Einstein Didn’t Say That! How to Spot and Avoid Fake Quotations
You lose a lot of credibility when your Instagram post confuses the words of Mr. Rogers and Malcolm X
Imagine giving a PowerPoint presentation to a room full of professionals in your industry.
You’re using this event to announce your consultation business and to establish yourself as an expert in the field.
You’re nervous, so you plan the first slide to break the ice —a picture of a femur with a healed fracture flashes across the screen.
“Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, once said that the earliest sign of civilization found at archeology sites is a healed femur,” you say.
“The femur is an indication that other members had fed and cared for one of their own until an otherwise-fatal-injury could heal.”
You see warm smiles from the crowd as you wrap up your story. From there, the rest of the presentation flies by.
Until you break for questions.
The mic is handed to someone in the back, who loudly clears their throat before hissing:
“I’m sorry. What you said was nice and all, but are you aware that Margaret Mead never said anything about healed femurs?”
“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
The story of a hapless consultant opening a PowerPoint presentation with a fake quote is true. I’ve changed enough details that other witnesses shouldn’t recognize the event I’m referencing, but this type of thing happens so often that you’ve likely witnessed a similar public error in your field.
It’s far, far too easy to embarrass yourself by misquoting someone. The Internet has a bad tendency to make a quip even wittier by suggesting that Einstein said it, that Lincoln said it, or even that it’s in the Bible.
For example, you won’t find these exact phrases or images in the Bible:
- “God helps those that help themselves” — First said by Algernon Sidney, but later popularized by Benjamin Franklin
- “Money is the root of all evil” — a misquote of 1 Timothy, 6:10
- “To thine own self be true” — Shakespeare
- The Apple (as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in Eden) — popularized by artists because it’s an attractive fruit and can sit for an oil painting without rotting
- The 7 deadly sins —enumerated by Gregory the Great during the 6th Century
But obviously, all those holy quotes still roll around on bumper stickers and hundreds of pretty Pinterest images— how can you select real quotes for your content?
Research.
But not the kind of research that requires a trip to the Library of Congress and a pair of white cotton gloves.
This research doesn’t even have to take long. A few Internet research techniques will help you avoid embarrassing public “Well, actually…” moments.
“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”
Step 1: Use Common Sense
Although there are many useful tools to discover when a quote was said, who it was said by, and whether it was ever said at all, the most useful tool in your arsenal is always common sense.
For this technique, let’s take a moment to focus on Einstein.
I would bet money that the majority of English-language quotes attributed to the wrong person have been thrust into Einstein’s mouth.
The truth is, if you see a short, sarcastic or witty English quotation, it’s not likely to be Einstein speaking. Here’s why:
Einstein was a flowery, verbose writer. He was a good writer, don’t get me wrong. Click that link above if you’d like to read his actually-quite-awesome poetry.
But on the Faulkner to Hemingway spectrum, Albert’s use of adjectives and adverbs would have made Ernest choke on his mojito. For example, this is the actual Einstein quote that likely inspired the fake one above about tech making us all idiots:
“I believe that the abominable deterioration of ethical standards stems primarily from the mechanization and depersonalization of our lives, a disastrous byproduct of science and technology. Nostra culpa!”
— actually said by Albert Einstein, in a letter to Otto Juliusburger, 1948
…yeah, that’s not too snappy.
Also, it surprised me to learn that Einstein never became fluent in English, according to one of his most respected biographers and translators, Alice Calaprice. She points out that he didn’t come to America until he was in his 50’s and that German was a much better language for math at the time.
There was no need for Einstein to learn English at an age where it would have been easily picked up. If you see an English quote from him now, 65 years after his death, it’s almost guaranteed to have been interpreted (or even tweaked) by at least one translator.
Short quotes in English are unlikely to be Einstein’s. If it’s long, in German, and contains descriptive language or unique metaphors, it’s much more likely to be Einstein’s.
Of course, then it’s also less likely to be Instagrammable.
Common sense.
Step 2: “Trust, but Verify”
When you find a good quote, start by Googling it. And don’t stop there.
