Two misquotes

A misquote is not a line you dislike. It is a sentence the named person did not say. The Voltaire line about defending to the death your right to speak is Evelyn Beatrice Hall's picture of him, not a sentence he wrote. The Aristotle line that excellence is a habit, not an act, is Will Durant's sentence, later put in Aristotle's mouth. Both cards are marked Misattributed, and the notes say why. Feeling that a line is ancient, or seeing it on a poster, is not a source.

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Voltaire · Enlightenment

freedomjusticesociety

Misattributed

Meaning & application

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Aristotle · Aristotelianism

virtueethicsself

Misattributed

Meaning & application

Mini check

You quote "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" in a talk, with Voltaire's name under it. What should you do, given the history of the line?

Credit Hall's picture of Voltaire, not a line he himself wrote.Keep Voltaire's name on it, because the attitude feels right.Move the credit to Plato, who did not write the sentence either.Abandon toleration altogether because the name was the wrong one.

A label on a poster says "Ancient Chinese proverb" above a sentence first found in a 1998 self-help book. Which description is accurate?

The label states an origin, and that statement of origin is false.The label is only an opinion, so it is not the kind of thing that is false.When a sentence was first written is a matter of personal taste.A self-help book is not the kind of thing that can contain a sentence.

Try it today

Open one Misattributed card and read the note before you read the sentence a second time.

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