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The folks at goodreads love to pollute the Internet with dubiously-sourced quotes from various people. I looked into 21 of their top quotes to see if the person the quote is ascribed to actually said it or was the first to say it. Click below to see if you know who said what and when.
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Question 1 of 21
1. Question
1 pointsCorrect
This is incorrectly-attributed and poorly-punctuated (a comma never separates two complete sentences). Skeptoid looked into it and found that it “doesn’t appear in anything Dr. Seuss ever wrote or published and … is always quoted without a source.”
It sounds kind of nice maybe, but you have to forget that you might cry with joy after your colonoscopy.
Incorrect
This is incorrectly-attributed and poorly-punctuated (a comma never separates two complete sentences). Skeptoid looked into it and found that it “doesn’t appear in anything Dr. Seuss ever wrote or published and … is always quoted without a source.”
It sounds kind of nice maybe, but you have to forget that you might cry with joy after your colonoscopy.
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Question 2 of 21
2. Question
1 pointsCorrect
There’s no reason to think she ever said/wrote this. Mary Grace Garis of Elle looked for evidence and couldn’t find it.
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure.”
“Yeah, it’s tough being 9 years old.”Incorrect
There’s no reason to think she ever said/wrote this. Mary Grace Garis of Elle looked for evidence and couldn’t find it.
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure.”
“Yeah, it’s tough being 9 years old.” -
Question 3 of 21
3. Question
1 pointsCorrect
There’s no evidence he ever said or wrote this. Incidentally, most people are like everybody else. We’re genetically almost identical and we nearly all fit within two standard deviations of a given normal distribution. To quote Bill Shakespeare: “If you feed me frijoles, do I not flatulate?”
Incorrect
There’s no evidence he ever said or wrote this. Incidentally, most people are like everybody else. We’re genetically almost identical and we nearly all fit within two standard deviations of a given normal distribution. To quote Bill Shakespeare: “If you feed me frijoles, do I not flatulate?”
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Question 4 of 21
4. Question
1 pointsCorrect
He may have said something pretty similar.
Here’s one he did say:
From a letter to Beatrice Frohlich, 1952.Incorrect
He may have said something pretty similar.
Here’s one he did say:
From a letter to Beatrice Frohlich, 1952. -
Question 5 of 21
5. Question
1 pointsCorrect
According to Quote Investigator part of the quote (“those who mind don’t matter….”) was in circulation by the 1930s. There’s no apparent attempt to connect the quote to Baruch until 1946. We don’t know the ultimate origin of the quote. For all it’s apparent wisdom, it could’ve first been said by Hitler or any other despot who didn’t care what others think.
Incorrect
According to Quote Investigator part of the quote (“those who mind don’t matter….”) was in circulation by the 1930s. There’s no apparent attempt to connect the quote to Baruch until 1946. We don’t know the ultimate origin of the quote. For all it’s apparent wisdom, it could’ve first been said by Hitler or any other despot who didn’t care what others think.
-
Question 6 of 21
6. Question
1 pointsCorrect
According to Quote Investigator, songwriters Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh deserve credit for stringing a very similar set of words together in 1987:
You’ve got to sing like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ll never get hurt
You’ve got to dance like nobody’s watchin’
It’s gotta come from the heart if you want it to workIncorrect
According to Quote Investigator, songwriters Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh deserve credit for stringing a very similar set of words together in 1987:
You’ve got to sing like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ll never get hurt
You’ve got to dance like nobody’s watchin’
It’s gotta come from the heart if you want it to work -
Question 7 of 21
7. Question
1 pointsCorrect
This one appears to have emerged from the ether sometime in the 2000s. Like so many quotes, it should simply be attributed to The Ether. Incidentally, Dr. Seuss wasn’t a doctor.
Incorrect
This one appears to have emerged from the ether sometime in the 2000s. Like so many quotes, it should simply be attributed to The Ether. Incidentally, Dr. Seuss wasn’t a doctor.
-
Question 8 of 21
8. Question
1 pointsCorrect
A Wikiquote user notes that Cicero did write a passage that can translate to “[S]ince Tyrannio has arranged my books for me, my house seems to have had a soul added to it.” However, there’s no direct quote from Cicero that matches this one.
