Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Film ·253 of 348
"Stupid is as stupid does."
They never said that.
What people say
"Stupid is as stupid does."
What was actually said
"Handsome is he that handsome does." Mrs Gump (film); proverbial — Proverbial; appears in Chaucer (c. 1386) and Fielding (Tom Jones, 1749)
Why it stuck
Forrest Gump (1994) reshaped the older "handsome is as handsome does" into a line about intelligence — it echoes the older structure but retargets the moral.
Chaucer's Wife of Bath glosses the idea: "he is gentil that dooth gentil dedis."
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.