Gandhi

It’s a lovely saying, but it wasn’t Gandhi. He did say something similar: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do.”

According to Quote Investigator, the more succinct version of the phrase doesn’t start appearing until the mid-1970s—decades after Gandhi’s death.

Abraham Lincoln

It’s a very diplomatic phrase, but Lincoln never said it. Quote Investigator traced the expression to 19th century humorist Charles Farrar Browne, also known as Artemus Ward. In 1863, Browne created a series of fake testimonials for some lectures he was performing, including a fictitious blurb from one “O. Abe.” This “Abe” supposedly said: “I have never heard any of your lectures, but from what I can learn I should say that for people who like the kind of lectures you deliver, they are just the kind of lectures such people like.”

The testimonial was reprinted in multiple places, and versions of the saying became associated with Lincoln. Later on, a story arose that Browne had read a lecture to Lincoln, who responded with a version of the phrase. Later still, Browne’s name was dropped from the situation entirely. The writers George Bernard Shaw, Max Beerbohm, and Muriel Spark have all used the phrase — but long after it was already circulating.

By the way, other things Lincoln never said include: “In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years,” and “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power,” among many other examples.

Nelson Mandela

 

Anti-apartheid hero and former South African president Nelson Mandela never said this. The phrase originated with Marianne Williamson, the New Age guru and erstwhile 2020 presidential candidate. According to Quote Investigator, the phrase first appeared in chapter seven of Williamson’s 1992 bestseller, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.

The full quote is: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”

Some people find the lines inspiring, but there’s no connection with Mandela. In fact, it’s not quite clear how the statesman was given credit, except that people think it’s the kind of thing he might have said.

June 30

Aztec emperor Moctezuma II dies in battle with Spanish conquistadors (1520); Famous Oxford debate on evolution takes place (1860); Singer and civil rights activist Lena Horne born (1917); HBD Olympic legend Michael Phelps (1985). 

June 29

Original Globe Theatre burns to the ground (1613); HBD NBA star Kawhi Leonard (1991); US Space Shuttle docks with Russian space station for first time (1995); RIP Hollywood legend Katharine Hepburn (2003); Apple releases first iPhone (2007).

June 28

Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated, sparking World War I (1914); Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I (1919); Stonewall uprising begins (1969); HBD Elon Musk (1971); RIP basketball coach Pat Summitt (2016).

June 27

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founder Joseph Smith killed by a mob in jail (1844); Author Paul Laurence Dunbar born (1872); Helen Keller born (1880); The US enters the Korean War (1950); HBD director JJ Abrams (1966).

June 25

British author George Orwell born (1903); Anne Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl" first published (1947); North Korea invades South Korea, beginning the Korean War (1950); American chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain born (1956); RIP American actress Farrah Fawcett (2009).

June 24

Boxing great Jack Dempsey born (1895); First exhibit by Pablo Picasso opens in Paris (1901); HBD actress Mindy Kaling (1979); HBD soccer star Lionel Messi (1987); Condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, kills 98 (2021). 

June 23

Computer scientist Alan Turing born (1912); Track and field great Wilma Rudolph born (1940); Title IX enacted, banning gender discrimination in public education and sports (1972); RIP polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk (1995); The UK votes to leave the EU (2016).

June 22

Department of Justice established (1870); GI Bill is signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1944); HBD Meryl Streep (1949); RIP Judy Garland (1969); RIP dancer Fred Astaire (1987).

June 21

US Constitution is ratified (1788); Benazir Bhutto, first female prime minister of Pakistan, born (1953); HBD actor Chris Pratt (1979); HBD Prince William (1982); Frida Kahlo is first Hispanic woman honored on US postage stamp (2001).

June 20

Samuel Morse patents the telegraph (1840); HBD Beach Boys cofounder Brian Wilson (1942); Mobster Bugsy Siegel is murdered (1947); HBD actress Nicole Kidman (1967); Manjil–Rudbar earthquake kills 35,000-50,000 (1990). 

June 18

Napoleon Bonaparte defeated in Battle of Waterloo (1815); American suffragist Susan B. Anthony fined after being convicted for voting in the 1872 presidential election (1873); Film critic and Pulitzer Prize recipient Roger Ebert born (1942); Sally Ride becomes first American woman to travel to space (1983).

June 17

Battle of Bunker Hill fought (1775); Statue of Liberty arrives in New York as gift from France (1885); HBD tennis star Venus Williams (1980); HBD rapper Kendrick Lamar (1987); OJ Simpson arrested for murder following police chase (1994). 

June 16

Economist Adam Smith born (1723); President Abraham Lincoln gives "House Divided" speech (1858); First American roller coaster opens in Coney Island, New York (1884); Ford Motor Company is incorporated (1903); Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space (1963); Rapper Tupac Shakur born (1971).

June 15

Magna Carta is sealed by King John (1215); Arlington National Cemetery is established (1864); Henry Ossian Flipper becomes first Black graduate from West Point (1877); RIP jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1996).

