Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Proverb ·241 of 348
"Rome wasn't built in a day."
They never said that.
What people say
"Rome wasn't built in a day."
What was actually said
"Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour." Anonymous — Li Proverbe au Vilain (c. 1190, Old French)
Why it stuck
The French original is the earliest form — a 12th-century proverb. Attribution in English to John Heywood (1546) or Queen Elizabeth I is downstream.
The fuller English form — "but it didn't burn in a day either" — is a 1990s American addition, not medieval.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.