17 famous phrases taken out of context

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

We all know these phrases well and use them constantly in everyday speech. But have our favorite quotes always meant the same as they do now? Here are some examples of how much the meaning of a statement can be distorted if you do not check the original source in time.

1. About the dead, it's either good or nothing

"About the dead it is either good or nothing but the truth" - the saying of the ancient Greek politician and poet Chilo from Sparta [VI century. BC BC], cited by the historian Diogenes Laertius [III century. n. BC] in his Life, Teachings and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.

2. All ages are submissive to love

A quote from "Eugene Onegin", which is often used to explain the passionate feelings of people in years or with a large age difference. However, it is worth reading the entire stanza, it becomes clear that Alexander Sergeevich had something completely different in mind:

Love has no age;

But to young, virgin hearts

Her impulses are beneficial

Like spring storms in the fields:

In the rain of passions they freshen

And they are renewed and ripen -

And the mighty life gives

And lush color and sweet fruit.

But at a late and barren age, At the turn of our years

Sad trail of passion:

So cold autumn storms

The meadow is turned into a swamp

And they lay bare the forest around.

3. Live and learn

A very famous phrase, which can be heard from literally every teacher and which they like to cite as an argument to substantiate the importance of studying a particular subject, in fact, is incomplete and is often mistakenly attributed to Lenin.

The author of the original phrase is Lucius Annei Seneca, and it sounds like this: “Live forever - learn how to live”.

4. The people are silent

The famous "people are silent" is considered to be an image of the tacit obedience of the Russian people, ready to accept any decision of the authorities and, in general, any government. However, with Pushkin it is exactly the opposite. The poem ends with the introduction of the new tsar to the people after the bloody massacre of the Godunovs.

MOSALSKY: People! Maria Godunova and her son Theodore poisoned themselves with poison. We saw their dead bodies. The people are silent in horror.

MOSALSKY: Why are you silent? shout: long live Tsar Dimitri Ivanovich!

The people are silent."

5. The end justifies the means

Full version of the phrase, authored by the founder of the Jesuit order Ignatius de Loyola: "If the goal is the salvation of the soul, then the end justifies the means."

6. Truth in wine

The famous saying of Pliny the Elder "The truth is in wine." In fact, the phrase has a continuation "and health in the water." Original "In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas".

7. Religion is opium for people

Religion is opium. A phrase popular with atheists is also taken out of context. Karl Marx wrote in the introduction to his work "To the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law" [1843]: "Religion is the air of an oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, as well as the soul of a soulless situation. Just as she is the spirit of soulless order, religion is opium for people! " That is, religion reduces the pain of social life in an inhuman society.

8. An exception proves the rule

This phrase, which is obviously illogical, is being used completely incorrectly. This expression was formed as a paraphrase from the speech of Cicero in defense of Lucius Cornelius Balbus the elder. They accused him of having obtained Roman citizenship illegally. The case was heard in 56 BC. e.

Balbus was a native of Hades [modern. the name of Cadiz], served under Pompey, with whom he became friends and was friends; Pompey was the sponsor of his citizenship. The reason for the accusation was, as in most high-profile cases of that time, political. Although Balbus himself was active politically, the blow was certainly directed at the triumvirs of the First Triumvirate [Caesar, Crassus and Pompey].

Not only Cicero, but also Pompey and Crassus spoke out in defense of Balbus. The case was won. In his speech, Cicero makes this argument. In some interstate agreements on the mutual recognition of Rome with neighboring countries, there was a clause clearly excluding dual citizenship: the inhabitants of those countries could not become Roman citizens without first giving up their own. Balba's citizenship was dual; this was the formal side of the accusation. Cicero says that since there is such an exception in some agreements, those agreements in which it does not exist are subject to the opposite rule, namely, they allow dual citizenship. In other words, if there is an exception, then there must be a rule from which this exception is made, even if this rule has never been explicitly formulated. Thus, the existence of exceptions confirms the existence of a rule from which these exceptions are made.

It is not exceptions that confirm the rule, and the existence of exceptions confirms the existence of the rule!

9. Every cook should be able to run the state

The phrase is attributed to V. I. Lenin In fact, it was in this form that he did not say it. In his work "Will the Bolsheviks Retain State Power" [October 1917], he wrote:

“We are not utopians. We know that any laborer and any cook are not able to immediately take over the government. On this we agree with the Cadets, and with Breshkovskaya, and with Tsereteli. But we differ from these citizens in that we demand an immediate break with the prejudice that only rich people or officials taken from rich families are able to govern the state, to carry out the everyday work of government. We demand that training in state administration be carried out by class-conscious workers and soldiers and that it should be started immediately, that is, all the working people, all the poor, should be immediately involved in this training."

