NPR

'Hemingway Didn't Say That' (And Neither Did Twain Or Kafka)

There are tons of quotes from famous people out there — and a lot of them are just plain wrong. Author Garson O'Toole has dedicated himself to setting the record straight.
Author Garson O'Toole has a simple explanation for why quotes are often wrongly attributed to Mark Twain: "If you preface a quotation by saying it's from Twain, then people are prepared to laugh at it."

Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee marked Abraham Lincoln's birthday by sharing a charming, if banal, aphorism attributed to Lincoln: "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

The problem is Lincoln ever wrote or said it, which critics on Twitter were only too delighted to point out. The RNC took down the tweet, but all that trouble could have.

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