Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·73 of 348
"Every cloud has a silver lining."
They never said that.
What people say
"Every cloud has a silver lining."
What was actually said
"Was I deceiv'd, or did a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night?" John Milton — Comus (1634) by John Milton
Why it stuck
Milton's couplet is longer. The proverbial one-liner is a 19th-century compression of the image.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.