10. There is a person - there is a problem, if there is no person - there is no problem …

The phrase attributed to Stalin was never actually uttered by him. This phrase belongs to the Stalin Prize laureate, writer Anatoly Rybakov, and was put into the mouth of Stalin in his novel "Children of the Arbat" [1987]. Later, in his autobiographical novel Novel-Remembrance [1997] Rybakov told the story of the origin of this phrase. According to the recollections of Rybakov's acquaintances, he was very proud of the fact that the phrase he had invented was “promoted” as a real statement by the leader.

11. Stalin took Russia with a plow, and left with an atomic bomb

This phrase is attributed to Churchill. In fact, it belongs to the British historian Isaac Deutscher. The phrase itself first appeared in an obituary dedicated to Stalin in 1953 in The Times. Then in 1956 she migrated to the article about Stalin in the British Encyclopedia. Literally in the obituary, it looked like this:

“However, over the past three decades, the face of Russia has begun to change. The essence of Stalin's truly historic achievements is that he accepted Russia with a plow, and left with nuclear reactors. He raised Russia to the level of the second industrially developed country in the world. This was not the result of purely material progress and organizational work. Such achievements would not have been possible without an all-encompassing cultural revolution, during which the entire population attended school and studied very hard."

12. Business - time, fun - an hour

Now it is used in the sense of "Work a lot, have a little fun". The saying comes from the times when the words "time" and "hour" were synonymous. That is, the proverb meant: "Business time, time fun." Or, in modern terms, everything has its time, and no more. Although the meaning that is being put into this expression now is perhaps even better than the original one.

13. The road to hell is paved with good intentions

For some reason, many believe that this phrase is synonymous with the phrase "do not do good - you will not get evil" or "wanted the best - it turned out as always." Although in the original the phrase should sound like this: "Hell is full of good intentions, and heaven is full of good deeds," or alternatively: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions, the road to heaven is paved with good deeds."

14. Agreements with Russians are not worth the paper they are written on

One of the famous quotes, which they are trying to belittle Russia and Russians in general, belongs to the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and is actually taken out of the context of his statement:

“Do not expect that once you take advantage of Russia's weakness, you will receive dividends forever. Russians always come for their money. And when they come - do not rely on the Jesuit agreements you signed, supposedly justifying you. They are not worth the paper they are written on. Therefore, it is worth playing with the Russians either honestly, or not playing at all."

15. There is no sex in the USSR

A phrase that originated in the statement of one of the Soviet participants in the Leningrad-Boston teleconference [“Women talk to women”], aired on July 17, 1986. During the conversation, the American participant of the teleconference asked the question: “… In our television advertising, everything revolves around sex. Do you have such TV commercials? " Soviet participant Lyudmila Ivanova replied: "Well, we have sex … [chuckle] We have no sex, and we are categorically against it!" After that, the audience laughed, and one of the Soviet participants clarified: "We have sex, we have no advertising!" The distorted and taken out of context part of the phrase: "There is no sex in the USSR" came into use.

16. A bullet is a fool, a bayonet is a fine fellow

In the original, Suvorov's phrase sounded:

“Save the bullet for three days, and sometimes for a whole campaign, as there is nowhere to take. Shoot rarely, but accurately; with a bayonet if it is tight. A bullet will cheat, a bayonet will not cheat: a bullet is a fool, a bayonet is great."

That is, a banal call to save ammunition, because there may be problems with the supply of new ones.

17. Lies for salvation

Traditionally, these words mean a completely permissible lie - justified by the fact that it allegedly is for the good of the deceived and such a lie, as is commonly believed, is permitted and blessed by the Bible. But this catch phrase owes its birth to the incorrect use of the biblical text. The Bible nowhere speaks of “lying for salvation,” that is, a lie that can be understood and forgiven. The Old Church Slavonic text of the Bible says [Old Testament, Psalm, Psalm 32, v. 17]: “Lie the horse for salvation, but in the great amount of his strength he will not be saved”. Translation: "The horse is unreliable for salvation; it will not deliver by its great strength."

Thus, it does not speak at all about a lie, and even more so, its justification.