Another Day, Another (Fake) Lincoln Quote

This time it’s author J.K. Rowling, who shows that while she’s a great writer of fiction, she’s no historian.

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling has added her voice to the cacophony of anger in response to President Donald Trump’s Twitter attack against “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski Thursday morning — and added the voice of another U.S. president, too.

Thursday morning, Rowling tweeted a quote from Abraham Lincoln with screenshots of the president’s tweets against Brzezinski.

“‘Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.’ Abraham Lincoln,” she tweeted.

But…the quote is fake.

Personally I am always reminded by things like this of some of Lincoln’s other words: “88.8% of the quotes you see on the internet are bogus.”

UPDATE: Just checking around, some of the most misquoted and mis-attributed people are (in no particular order): Lincoln, Voltaire, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Lenin and Hitler.


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2 responses to “Another Day, Another (Fake) Lincoln Quote”

  1. Josh Liller Avatar
    Josh Liller

    It definitely sounds more like something someone would say about Lincoln rather than being said by Lincoln.

  2. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    Seems like one of those quotes whose origin is suspect but which is most often attributed to Lincoln. This goes as far as an article published (by a high school student) on a Lincoln museum website and attribution on ‘brainyquotes.com’

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