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Mind your language

Why are quotes so often misattributed?

16 December 2023

9:00 AM

16 December 2023

9:00 AM

‘Macmillan,’ said my husband with rare succinctness. Someone on the wireless had just asked who it was who said: ‘Events, dear boy.’ I agreed with my husband, as in moments of weakness I do. But what is the source of the quotation?

The first rule is that most common quotations were not said by the people to whom they are attributed.

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