Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·274 of 348
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
They never said that.
What people say
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
What was actually said
"Le plus beau tour du diable est de nous persuader qu'il n'existe pas." Charles Baudelaire — Charles Baudelaire, Le Joueur généreux (1864)
Why it stuck
Kevin Spacey's character quotes a close approximation in The Usual Suspects (1995). Most speakers attribute the line to the film, not Baudelaire's prose poem.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.