Laurens
New Member
I mentioned in this post my intention to create a topic about the subject of misquotes, miss-attributed quotations and so on, and with some input from Dragan Glas I thought I'd go ahead.
So, the example I wanted to begin with is probably one that you're all already aware of (at least you would be if you've watched enough Hitchens). The following quote is often cited, and attributed to Karl Marx:
The actual quote, put into context is thus:
This gives quite a different context to how the quote is often used.
So I thought it might be interesting to discuss misquotes/miss-attributed quotes. Post any that you may be aware of (with an explanation of how/why it is a misquote if possible).
So, the example I wanted to begin with is probably one that you're all already aware of (at least you would be if you've watched enough Hitchens). The following quote is often cited, and attributed to Karl Marx:
"Religion is the opiate of the masses"
The actual quote, put into context is thus:
"The foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man, state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.
Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.
Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower"
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_of_the_people
This gives quite a different context to how the quote is often used.
So I thought it might be interesting to discuss misquotes/miss-attributed quotes. Post any that you may be aware of (with an explanation of how/why it is a misquote if possible).