This week we’re supposed to gather notable quotes from influential people in hopes of inspiring our readers. But if you’ve followed my blog, you might realize that I don’t always do things in the most conventional fashion. With that warning, I give you a list of things they NEVER said.
- “Just the facts, ma’am.“
- This, the best known quote from the Jack Webb series Dragnet, was never said by Sgt. Friday in any of the Dragnet radio or television series. The quote was, however, adopted in the 1987 Dragnet pseudo-parody film starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks in which Aykroyd played Sgt. Joe Friday.
- Correct versions:
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- “All we want are the facts, ma’am.”
- “All we know are the facts, ma’am.”
- Source: Urban Legends via Wikipedia
- Elementary my dear Watson
Meaning:
The supposed explanation that Sherlock Holmes gave to his assistant, Dr. Watson,
when explaining deductions he had made.
Origin:
In fact the line doesn’t appear in the Conan Doyle books, only later in Sherlock Holmes’ films.
He does come rather close at a few of points. Holmes says “Elementary” in ‘The Crooked Man’, and “It was very superficial, my dear Watson, I assure you” in ‘The Cardboard Box’. He also says “Exactly, my dear Watson, in three different stories.
The phrase was first used by P. G. Wodehouse, in Psmith Journalist, 1915. - Source: The phrase Finder
- Abraham Lincoln is frequently misquoted:
- “There is no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. there is nothing good in war, except its ending.”
In 2014, model Bar Refaeli posted this quote on her Instagram, attributing it to Lincoln.
Unfortunately, she’s more than a century off. In reality, it’s a “Star Trek” quote, according to the Times of Israel.
In a season three episode of the show, Spock, Kirk and Lincoln all end up in a battle with villains from history and, although the Lincoln character does utter those words, the real Lincoln did not. #oops - Source: New York Daily News
- “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” — Dr. Seuss
It certainly feels Seussian, doesn’t it? All topsy-turvy and self-affirming. But he never wrote it. It was something an extremely successful (remarkably non-childlike and whimsical) businessman and presidential adviser, Bernard Baruch, said to a newspaper columnist who asked him how he handled the seating of all the rich bigwigs at his dinner parties. “I never bother about that. Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.” However, Baruch was probably quoting an already well known phrase from the 1930s coined by that great philosopher Anonymous. The first part of the quote, “Be who you are…” just attached itself over the years. - Source: Mental Floss
- Here’s another one, just for fun.
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- Have you ever been misquoted? Join the greats!
- Let’s find out what the rest of the gang put together for us. Just follow the links below. And please leave a comment, if you feel so inclined. But don’t quote me on that—or do, as the case may be!
August 15 – Quote Post – Pull together multiple quotes from influential people (other writers, publishers, industry experts).
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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