If you assume, as many very evil people do, that no body has a soul, this quote becomes impressively meaningless. An alteration that might please some people could be, “A room without books is like a mind without inspiration.” We might think differently if we saw Cicero’s library, though. Here are some of his favorites, according to biographers:
- The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
- The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
- Dianetics
- Desire (#1): Desired by the Billionaire (Desire series)
- Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever
- Into the Darkness: Paranormal Menage Romance
Incorrect
A Wikiquote user notes that Cicero did write a passage that can translate to “[S]ince Tyrannio has arranged my books for me, my house seems to have had a soul added to it.” However, there’s no direct quote from Cicero that matches this one.
If you assume, as many very evil people do, that no body has a soul, this quote becomes impressively meaningless. An alteration that might please some people could be, “A room without books is like a mind without inspiration.” We might think differently if we saw Cicero’s library, though. Here are some of his favorites, according to biographers:
- The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
- The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
- Dianetics
- Desire (#1): Desired by the Billionaire (Desire series)
- Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever
- Into the Darkness: Paranormal Menage Romance
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Question 9 of 21
9. Question
1 pointsCorrect
A person named J.J. Wright is credited with writing a pamphlet titled So Many Books! So Little Time! What to Do? that was published in 1892.
Here’s something he actually did say in a 1986 episode of CNN’s Crossfire: “I don’t believe that there is any word that needs to be suppressed. There’s no scientific or realistic reason why you should keep people from hearing certain words.”
Incorrect
A person named J.J. Wright is credited with writing a pamphlet titled So Many Books! So Little Time! What to Do? that was published in 1892.
Here’s something he actually did say in a 1986 episode of CNN’s Crossfire: “I don’t believe that there is any word that needs to be suppressed. There’s no scientific or realistic reason why you should keep people from hearing certain words.”
-
Question 10 of 21
10. Question
1 pointsCorrect
Nope. This version of the quote is first attributed to comedian/singer Joe E. Lewis.
What does it mean to “do it right”? Make sure you’re born rich?
Incorrect
Nope. This version of the quote is first attributed to comedian/singer Joe E. Lewis.
What does it mean to “do it right”? Make sure you’re born rich?
-
Question 11 of 21
11. Question
1 pointsCorrect
You can find the basic idea in volume 13 of his collected works: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. […] We need not wait to see what others do.”
Photo from Gandhi the Man: The Story of His Transformation by Eknath Easwaran.Incorrect
You can find the basic idea in volume 13 of his collected works: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. […] We need not wait to see what others do.”
Photo from Gandhi the Man: The Story of His Transformation by Eknath Easwaran. -
Question 12 of 21
12. Question
1 pointsCorrect
He apparently did say this on his 80th birthday in an interview with Los Angeles Times reporter Ray Josephs published September 5th, 1954.
Incorrect
He apparently did say this on his 80th birthday in an interview with Los Angeles Times reporter Ray Josephs published September 5th, 1954.
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Question 13 of 21
13. Question
1 pointsCorrect
He doesn’t appear to’ve ever said this.
This seems more characteristic of Camus based on my limited knowledge of him:
Accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: it should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful. An analysis of the idea of revolt could help us to discover ideas capable of restoring a relative meaning to existence, although a meaning that would always be in danger.
From an interview with Jeanine Delpeche, published in Les Nouvelles litteraires, November 15, 1945*
Incorrect
He doesn’t appear to’ve ever said this.
This seems more characteristic of Camus based on my limited knowledge of him:
Accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: it should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful. An analysis of the idea of revolt could help us to discover ideas capable of restoring a relative meaning to existence, although a meaning that would always be in danger.
From an interview with Jeanine Delpeche, published in Les Nouvelles litteraires, November 15, 1945*
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Question 14 of 21
14. Question
1 pointsCorrect
She didn’t say this exact thing, but, per Quote Investigator, she said something similar that may be the basis for this quote: “A snub is the effort of a person who feels superior to make someone else feel inferior. To do so, he has to find someone who can be made to feel inferior.”
To the discredit of goodreads, they attribute the quote to her autobiography; it doesn’t appear there.
Incorrect
She didn’t say this exact thing, but, per Quote Investigator, she said something similar that may be the basis for this quote: “A snub is the effort of a person who feels superior to make someone else feel inferior. To do so, he has to find someone who can be made to feel inferior.”
