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Quotes from Historical Figures #1

Fill the blanks in these quotes often attributed to historical figures.
Some quotes paraphrased
Attributions in red are almost certainly false attributions
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 13, 2019
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First submittedDecember 22, 2011
Times taken75,618
Average score52.4%
Rating4.49
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Person
Quote
Julius Caesar
I came, I saw, I conquered
Marie Antoinette
Let them eat cake
Mohandas Gandhi
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind
George Santayana
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
Laozi
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step
Thomas Edison
Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration
Oscar Wilde
A cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing
Albert Einstein
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and
expecting different results
Karl Marx
Religion is the opiate of the masses
Winston Churchill
It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
Isaac Newton
If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants
Voltaire
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him
A witty saying proves nothing
Jean-Paul Sartre
Hell is other people
Mark Twain
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics
Eleanor Roosevelt
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent
George Patton
Lead, follow, or get out of the way!
Al Capone
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can
with a kind word alone
Friedrich Nietzsche
What does not kill me makes me stronger
Alexander Pope
To err is human, to forgive divine
Thomas Gray
Ignorance is bliss
+4
Level 40
Dec 22, 2011
I typed insane instead of insanity and graves instead of gravyards....oh well, great quiz!
+2
Level 46
Dec 22, 2011
I could have sworn it was "create" instead of "invent". Darn, I was so close!
+1
Level 55
Mar 30, 2015
Yup. Tried it at least five times, just in case.
+3
Level 44
May 24, 2020
that sounds crazy ;)
+1
Level 60
Aug 27, 2023
Insane, some would say.
+5
Level ∞
Jun 7, 2016
Create will work now since that quote is translated from French anyway.
+1
Level 37
Oct 31, 2016
Create and invent are two different things which are used interchangeably but are not really interchangeable. God

created man from dust. Man invents things from other

things already existing. In this sense, I believe invent

was used in the sense that man would "conjure" Him.

+3
Level 86
Feb 21, 2020
« Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer. »
+2
Level 68
Aug 18, 2013
Go, Caesar!! Vini, vidi, vici!!
+6
Level 66
Feb 21, 2020
Wine, saw, conquered?. So I guess that would be "go wine"? Perhaps in vino veritas is a saying more to your liking :)
+2
Level 84
Feb 21, 2020
I wish the latin version worked.
+8
Level 48
May 20, 2014
If there isn't a quiz on Mark Twain quotes, there should be.
+1
Level 60
Aug 27, 2023
+3
Level 66
Aug 14, 2014
Thomas Gray is my uncle...true story. =]
+1
Level 56
Sep 28, 2022
right...
+3
Level 75
Aug 14, 2014
I didn't know the answer to the Sartre clue, but for Isaac Newton I tried typing "others" and got the Sartre answer. I love freebies!
+1
Level 84
Mar 7, 2017
I tried "noisy" people for Sartre's quote first. :-P
+1
Level 44
Aug 14, 2014
I first heard the "get out of the way" quote from Lee Iacoca.
+17
Level 60
Aug 14, 2014
That's actually Kelly Clarkson, not Nietzsche.
+2
Level 58
Nov 23, 2020
Basically the same thing anyways
+18
Level 60
Aug 14, 2014
"The problem with reading quotes on the internet is that you never know if they're genuine"

