Book recommendation:
Abraham Lincoln never said, "You cannot fool all the people all the
time." Thomas Jefferson never said, "That government is best which
governs least." And Horace Greeley never said, "Go west, young man."
In They Never Said It, Paul Boller, Jr., and John George examine
hundreds of misquotations, incorrect attributions, and blatant
fabrications, outlining the origins of the quotes and revealing why
they should be consigned to the historical trashcan. Many of the
misquotes are quite harmless. Some are inadvertent misquotes that
have become popular (Shakespeare actually said, "The best part of
valor is discretion"), others, the inventions of reporters
embellishing a story (Franklin Roosevelt never opened a speech to a
DAR group with the salutation, "My fellow immigrants"). But some of
the quotes, such as Charles Darwin's supposed deathbed recantation of
evolution, are blatantly dishonest and falsify the historical record.
And others are chillingly vicious, filled with virulent racial and
religious prejudices that completely distort the views of the person
supposedly quoted and spread distrust and hatred among the gullible.
These include the forged remarks attributed to Benjamin Franklin that
Jews should be excluded from America, and the fabricated condemnation
of Catholics attributed to Lincoln.
An entertaining and yet thought-provoking book, They Never Said It
sorts out a great deal of history and sets it right, going beyond a
mere catalog of popular misconceptions to reveal how conservatives
and liberals, atheists and evangelists, all have at times twisted and
even invented the words of eminent figures to promote their own ends.
It is the ultimate debunking reference, a perfect complement to
handbooks of quotations.
<http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/?view=usa&ci=9780195064698>Link
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Posted By johannes to
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2008/06/they-never-said-it-book-of-fake-quotes.htm>monochrom
at 6/12/2008 11:00:00 PM