To the discredit of goodreads, they attribute the quote to her autobiography; it doesn’t appear there.
-
Question 15 of 21
15. Question
1 pointsCorrect
Surprisingly, yes, he did write this, apparently in 1894 and it was included in a book published in 1935. It’s surprising that he said it because he’s such a quote magnet. I did a bit of analysis myself using work at Quote Investigator and found that 11.5% (7/61) of attributed quotes analyzed as of 4/19/2016 can actually be attributed to Twain. This quote beats the odds.
Incorrect
Surprisingly, yes, he did write this, apparently in 1894 and it was included in a book published in 1935. It’s surprising that he said it because he’s such a quote magnet. I did a bit of analysis myself using work at Quote Investigator and found that 11.5% (7/61) of attributed quotes analyzed as of 4/19/2016 can actually be attributed to Twain. This quote beats the odds.
-
Question 16 of 21
16. Question
1 pointsCorrect
He included (almost) this quote in his book The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard; Mottoes, Epigrams, Short Essays, Passages, Orphic Sayings and Preachments, Coined From a Life of Love, Laughter and Work, by a Man Who Achieved Greatly in Literature, Art, Philosophy and Business (published in 1927). It’s a 256-pager and 250 of those pages are just the title!
His version is, “Your friend is the man who knows all about you and still likes you.”
Hubbard also wrote of prison that it’s, “An example of a Socialist’s Paradise, where equality prevails, everything is supplied, and competition is eliminated.”*
Incorrect
He included (almost) this quote in his book The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard; Mottoes, Epigrams, Short Essays, Passages, Orphic Sayings and Preachments, Coined From a Life of Love, Laughter and Work, by a Man Who Achieved Greatly in Literature, Art, Philosophy and Business (published in 1927). It’s a 256-pager and 250 of those pages are just the title!
His version is, “Your friend is the man who knows all about you and still likes you.”
Hubbard also wrote of prison that it’s, “An example of a Socialist’s Paradise, where equality prevails, everything is supplied, and competition is eliminated.”*
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Question 17 of 21
17. Question
1 pointsCorrect
The first example of this found by Quote Investigator was by high-level LDS official Carl W. Buehner.
It’s a fine idea as meaningless ideas go. In fact humans generally have pretty unreliable memories. So, that memory of how someone made you feel is probably being influenced by how old the memory is, whether or not you’re hungry right now, whether or not you’ve just taken a blow to the head, etc.
Incorrect
The first example of this found by Quote Investigator was by high-level LDS official Carl W. Buehner.
It’s a fine idea as meaningless ideas go. In fact humans generally have pretty unreliable memories. So, that memory of how someone made you feel is probably being influenced by how old the memory is, whether or not you’re hungry right now, whether or not you’ve just taken a blow to the head, etc.
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Question 18 of 21
18. Question
1 pointsCorrect
I checked around a dozen of Wilde’s books and collected writings and couldn’t find it. No example on the web gives a source. If he said it, there’s no good evidence.
In his 1890 work The Picture of Dorian Gray he did write, “I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects.”
Incorrect
I checked around a dozen of Wilde’s books and collected writings and couldn’t find it. No example on the web gives a source. If he said it, there’s no good evidence.
In his 1890 work The Picture of Dorian Gray he did write, “I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects.”
-
Question 19 of 21
19. Question
1 points -
Question 20 of 21
20. Question
1 points -
Question 21 of 21
21. Question
1 pointsCorrect
Yes, he did say this in his 1891 essay The Soul of Man under Socialism:
With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
It’s easy to see why it got trimmed down. Must be tough to fit that whole thing on a tattoo:
Incorrect
Yes, he did say this in his 1891 essay The Soul of Man under Socialism:
With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
It’s easy to see why it got trimmed down. Must be tough to fit that whole thing on a tattoo:
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.”
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
“So many books, so little time.”
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”
“Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend”
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
Dr. Seuss, Marilyn Monroe, Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein, Bernard M. Baruch, William W. Purkey, Dr. Seuss, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Frank Zappa, Mae West, Mahatma Gandhi, Robert Frost, Albert Camus, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Elbert Hubbard, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King Jr.