Who said that?
It happened to Einstein, Marilyn, Washington & more: 12 famous misquotes
Published on June 15, 2025
Image: Hannes Richter
Some of history’s most often repeated sayings were never actually said. At least not by the people we love to credit. You have probably read dozens of quotes wrongly attributed to Albert Einstein or Oscar Wilde, but Marilyn Monroe also made the list. As did Marie Antoinette! Today, we are setting the record straight on some of the most stubborn quote myths.
"Let them eat cake"
Image: Karina Kungla
Despite her reputation for extravagance, there’s no evidence that Marie Antoinette ever uttered these words. The quote "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" is often pinned on her as a symbol of her indifference to the hardships of starving peasants.
However, the phrase first appears in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, which he started writing in 1765, when Marie was just about nine years old and still living in Austria.
"I cannot tell a lie"
Image: Maud Bocquillod
The famous story about young George confessing to chopping down a cherry tree is pure fiction, cooked up by biographer Mason Locke Weems after Washington’s death.
There’s no evidence Washington ever said this. Weems simply wanted to craft a moral and visually memorable legend for America’s first president.
"The ends justify the means"
Image: Pixabay
While "The Prince" does argue that rulers sometimes need to be ruthless, Niccolò Machiavelli never wrote "the ends justify the means."
The phrase is a simplified (and distorted) summary of much more complicated ideas he discussed about power and politics.
"And yet it moves"
Image: Andrii Khrystian
The force of the Roman Inquisition fell upon Galileo, the father of modern astronomy who defended heliocentrism. He supposedly muttered this famous phrase after being forced to counter his views, defending that the Earth did move around the sun.
However, there’s no contemporary record of the defiant line being spoken. It first appeared decades later, in a biography written well after Galileo’s death.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world"
Image: Ishant Mishra
Michael Jackson did sustain that he was starting by changing "the man in the mirror," and Mahatma Gandhi probably would have agreed. But the exact words of the famous line were never said by the real Gandhi.
His advice was much more nuanced about personal responsibility and social reform. The polished quote is a bit of a paraphrase meant to capture his philosophy in a nutshell.
"Well-behaved women rarely make history"
Image: Martin Péchy
You can thank Marilyn Monroe for a lot, but not this quote. Although often typed on posters next to her iconic photos, the line was actually written by historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in a 1976 scholarly article.
She wasn’t encouraging rebellion either: She was observing that history tends to overlook women who "color inside the lines."
"Elementary, my dear Watson."
Image: Soyoung Han
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many lines spoken through his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. But this one –perhaps the most often repeated line– wasn’t among them!
Yes, Watson was Holmes’ dear sidekick, and probably Sherlock used the word "elementary" at some point. Still, the straight line "Elementary, my dear Watson" cannot be found anywhere in the original texts.
"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken"
Image: Lisa from Pexels
Oscar Wilde, a master of aphorisms, had wit to spare. Many lines can be attributed to him. This one, however, doesn’t ring like those by the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
The saying doesn't appear in any of his writings or documented conversations. It likely emerged around the end of the 20th century, stitched together by fans who loved the idea of Wilde’s spirit.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again…"
Image: Andrew George
"... and expecting different results." You might have read this quote and felt inspired by it. Although often attributed to Albert Einstein, there's no record of him saying it.
Some say that the earliest known appearance is in a 1980s Narcotics Anonymous pamphlet. The internet did its job and blurred the origins of the quote.
"Far from the maddening crowd"
Image: Tom Wheatley
This one is only slightly incorrect. Thomas Hardy fans, take note: The correct line is "far from the madding crowd." And, in fact, Hardy borrowed it from Thomas Gray’s 1751 poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, which read "Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife." "Madding" meant frenzied, not "maddening."
"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing"
Image: Giorgio Trovato
Vince Lombardi gets the credit, but even he said he was misquoted! The original line came from UCLA coach Red Sanders, who reportedly told his team this hard-hitting slogan in the 1950s. Lombardi’s version was similar but way less cutthroat: He said, "Winning isn't a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing."
"The British are coming!"
Image: Pixabay
Paul Revere didn’t actually yell this because, back in 1775, that would have been confusing. Most colonial Americans still considered themselves British.
What he likely said was something closer to "The Regulars are coming out" or "The Redcoats are on the move." He also didn’t yell, since secrecy was key for his mission.