June 14

Stars and Stripes officially adopted as flag of the US (1777); Abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe born (1811); Former President Donald Trump born in Queens, New York (1946); High-rise fire in London kills 72 (2017).

June 13

Miranda rights are established (1966); Thurgood Marshall becomes first African American nominated to Supreme Court (1967); Pioneer 10 is first human-made object to exit our solar system (1983); HBD actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (1986).

June 11

Jeannette Rankin, first woman elected to US Congress, born (1880); Football coach Vince Lombardi born (1913); Reality competition series "American Idol" debuts (2002); RIP actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee (2014).

June 10

Benjamin Franklin conducts famous kite experiment (1752); Hattie McDaniel, first African American to win an Oscar, born (1893); Hollywood legend Judy Garland born (1922); Italy invades France, declares war on France and Great Britain (1940); RIP musician Ray Charles (2004).

June 9

Roman emperor Nero dies by suicide (68); RIP author Charles Dickens (1870); HBD Michael J. Fox (1961); Secretariat wins horse racing’s Triple Crown (1973); HBD Natalie Portman (1981).

June 8

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright born (1867); Former first lady Barbara Bush born (1925); George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" published (1949); James Earl Ray arrested in London for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (1968); HBD Kanye West (1977).

June 7

RIP Jean Harlow (1937); RIP mathematician Alan Turing (1954); Musician Prince born (1958); US Supreme Court legalizes contraception use by married couples (1965); RIP writer Dorothy Parker (1967).

June 6

American founding father Patrick Henry dies (1799); Securities and Exchange Commission established (1934); D-Day: Allies begin Normandy invasions (1944); RIP Bobby Kennedy (1968); RIP actress Anne Bancroft (2005).

June 4

Inventor Sylvan Goldman introduces world's first shopping carts at Humpty Dumpty grocery stores in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1937); The British complete the "Miracle of Dunkirk" by evacuating over 300,000 allied troops from France (1940); HBD actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie (1975); Singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen releases "Born in the USA" (1984). 

June 3

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain (1539); Singer and actress Josephine Baker born (1906); Ed White becomes first American to walk in space (1965); HBD Rafael Nadal (1986); RIP Muhammad Ali (2016).

Charles Dickens

"Life is made of ever so many partings welded together." Charles Dickens

In Charles Dickens’ classic 1861 novel “Great Expectations,” the author employs the kind and simple blacksmith, Joe, to deliver this bittersweet bit of wisdom. As he parts ways with Pip, the story’s protagonist, Joe remarks that it is merely the nature of life to have to say goodbye to the people, places, and experiences we have loved. It’s rarely easy, but we can take comfort knowing that at the end of each parting is a brand new beginning.

June 2

First first lady Martha Washington born (1731); Baseball legend Babe Ruth retires (1935); Queen Elizabeth II is coronated (1953); HBD soccer star Abby Wambach (1980); RIP rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley (2008).

June 1

Marilyn Monroe born (1926); HBD Morgan Freeman (1937); RIP Helen Keller (1968); CNN debuts as world’s first 24-hours news network (1980); General Motors Corp. files for bankruptcy, fourth-largest US bankruptcy in history (2009).

May 31

Poet Walt Whitman born (1819); London’s Big Ben ticks for the first time (1859); HBD Clint Eastwood (1930); HBD Brooke Shields (1965); Watergate secret source "Deep Throat" is revealed (2005).

Judy Garland

Over 50 years after her death, Judy Garland remains one of the most legendary entertainers of all time. Born Frances Ethel Gumm, she got her start in a vaudeville family act, going on stage as early as age two, and later creating a singing duo with one of her sisters. That landed her the chance to audition for MGM Studios as a teenager, which led to iconic roles in such classic musicals as The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, Summer Stock, and many more. The young Hollywood starlet worked so hard, churning out picture after picture, that she was rarely out of the public eye for over a decade.

The studio’s demands on Garland’s time, however, and its demands that she maintain a certain weight, directly contributed to her drug addiction, an attempt to take her own life, and exhaustion — all before she was 28 years old. But the resilient star had many comebacks over the course of her career. In the 1950s, a string of stage shows helped Garland become one of the great singers of her generation. She also revitalized her acting career by producing and starring in the 1954 film A Star Is Born, which earned her first Oscar nomination. In the ‘60s, she received her second Oscar nomination for her role in the 1961 drama Judgement at Nuremberg, and in 1961, she swept the Grammy awards, taking home multiple trophies for her legendary performance Judy at Carnegie Hall.

Though she died of a tragic accidental overdose at age 47 in 1969, Garland’s work has stood the test of time, and far outlived that of many of her contemporaries, while she herself became a role model for generations, especially to women and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as fellow performers — she became the template for the triple threat talent who was comfortable in front of a camera, on a stage, and behind a microphone. Garland was aware, in her lifetime, of how beloved she was by her audiences — even as she found it challenging to love herself.