13 Famous Quotes We've Been Getting All Wrong

As the great Albert Einstein once said, “Be wary of quotes you read on the internet, especially ones attributed to Marilyn Monroe or me." Even accurately attributed ones, when turned into a catchy slogan, lack context. Many often-quoted phrases have lost their original meaning over time. Either way, consider the history before you tattoo the following 13 quotes onto your body…

13

CRACKED.COM STwo Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all  the difference. ROBERT FROST The Road N

Source: Poets.org

12

CRACKED.COM Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. NELSON MANDELA The quote that's o

Source: Snopes

11

CRACKED.COM Be Be yourself, everyone else is aleady taken OSCAR WILDE There's no credible source that links this to Wilde. He did write, Most people

Source: Quote Investigator

10

CRACKED.COM Who watches the watchmen? JUVENAL The original text is about women being unfaithful liars:  'Bolt her in, constrain her!' But who can wa

9

CRACKED.COM Music has charms to soothe a savage beast WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE The quote is taken from playwright William Congreve, not Shakespeare, who wr

Source: Columbia Journalism Review

8

CRACKED.COM Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely LORD ACTON The full quote is Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolu

Source: Hanover

7

CRACKED.COM Money is the root of all evil  1 TIMOTHY 6:10 The full translaton is For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Greed, not m

Source: Bible Gateway

6

CRACKED.COM Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Th

Source: NPR

5

CRACKED.COM Curiosity killed the cat. ENGLISH IDIOM The original phrase, dating back to a play in 1598, was care killed the cat, meaning that worry/

Source: University of Utah

4

CRACKED.COM Blood is thicker than water.  MEDIEVAL PROVERB The phrase may come from the older Arab phrase Blood is thicker than milk meaning that a

Source: The Blood Covenant

3

CRACKED.COM The proof is in the pudding ENGLISH IDIOM The original proverb was The proof of the pudding is in eating, meaning you have to try someth

Source: NPR

2

CRACKED.COM Be the change you wish to see in the world. GANDHI The closest thing to this Gandhi actually said was: If we could change ourselves, the t

Source: New York Times

1

CRACKED.COM Well-| behaved women seldom make history. LAUREL THATCHER ULRICH Ulrich wrote the phrase in a paper about Puritan funerals, in which she m

Source: PBS News