Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Saying ·322 of 348
"We must hang together or we will hang separately."
They never said that.
What people say
"We must hang together or we will hang separately."
What was actually said
"We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin — Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, signing of the Declaration, 4 July 1776
Why it stuck
Franklin's reported line uses the adverbs "indeed" and "most assuredly" for rhetorical weight. The streamlined version sacrifices the cadence.
The quotation was not published until Jared Sparks's 1840 biography, sixty-plus years later.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.