撰文、演講、交談時引用格言警句、名人語錄，往往可以起到事半功倍的效果，平添幾分力量或文采。但是，那些隨手拈來的經典名句，究竟是不是某人所說，引用時很少有人質疑，尤其是流傳已久的歷史名人語錄。
Five historical quotes that we probably misquote
Quoting a famous saying is often a quick （and impressive） way to communicate what we’re thinking to someone else。
引用格言警句、名人語錄通常是一種快速且令人印象深刻的表達思想的方式。
But are you sure that the quote you’re repeating is actually correct？
但是你是否想過，這些名人語錄究竟是不是出自某人之口？
Here are five popular quotations from famous historical figures that are inaccurate， or maybe even plain made up。
下面是五則此類被後世頻繁引用的名言，這些名言是不準確的，有些甚至是杜撰的。
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“要想改變世界，就先改變自己。” —— 甘地
Mahatma Gandhi， who was the leader of the independence movement against British rule in India， is the source of many often quoted lines。 Among them is this one， which emphasises that global change begins with personal responsibility。
聖雄甘地（Mahatma Gandhi）是英國殖民統治時期印度民族英雄，獨立運動領袖。他有很多警世名言流傳後世。這句話是被引用最多的之一。強調凡事應大處著眼、小處著手。
The problem is that there’s no record of him ever actually saying or writing it。 The nearest thing he did say was published in 1913 in the newspaper Indian Opinion （which he had founded）： “We but mirror the world。 All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body。 If we could change ourselves， the tendencies in the world would also change。”
問題是，沒有找到確鑿的記錄證明這句話是甘地所說或所寫。他說的最接近的話是 1913 年發表在他所創辦的《印度意見》報紙上：“我們只不過是世界的映象。外部世界的所有傾向都能在我們自身所在的世界裡找到。如果可以改變自己，那麼外部世界的傾向也會相應改變。”
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – Voltaire
“我不同意你的觀點，但我會誓死捍衛你表達自己觀點的權利。” —— 伏爾泰
This quotation， supposedly by French writer and philosopher Voltaire， is often cited by free speech advocates。 In a nutshell， it‘s saying that if you believe strongly in people’s right to express what they believe in， you will defend it even when they’re saying something you really don’t want to hear， or find offensive。
這句話一直被認為是法國文豪、哲學家伏爾泰的名言，經常被後人引用來倡導、爭取言論自由。這句話的核心意思是，如果你堅信表達信念的權利，那麼即使別人所言令你極度反感，完全反對，甚至覺得構成冒犯，你也會為之辯護。
Voltaire， who lived between 1694 and 1778， certainly believed in free speech。 Much of his writing attacked the Catholic Church’s attempts to restrict people’s liberty at the time。 But he almost certainly never expressed his views in his most often ‘quoted’ line。
伏爾泰（1694 - 1778）當然信奉言論自由。他的許多作品都在抨擊當時的天主教會對人性自由的壓制、束縛。但是，幾乎可以肯定，他沒有說過或寫過這句世代流傳、被廣泛引用的名言。
The quote has its roots in a biography by Evelyn Beatrice Hall published in 1906， more than a century after Voltaire’s death。 In it， she tries to sum up Voltaire’s thoughts on freedom of speech and wrote the line to help do that。
這句話的根源可以追溯到1906年出版的一本傳記，作者是伊芙琳·比阿特麗絲·霍爾（Evelyn Beatrice Hall）。那時伏爾泰已經離開人世一個多世紀。霍爾在書中嘗試對伏爾泰關於言論自由的思想加以總結概括，於是寫下了這句話。
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” - Edmund Burke
“邪惡獲勝的唯一必要條件是好人什麼都不做。—— 埃德蒙·伯克
Edmund Burke was an 18th-Century philosopher， statesman and writer who was an MP for the Whig Party for over 20 years。 Among his most regularly referenced quotations is this one。
埃德蒙·伯克（Edmund Burke）是英國18世紀哲學家、政治家和作家，當過20多年輝格黨國會議員。這句話是最經常被提及、最廣為人知的一句格言。
