404 Quotes Quote Checker
Did they really say it?
Paste a quotation, or any part of one, and the checker looks for it among the 669 quotations in the 404 Quotes collection. It shows the name the record supports, the label the museum gives the line, and the source. If a line is not in the collection, it says so instead of guessing.
The famous wrong ones are a good place to start. The Forgery Wing’s 17 investigations and the Restoration Room’s 7 restorations are listed below with their verdicts.
The checker — 669 lines on file
How it answers
- Found. The line, the name the record supports, its label and source, and the page that holds it.
- Close. Wording that differs from the line on file is shown as a close match, so you can see what changed.
- Not in the collection yet. We say so. No name is suggested for a line that is not in the collection.
Real or fake? — one a day
Credited to Walt Whitman
I celebrate myself, and sing myself.
Did they really say it?
Show the answer
Sourced Real. Traced to a named source.
Source“Song of Myself”, Leaves of Grass, 1855
12 misattributions and 105 lines traced to their source take turns, chosen by your own calendar date. Only clear cases are used.
The famous ones, checked — Forgery Wing and Restoration Room
The Forgery WingEach of these was investigated line by line, with primary and reference sources. The label is the verdict; the sentence under it is what the record shows.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Usually credited to Edmund Burke
It does not appear in Burke's known writings, despite being credited to him constantly.
- MisquotedForgery Wing
“Play it again, Sam.”
Usually credited to Casablanca (1942)
No one says it. Both characters ask for the song — neither in those words.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“If you're going through hell, keep going.”
Usually credited to Winston Churchill
No. It appears nowhere in Churchill's writings or speeches, and his own archivists say so.
The investigation about “If you're going through hell, keep going.” →
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Usually credited to Confucius
No. The earliest trace is a Princeton professor in 1982, quoting an unnamed old-timer.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“Survival of the fittest.”
Usually credited to Charles Darwin
No — Herbert Spencer coined it in 1864. Darwin borrowed it, reluctantly, five years later.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Usually credited to Albert Einstein
There is no evidence Einstein ever said or wrote this. It appears long after his death.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Usually credited to Albert Einstein
No record of Einstein saying it. The image predates him and the attribution is modern.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Usually credited to Mahatma Gandhi
Not in this form. Gandhi expressed a related idea in different — and more interesting — words.
The investigation about “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” →
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“Elementary, my dear Watson.”
Usually credited to Sherlock Holmes / Arthur Conan Doyle
Not once in the canon — 56 stories and 4 novels, and the four words never appear together.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“The ends justify the means.”
Usually credited to Niccolò Machiavelli
He never wrote the sentence, in Italian or English. It is a summary that hardened into a quotation.
- VerifiedForgery Wing
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Usually credited to Nelson Mandela
Yes — he said it more than once. Only the pronoun drifts between 'we' and 'you'.
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“Let them eat cake.”
Usually credited to Marie Antoinette
The story predates her reign. She was a child in Austria when the anecdote was written down.
- MisquotedForgery Wing
“Money is the root of all evil.”
Usually credited to The Bible
Three words are missing, and they reverse the meaning. The verse condemns the love of money.
The investigation about “Money is the root of all evil.” →Also in the Restoration Room about “Money is the root of all evil.”
- VerifiedForgery Wing
“What does not kill me makes me stronger.”
Usually credited to Friedrich Nietzsche
Yes — from Twilight of the Idols (written 1888, published 1889). But it means something different from what most people think.
The investigation about “What does not kill me makes me stronger.” →
- MisquotedForgery Wing
“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
Usually credited to Mark Twain
He said something like it — but shorter, and better. The famous wording was polished by others.
The investigation about “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” →
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
Usually credited to Eleanor Roosevelt / Marilyn Monroe
Neither. It was written in 1976 by the historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich — who is still with us.
The investigation about “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” →
- MisattributedForgery Wing
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Usually credited to Voltaire
Written by his biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall in 1906 to summarise his outlook.
- Genuine longer versionRestoration Room
“Power corrupts.”
Longer version“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
The fuller version is genuine — and the two dropped words carry the whole argument.
- Invented longer versionRestoration Room
“Blood is thicker than water.”
Longer version“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”
The famous 'full version' appears to be a modern invention — the short proverb is the original.
- Genuine but a later additionRestoration Room
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
Longer version“Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.”
The ending is real but late — added roughly three centuries after the proverb, and the original was not about curiosity at all.
- Genuine longer versionRestoration Room
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Longer version“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
Genuine, and the missing clause is the part that explains what he meant.
The restoration about “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” →
- Invented longer versionRestoration Room
“Jack of all trades, master of none.”
Longer version“Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
The flattering ending is modern, and the popular attribution to Shakespeare is chronologically impossible.
The restoration about “Jack of all trades, master of none.” →
- Genuine longer versionRestoration Room
“God is dead.”
Longer version“God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers?”
Genuine — in its most famous appearance (section 125) it is spoken by a distraught character, and there it is a lament, not a boast.
Questions — about the checker
How does the quote checker work?
It compares what you type with every quotation in the 404 Quotes collection, allowing for small differences in wording and spelling, and shows the closest line with its label, its source and a link to the page that holds it. The comparison runs in your browser.
What does it mean if my quote is not found?
Only that it is not in the collection yet. It may still be a real quotation; it is simply not one in the collection, so the checker does not suggest a name for it.
Is what I type sent anywhere?
No. The page loads one file of the collection from this site and does the matching on your device. Nothing you type leaves the page.
How does “Real or fake?” work?
Each day, by your own calendar, one line from the collection is shown with the name usually given for it. You decide whether that person really said it, then the answer appears with its source. Only clear cases are used: lines traced to a named source, and lines the Forgery Wing found misattributed. Your answer and your streak are kept on this device only.