One of my many annoying habits is that I am a bit of a “quote nazi”, that is I look for opportunities to point out that something quoted was never actually said by the person cited. I keep pages full of not only quotes, but also misattributions.
Social media is especially bad at passing on misattributed quotes or just plain fake quoted. Meme are really bad concerning this. I have found it to be almost a certainty that any time something is quoted and placed on a picture background and then posted – that it is wrong. Quite annoying when I find I like a quote and then try to get the source. I am almost always disappointed to find the quote was not valid.
So when I found that Trent Horn of Catholic answers had released What the Saints Never Said: Pious Misquotes and the Subtle Heresies They Teach You, this was an instant buy. Although that it pretty much the case regardless of topic when it comes to Trent Horn.
This book goes farther than just to point out that a quote from a saint is actually not one. His methodology has multiple facets in identification. Making distinctions between quotes we have no citations of, ones that were almost certainly never said, or ones that came from a different source. In doubtful, but popular quotes, he delves into the substance of the quote and why they fail theologically or logically. I really enjoyed this analysis. Especially considering quotes that at first blush seem to portray some truth in a winsome way. That on further analysis fail at doing this and are in fact misleading.
So besides adding to my collection of quotes that are misattributed, it was the analysis that I enjoyed the most.