If your results are all poorly-made picto-quotes pasted together by Pinteresters who don’t ever employ the correct “your/you’re/ur,” you should be especially cautious.
The BEST thing to do is to use quotes from books penned by the person you wish to quote. Goodreads is a great resource to track down those types of quotes down to the tome and page number. Quoteable writers include Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Anaïs Nin, Maya Angelou (except this one, it’s likely fake), and Desmond Tutu.
Goodreads should list at least the book where the quote is from. That’s why it is easy to tell the Maya Angelou quote is fake. Most of her beautiful words can even be traced to a specific poem, not just a book.
The next best thing to do is to make sure your quote hasn’t been debunked on Snopes or a similar site, or by the most credible debunker, QuoteInvestigator.
QI is an amazing resource and I bought their book in order to support the website. This site has saved my tail on more than one occasion when I thought “Gandhi totally must have said that, right?”
Use QuoteInvestigator early, use QuoteInvestigator often.
Step 3: Do You Feel Lucky, Punk?
Finally, if the quote is amazing, if the sentiment is just perfect for that individual to have said, if it’s just so relevant to today’s society despite being said so far in the past, if it’s just so lucky that such a wise thing was said since it’s just so apt for your presentation… it’s likely
too good to be true.
No one*** is as witty as the editing of many hands over many years. Writers and translators and newspaper reporters will all get their overly-creative hands on a good quote and over time it becomes a great quote.
For this reason, if you agree with a quote and after a thorough Google search you’re still not sure who was its original author, it’s better to leave off any name than to be wrong. If you feel you need to distance yourself from the quote’s sentiment, credit Unknown, Anonymous, or A Common American Saying.
***The singular exception to the many being wittier than the few is Oscar Wilde. The man would have killed it on Twitter.
Also, writers or politicians will often tie a good quote to a different speaker in order to make the quote more meaningful. If the quote is about science, technology, or intelligence? Einstein said it! If the quote is about design, efficiency, or computers? Steve Jobs once wrote it in an intra-office email! If the quote is about fighting against impossible odds? Insert your local hero’s name here!
Especially be wary if a saying relates to a current hot-button topic and involves an unlikely suspect. For example, Malcolm X isn’t likely to have said many things about the virtues of patience or everyone getting along despite racial tensions — that man was on a mission, and so is whoever misquotes him deliberately.
Last Thing: Check Your Why’s Before You Export Those Slides!
If you are relying heavily on quotes in a presentation or on a website, you should also take a moment to ask yourself if it’s a good tactic in light of your specific goals.
If you are not already considered an expert in your topic, a thoroughly accurate quotation from a known expert that backs up your position will lend you authority.
However, if your word is already accepted as fact, a quote from someone else could instead borrow authority from you. You might be seen to be validating their position instead of vice versa.
So use quotations wisely.
In Summary:
- Use Common Sense: given your author’s native language, history, time period, and writing style, would they have said a quote like this?
- Trust but Verify: can you find the speech, poem, interview, or book where the quote was said and cited by a news source or publisher? If not, check Snopes, or better, QuoteInvestigator, to see if the quote has already been debunked.
- Do you Feel Lucky, Punk? if a quote seems too good to be true, it probably is. Is it an old quote that’s oddly relevant today? Is it the opposite of what you’d expect that person to say but backs up an unpopular political stance? Was it said by the most famous person in that field? All these are red flags for a quote being tweaked by someone else.
- What is Your Why for Quote Slides? Be sure you really need a quote by deciding if the backing of another expert will help or hinder you.
And…
Bonus Points: Share This Article to Spread the Love and Accuracy
To make this world a better-cited place pass this message along to people who need to hear it.
(Just leave it in a common area instead of on a yellow post-it slapped to their door in a passive-aggressive office power move)
After all, if you share your newfound skills, you’ll have fewer crap quotes to wade through in the future.
And in the words of G.I. Joe:
“Knowing is half the battle”
The other half, of course, is verifying that knowledge before you pass it on.