-Abraham Lincoln

+1
Level 74
Aug 15, 2014
I just snorted coffee through my nose...
+4
Level 48
Oct 28, 2016
As I always say about this quotation, I could have sworn it was Mark Twain.
+1
Level 71
Nov 28, 2017
'escojm'....... +1
+2
Level 40
Aug 5, 2015
Ugh! I tried every synonym of "inferior" I could think of, but couldn't come up with the right word. And came so close to insanity trying to get that one. :p
+2
Level 75
Dec 7, 2020
Yes I tried madness, lunacy... then insanity :)
+3
Level 31
Sep 3, 2016
Since they are paraphrased, could you accept Worth for Value, please.
+1
Level 60
Oct 28, 2016
I remember Hillary saying something similar to what Julius Caesar said.
+1
Level 65
Aug 19, 2019
basket of deplorables
+1
Level 56
Oct 28, 2016
I've always thought it was "Ignorance is bless"
+8
Level 59
Aug 17, 2017
Oh the irony! :-)
+6
Level 74
Oct 28, 2016
May it possible, to accept "I came, I saw, I won". That is another legit translation and a little bit easier for people, who having to translate the quotations into english first,
+2
Level 37
Nov 9, 2017
It literally means "I was victorious" (or I won); however, since Caeser conquered damn near everything he saw, the given translation is more in line with his reputation.
+1
Level 71
Oct 28, 2016
I enjoyed this. It was a bit different and just the right level of challenging. Thank you.
+3
Level 69
Nov 5, 2016
Addition to the sequel: "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic" Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Stalin)
+1
Level 58
May 9, 2017
the quote you have of karl marx is from a slightly longer quote that he made
+3
Level 78
Feb 21, 2020
"The misery of religion is at once an expression of real misery, and a cry of protest against real misery. Religion is the sigh of an oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opiate of the people. To get rid of religion, which is an illusionary bliss of the people, is demanding real bliss. Telling them to abandon their illusions about their condition is telling them to give up conditions that require illusions."
+2
Level 78
Feb 21, 2020
So the difference between "opiate for the people" (as it is often quoted) and "opiate of the people" is important. "opiate for the people" would mean that religion is forced upon the masses to keep them ignorant. But what Marx means is that in such dire conditions, the majority of people can't help but cling to fantasies that make them a little happier.
+3
Level 63
May 11, 2017
We are like dwarves perched on the shoulders of giants, and thus we are able to see more and farther than the latter. -Bernard of Chartres, 12th c.
+1
Level 65
Aug 24, 2017
I've read that the most likely source for the insanity quote is Rita Mae Brown, and since I like her books, I'm gonna believe that. She's clever enough to have said that.
+1
Level 37
Nov 9, 2017
That quote is a lot older than Rita Mae Brown. For a fan, you are not being very loyal by adding decades to her age.
+2
Level 71
Nov 28, 2017
"Infamy, Infamy!"
+3
Level 86
Mar 19, 2018
Not suggesting it be changed (because the "single step" version is so ingrained now), but a more accurate translation of the Laozi quote would be, "A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet." The sentiment is slightly different: rather than suggesting that momentous accomplishments begin with simple actions, it's saying that momentous accomplishments start from where/what you already are.
+3
Level 82
Sep 26, 2019
That Voltaire quote is pretty funny considering how talented he was at crafting witty sayings.
+2
Level 69
Dec 11, 2019
But I wish "clever" were also accepted here—since it's a translation anyway.
+1
Level ∞
Dec 13, 2019
Clever will work now
+3
Level 76
Sep 26, 2019
I thought the Edison one was "stealing".
+1
Level 71
Mar 20, 2021
you might be mixing that up with the quote from picasso - good artists borrow, great artists steal
+2
Level 79
Mar 26, 2021
I think Ferbin is talking about the fact that it is pretty well known now that Edison stole other people's inventions or paid them off for the patents and presented them as his own.
+1
Level 72
Aug 24, 2023
Also attributed to T.S. Eliot https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/06/artists-steal/.
+1
Level 66
Feb 21, 2020
2nd time I have done this quiz (not recently though ; ) ) and second time I couldnt get the Einstein quote correct haha (and the bottom 4) I tried things like stupidity (:D)
+5
Level 78
Feb 21, 2020
Felt clever for entering brioche.
+1
Level 72
Feb 21, 2020
Original quote was "brioche," and was published before Marie Antoinette arrived in France. I think maybe it should be considered. (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake )
+1
Level 78
Feb 21, 2020
That was the point. And you linked to the same article as I.
+1
Level 68
Feb 21, 2020
Spelled enigma with an i 🤦‍♀️ I was so confident that was the right answer and was racking my brain for similar words. Didn't even consider I was misspelling it
+1
Level 18
Feb 21, 2020
Many of these are misattributed: https://www.businessinsider.com/misattributed-quotes-2013-10
+3
Level ∞
Feb 21, 2020
Yeah, I know. Read the caveats.
+1
Level 74
Feb 21, 2020
I tried "worth" for "value", could you accept it?
+1
Level 90
Feb 21, 2020
You really can't accept a synonym in an answer that's a quote.
+1
Level 45
Feb 22, 2020
can you make it so "sweat" works for "perspiration"? They're the exact same thing, after all
+1
Level 49
Feb 24, 2020
There are so many real quotes by Einstein to use a false one. Unless the quiz maker is doing it as an attempt to to stop people repeating it, in which case I'm all for it.
+1
Level 43
Feb 25, 2020
The insanity quote is typically misattributed to Einstein.
+2
Level 54
Nov 10, 2020
Since you accept 'clever' for 'witty,' I think you should accept 'worth' for 'value.'
+1
Level 75
Dec 7, 2020
Perhaps Voltaire meant to say:

"God didn't exist, so it was necessary to invent him."

+2
Level 83
Mar 8, 2021
Voltaire wasn't an atheist, he was a deist. He believed quite strongly in the existence of some sort of god.
+1
Level 68
Aug 24, 2023
Sure, but, to be fair, deism is often atheism in all but name.
+1
Level 83
Nov 14, 2023
I feel like believing in a god or deity rules you out from the modern conception of atheism? If you're talking about the 18th century, when 'atheist' was sometimes used to refer to anyone who wasn't a part of the predominant Christian sect, then maybe. But given the vocal atheism/materialism of Voltaire's contemporaries, like Diderot, in contrast to him (especially since Voltaire explicitly said he believed in a higher power), it feels like the deism-atheism distinction is important here.
+1
Level 21
Mar 10, 2021
the alexander pope quote instantly made me think of the deadshot daiquri jingle from call of duty
+1
Level 53
May 2, 2021
The Karl Marx quote should be in blue, he said similar but the quote itself is not his words.
+2
Level 67
Jun 8, 2021
I got "a witty saying proves nothing" because I remember it from JetPunk Interesting Quotes
+1
Level 64
Sep 20, 2021
Please accept brioche for cake, otherwise it's a mistranslation as well as a misattribution!
+1
Level 64
Feb 9, 2022
Gandhi did not make the eye for an eye statement:

“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind” is frequently attributed to M. K. Gandhi. The Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence states that the Gandhi family believes it is an authentic Gandhi quotation, but no example of its use by the Indian leader has ever been discovered.

The YBQ notes that an important biographer of Gandhi, Louis Fischer, used a version of the expression when he wrote about Gandhi’s approach to conflict. However, Fischer did not attribute the saying to Gandhi in his description of the leader’s life. Instead, Fischer used the expression himself as part of his explanation of Gandhi’s philosophy. QI thinks some readers may have been confused and may have decided to directly attribute the saying to Gandhi based on a misreading of Fischer’s works.

+2
Level 83
Jun 28, 2022
(read the caveats)
+1
Level 67
Aug 24, 2023
A little-known fact is that my Uncle Don actually coined that expression. It was at the Star Wars Fan Convention back in '87. Good times.
+1
Level 81
Dec 20, 2023
Was he a lamplighter? (jetpunk in-jokes time)
+1
Level 68
Feb 24, 2022
Just read the play the Sartre quote comes from (: I knew it looked familiar.
+1
Level 76
Nov 14, 2022
i was so sure it would be some variation on "lead, follow, or get filled with lead" - perhaps i still had al capone on the brain...