What Burke did say， in 1770， was， “When bad men combine， the good must associate； else they will fall， one by one， an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle。”
1770年，伯克確實說過一句話：“當壞人抱團時，好人必須聯合，否則他們會一個一個倒下，成為一場卑鄙的鬥爭中無人同情的犧牲品。”
The quote seems to have been warped soon after， and was even referenced by President John F。 Kennedy in a famous speech in 1961。
這段話很快廣為流傳，不知不覺中扭曲了本來面目。1961年時任美國總統肯尼迪在一次著名的演說中還引用了這句“伯克名言”。
“I cannot tell a lie. I cut down the cherry tree.” - George Washington
“我不能撒謊。是我砍了櫻桃樹。”—— 喬治·華盛頓
Among his supporters George Washington， who was the first president of the United States， was famed for his honesty。 This was often illustrated by a story in which the 6-year-old Washington chopped down his dad’s prized cherry tree but， when his vandalism was discovered， he immediately admitted to the crime。
美國開國總統喬治·華盛頓（George Washington）廣為人稱頌的優點之一是誠實。關於這一點有一個廣為人知的典故：華盛頓六歲時有一次把父親引以為傲的一顆櫻桃樹砍了。被發現後，他沒有隱瞞，痛快地承認了。
It’s a beloved and oft-told tale， which became a symbol of Washington’s virtues。 It first appeared in biographer Mason Locke Weems’s account of Washington’s life， which was published a year after Washington’s death in 1799。
這個深受喜愛且經常被人津津樂道的小故事代代相傳，也成了華盛頓人品美德的一個象徵。它最初見於作者梅森·洛克·維姆斯（Mason Locke Weems）筆下的華盛頓傳記，發表於1799年華盛頓去世一年後。
But the story wasn‘t even included in Weems’s book until the fifth edition in 1806。 With no other evidence prior to that， some argue the story could have been completely made up。
但是，維姆斯的華盛頓傳記前四版裡都沒有這個故事，第一次出現是在1806年第五版，而之前沒有其他佐證，因此有人懷疑那根本就是純屬杜撰。
“Let them eat cake!” - Marie Antoinette
“讓他們吃蛋糕！”—— 瑪麗·安託瓦內特
Marie Antoinette was queen of France during the period leading up to the French Revolution of 1789。 When she was informed that her starving subjects had no bread to eat， she is supposed to have declared， “Let them eat cake！”。 The quote is either meant to show how she was so out of touch with the real lives of poor people， or that she just didn’t care。
瑪麗·安託瓦內特（Marie Antoinette）是1789 年法國大革命之前的法國王后。據說，有一天她聽說民間鬧饑荒，百姓沒有面包果腹。王后聽聞此言脫口而出：“讓他們吃蛋糕！” 這個典故的寓意是諷刺皇后對平民百姓的生活一無所知，或者毫不關心。
The story seems to have surfaced in the writings of Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau around 1767， but he just attributes if to ‘a great princess’。 But since Antoinette was a child at the time， it’s unlikely she was the princess he was talking about。 Also， similar stories about different uncaring aristocrats had been floating around for years。
這個橋段似乎最早出現在1767年前後，文藝復興時期哲學家盧梭（Jean-Jacques Rousseau）的筆下。但是，他只提到說這句話的是“一位公主”，而當時瑪麗還是個孩子，不大可能是盧梭筆下的那位公主。更何況，多年來民間一直流傳著類似諷刺貴族冷漠無情的傳聞。
It was first specifically connected to Marie Antoinette in a pamphlet by writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr published 50 years after her death， and even then that was to say that the rumour about her saying it was untrue。
這個蛋糕典故與瑪麗·安託瓦內特第一次明確掛鉤，是在她死後 50 年發行的一本小冊子上，作者是讓-巴蒂斯特·阿爾方斯·卡爾（Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr）。不過，那本小冊子實際上說的是關於她的那個蛋糕典故實際上是謠傳，不是真的。
