Did They Really Say It? Famous Quotes Real or Fake

The questions

All 10 questions in this quiz. Correct answers stay hidden until you finish.

1. 1

   "To be, or not to be, that is the question." — Shakespeare, Hamlet

   • Real
   • Fake
2. 2

   "I think, therefore I am." — René Descartes

   • Real
   • Fake
3. 3

   "Elementary, my dear Watson." — Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories

   • Real
   • Fake
4. 4

   "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." — Muhammad Ali

   • Real
   • Fake
5. 5

   "Let them eat cake." — Marie Antoinette

   • Real
   • Fake

Score bands

Your final score places you in one of these bands.

Quote Rookie0-3 points

You believed most of these famous "quotes" — and you are in great company. These misattributions have fooled people for decades, even centuries.

Casual Listener4-6 points

You caught some, got fooled by others. Your quote radar is warming up — it just needs a little more calibration.

Quote Detective7-8 points

Not much gets past you. Those viral misattributions do not stand a chance. You have probably corrected someone on the internet before.

Myth Buster9-10 points

Perfect or near-perfect! You know your real quotes from the imposters. Friends probably stopped sending you inspirational quote memes because you keep fact-checking them.

How this quiz works

Each question has one correct answer. When you finish, you get your score and can review every question with the correct answer and, where we have one, a short explanation.