Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Attribution ·328 of 348
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. — Ralph Waldo Emerson"
They never said that.
What people say
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. — Ralph Waldo Emerson"
What was actually said
"No verified Emerson source." Henry Stanley Haskins — Attributed — the phrasing is Henry Stanley Haskins's, in his book Meditations in Wall Street (1940)
Why it stuck
Meditations in Wall Street was published anonymously in 1940. The Emerson attribution emerged in the 1970s. Emerson's actual prose is denser and older-sounding; the quoted line is 20th-century.
Oliver Wendell Holmes has also been miscredited. The book's modern reprint restores the Haskins byline.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.