in the world. The most compelling story you will ever tell is the life you live.
Our pasts, no matter how dark or traumatic, do not dictate our futures.
Too often, we let the shackles of past failures, regret, and missed opportunities stop us from getting the life that we want.
What if we dared to step out from history’s shadow? What if we bravely left behind what no longer serves us? What if we embraced the power to forge a new narrative, a new self?
This glorious rewrite starts from within. It’s a spark, a passion, a yearning to reach new heights. It calls for the audacity to believe in our potential, to break barriers, and to dare to dream big. Remember this; we are the architects of our future.
Craft a new story where you rise, shine, and overcome. The power to create is in your hands.
Every person you encounter, regardless of their age, profession, or background, carries a unique piece of wisdom, a personal perspective, or a nugget of knowledge that can add to your growth. This is the heart of continuous learning.
Approaching every interaction as a student, eagerly waiting to absorb something new is transformative in your life. This mindset not only opens doors to personal and professional growth but also cultivates respect, empathy, and understanding.
Our ego can often hold us back, making us believe that we know enough or, even worse, that we know it all.
Destroy this way of thinking! Live with the hunger of a lifelong learner. Not only will it enhance your intelligence, it will transform your life, your relationships, and your overall perspective. Each person is a universe of experiences waiting to be explored. Ask them, “Teach me something I don’t know.”
Mother Teresa is a profound reminder of the incredible impact of our individual actions. We may often feel powerless in life.
Each of us has the power to cast our own “stone,” be it through a kind act, a powerful idea, a compassionate gesture, or an innovative solution. Our “stone” is our unique contribution to the world, our personal purpose. When we cast it, it sends out ripples, starting with those we touch, inspiring change and stirring action.
This ripple effect has an unimaginable reach. It’s through these individual actions that movements are born, cultures shift, and the world changes.
Believe in the power of your actions because your ripple can indeed change the course of the waters.
Challenging the confines of “realism” implores us to redefine our limits. When someone tells you to be “realistic,” it’s often them imposing their own boundaries on your potential.
Imagine if the Wright Brothers had been realistic; we might not have taken to the skies. If Elon Musk had listened to those voices, SpaceX wouldn’t be aiming for Mars. Our collective advancements are due to individuals who refused to accept reality as the final frontier.
Beware realism. It’s an insidious adversary. It whispers “safety,” but it truly means “mediocrity.’ Remember, your dreams aren’t bound by someone else’s reality. You’ve got a unique potential that’s yearning to break free.
So, next time someone asks you to be realistic, remember: You’re capable of so much more. Cross out the noise, embrace your vision, and let the world catch up with you.
This profound quote by Barack Obama is a call to action. It’s a testament that the journey of personal and professional growth begins with the courage to try. It’s easy to let fear, doubts, or uncertainty hold us back from pursuing our dreams and aspirations, but it’s crucial to remember that inaction guarantees failure. Not attempting, not trying, means we’ve lost before we’ve even started.
Every risk we take is a testament to our courage and faith in our potential. By running the race, even if we fall, we learn, we grow, and we evolve. Each stumble offers a lesson, a stepping stone that brings us closer to our goals.
So embrace the uncertainties and the unknowns and take that chance. There’s power in stepping forward, in making the choice to try. Even if you falter, it’s better to try and fail than not to try at all.
Don’t be the person who looks back and wonders, “What if?” Be the person who looks back and says, “I did it.” And that is how you can change your life in extraordinary ways.
]]>Movies have a great power to influence one’s life by the concept it relates to. Many people gets motivated by their favorite movie while some feel like it’s a great inspiration to them. Movies comes with the ability to depict what has been written or happened. So, here are the list of 10 Life changing inspirational movie quotes.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
This quote which tells about the decision taking at a particular point of time was said by ‘Gandalf’ character from one of the sequels (The Fellowship of the Ring) of the movie The Lord of the Rings.
“Kid, there are heroes and there are legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you’ll never go wrong.”
The differentiation of the two words Heroes and Legends are well quoted by ‘Babe Ruth’ character in the movie The Sandlot to motivate a basket ball playing kid who was in trouble.
“Calling someone fat doesn’t make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn’t make you any smarter. All you can do in life is try and solve the problem in front of you.”
This quote is especially for those who criticize others. The main intention of this quote said by the character ‘Cady Heron’ in the movie Mean Girls was to better help and solve than just criticizing.
“I know what I have to do now. I’ve got to keep breathing because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”
Tom Hanks who played the ‘Chuck Noland’ character in the familiar movie Cast Away tells himself about never lose hope when he was in trouble.
“What we do in life echoes in eternity.”
What good deeds you do in the real life will repeat to you in the after math of life is the main meaning of this quote said by ‘Maximus’ in the Movie Gladiator.
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.”
This quote relates to one’s life in a way that who raises and achieves success during the bad times is real achiever of the goal. This was quoted by ‘The Emporer’ in the animated movie named Mulan.
“It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.”
The choices what we make shows our true nature, can be understood from this quote which was from Harry Potter and the chamber of Secrets sequel of the movie Harry Potter.
Do, or do not. There is no “try”.
You should either do it or quit from doing it but you should never go just for trying sake, is how it motivates from the quote stated by ‘Yoda’ character in the movie The Empire Strikes Back.
“Oh yes, the past can hurt. But you can either run from it, or learn from it.”
Yes! Obviously everyone have been through their past by which one can just keep thinking about what had just happened or just pickup the learning lesson from it and go on. This quote was from the famous animated feature film Lion King said by Rafiki character.
“Great men are not born great, they grow great.”
What makes this quote the top one is the meaning it gives. No one is born great it is one’s responsibility to take himself to the greatest position. This exceptional quote is from the ever green high rated movie The Godfather said by the leading role ‘Mario Puzo’.
Hop you enjoyed the list of 10 life changing inspirational movie quotes
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