Questions tagged [quotes]

Use this tag when the question is about whether someone said or wrote a quote.

The repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts.

This tag is appropriate for questions where the authenticity of a quote is being questioned rather than questions where a quotation is the source of a claim. In other words, the underlying claim is about the authenticity of the quote itself rather than any claims made within the quotation.

Example appropriate questions for the tag
  • Famous Person X claims in his recent book that Famous Person Y gave a speech claiming that the sky is green. Did Famous Person Y really give a speech in which he claimed that the sky is green?
  • Smith (2019), in a paper published in Science, claims that his assertion that "x is bounded by the lesser hyperbola when n < 3" is a quotation from a paper by Johnson (1995), but I cannot find this paper anywhere. Does it really exist and does it in fact contain the claimed mathematical assertion?
Example inappropriate questions for the tag (choose a more appropriate tag)
  • Famous Person Y claims that the sky is green, is it really green?
  • A paper by Johnson (1995) claims that "x is bounded by the lesser hyperbola when n < 3". Is x actually so bounded? The proof that Johnson provides appears very specious, and I have these specific concerns about it specifically....
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Did Donald Trump say republicans are the dumbest voters in the country?

I saw this image going around Twitter lately: If I were to run, I'd run as a republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They love anything on FOX News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be…
Seth
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Did Einstein say the "if you judge a fish" quote that many are attributing to him?

The quote: “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.” I'm just not confident that this is something Einstein would say. I Googled it and was unable…
Christopher Rayl
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Did new Brazilian president Bolsonaro say he'd rather have a dead son than a gay one?

There has been a lot in the global news media recently about the new President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and the highly controversial things he is alleged to have said in the past. Some quotes are attributed to him in a 2018 New York Times…
Victoria
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Did Henry Ford say "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses"?

Did Henry Ford say If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.
bessarabov
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Did Susan B. Anthony make these statements regarding suffrage for women and former slaves?

Telesur posted an article on 8 November 2016 which claims Susan B. Anthony made a number of statements under the headline "White Women Pay Tribute to Susan B. Anthony, Notorious Racist": The Bad “I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will…
Luis Masuelli
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Neil Armstrong: “One small step for man” or “one small step for a man”?

Today on Facebook the Science Museum (London) posted: #OTD in 1930 American astronaut and aeronautical engineer Neil Armstrong was born. In July 1969, Armstrong and Apollo 11 pilot Buzz Aldrin performed the first manned Moon landing. When he…
A E
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Did Ray Bradbury ever claim that "Fahrenheit 451" was not about censorship?

One of the persons I follow on twitter recently linked this article. It contains the following claims: [Ray Bradbury] has always insisted that the main theme of the book is the role of the mass media and its effect on the populace virtually…
Federico
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Did Donald Trump call Alicia Machado "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping"?

During the first Trump-Clinton presidential debate, Clinton said: He called this woman "Miss Piggy." Then he called her "Miss Housekeeping," because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado. Trump responded by asking…
Fiksdal
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Did Martin Schulz say that it is not the EU philosophy that the crowd can decide its fate?

In the last few days, some people are attributing to European Parliament President Martin Schulz the following statement: The British have violated the rules. It is not the EU philosophy that the crowd can decide its fate. Did he really say that,…
T. C.
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Did Edison refuse to pay Tesla, saying "You don't understand our American humor"?

The story that Edison scammed Tesla out of his payment for services he was hired for is widely spread on the Internet. The story was featured on this The Oatmeal webcomic, which is excerpted below: The Wikipedia citations cannot easily be checked…
March Ho
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Did Einstein say "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

The following quotation is commonly attributed to Albert Einstein: "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." However, I've been unable to find a reliable source confirming the quote. Can…
Dominik
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Did Emmanuel Macron call a teenager an "idiot?"

This article from The Telegraph (June 22, 2018) mentions that Emmanuel Macron called the teenager who was not respectful an "idiot"; emphasis is mine: President Emmanuel Macron is facing criticism for giving a public dressing down to a teenager who…
Ionică Bizău
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Is a writer named Lisa Holst responsible for the belief that everyone eats eight spiders a year?

If you're reading this there's a good chance you're fan of Snopes.com, and I certainly count myself as the same. However, an issue recently came up a with particular Snopes article that was invoked on this very site to explain where the belief that…
Scott Hamilton
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Did Truman say this about helping whichever of Germany and Russia were losing during the war?

Taken from Good Reads: If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible, although I don't want to see Hitler victorious under any…
JonathanReez
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What is the original source of "Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power."?

Frequently, "Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power." is seen attributed to Oscar Wilde: e.g., here, here, and here. This seems unlikely to me, for several reasons: I can't find any instances of the quote that date…
Micah
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