quotes that are not as they seem
Here’s a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald that’s been doing the rounds on Facebook recently:
But… Hang on… Isn’t that the same guy who said there are no second acts in American lives? That there are no second chances once your first shot has come to an end?
Well, no. That quote was actually saying that Americans search for immediate results, so they don’t wait for the second act (as in the second act of a play). As far as second chances go, he’s all for them, but EVERYBODY uses that quote to illustrate the lack of second attempts at ‘life’, or to get all sniffy because FSF was WRONG, the braindead KING OF FUCKWITTAGE!
While we’re on the subject, it’s also interesting how people quote ‘Shakespeare’ when they’re actually quoting one of his characters, who might not actually be an incredibly insightful playwright. For example ‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be’ is said by a character in Hamlet called Polonius, who one could describe as cynical, insincere, arrogant and sermonising, which makes his advice a bit shaky. But that doesn’t stop people quoting it as something Shakespeare himself would suggest.
Do you have any other examples of the above?
I remember reading about the Beatles All You Need Is Love. That what Lennon was actually, secretly and cynically, saying was, NOW (after you have all the material things you want) all you need is love. That you have everything else – the important stuff – and now all you need is love. As opposed to you DONT need anything else just love which is how everyone reads it.
Thanks.
And I’m sure we all know that Born In The USA was a diatribe against all that was wrong with America in the 80s.
It was then used by Reagan’s campaign as an anthem for the greatness of the country.
According to Freakonomics, In David and Goliath, the real story, david was actually a jerk showing off and Goliath was more of a harmless simpleton who David killed from a distance just to look cool
It’s funny you mention mis-quotes and misplaced context. I believe it was Churchill who said:
‘The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it’s difficult to discern if they are genuine.’
Beautiful quote, but I think it’s actually from the screenplay of Benjamin Button, and not actually F Scott Fitzgerald.
There’s a wee post about the misquote here:
http://www.falmouthpubliclibrary.org/?%2Fblog%2Fentries%2Fthe-curious-case-of-misquotation%2F
I think that illustrates my point quite brilliantly.
Or fucks it up.
One of the two.