Misquote Quotes

Context

This misquoted line is often attributed to Alexander Hamilton.

In addition to being white, male, and dead, a person has to be somewhat wise to be on U.S. currency, right? Maybe that's why people attribute this quote to Alexander Hamilton, the dead white dude on the ten-dollar bill.

Those people will fall for anything, because Alexander Hamilton didn't say it. This is one of those quotes that pretty much everyone has said, so no one knows exactly where it originated. But the confusion regarding Alexander Hamilton seems to be rooted in a 1978 radio broadcast in which newsman Alex Hamilton (no relation) said, "Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."

Treasurer Alexander Hamilton died, after being paralyzed in a duel, in 1804, so we're not sure what the confusion is. Didn't the original "Got Milk?" commercial teach us anything?

Where you've heard it

You've heard this when you post this quote on Facebook, attributing it to the 1st Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and someone else calls you out on it.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This is a fine quote as long as you don't misattribute it to anyone. Crediting a quote, about gullibility, to the wrong person sends this way up the pretentious charts.