Misquoting can actually hurt your image
Jorge Pinto
InfoSec & Cybersecurity professional passionate about risk, security, and resilience. Advocate for positive impact in InfoSec and, occasionally, in environment, and politics. Let's connect and grow together!
While quoting someone seems like an excellent way to show how knowledgeable you are, misquoting, on the other hand, has exactly the opposite effect. At least with me.
After being bombarded in the last few months on the topics of #fakenews and #disinformation you may find that misquoting is definitely the lesser of evils. Sometimes the messages are actually interesting, sometimes they may be really, really inspiring, so why does it matter who wrote it or even if it was written by that person?
Check out " The Problem with Quotes on the Internet" (where I borrowed the picture from)
The thing is, I find that correct quoting is actually a sign of knowledge, or at least is a sign of respect. You are borrowing from someone whose work, life or philosophy left an impression on you. It's a way of paying hommage to that person. In addition making sure you are correctly quoting someone is a sign of critical thinking and thoroughness, two traits I appreciate in a professional person. Also it is a matter of historical correctness. The fact that too much misinformation is around should make us more aware and appeal to us to be better digital people, or at least thorough in our shares.
Take Abe's words to heart:
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity."
~ Abraham Lincoln (source: the Internet)
In the end when I read a post containing a misquote I may be led to think that the person lacks these two traits I enjoy so much and are only trying to pass as someone they are not. Which may not actually be true, but it is very hard not to think so.
If you enjoy Ben Franklin's quotes you should check this site
To be fair I’m only writing this rant because I read at least three different misquotes attributed to Sun Tzu this week only. And I do enjoy the Art of War too much to let this pass.
Sun Tzu misquotes can be funny also
So, please, if you are going to quote someone, make sure that you are doing it correctly. Be the person you want to show others.