# Which famous quotes would take on a totally different meaning if said by someone else? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544 "2012-07-07T19:32:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/1 "2012-07-07T19:32:10Z")
[This reddit thread](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/w4gkg/which_famous_quotes_would_take_on_a_totally/) has some great ones but I’d love to hear some that Dopers have come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/2 "2012-07-07T20:26:29Z")
Speak softly and carry a big stick. [John Holmes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holmes_%28pornographic_actor%29). ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/3 "2012-07-07T21:34:34Z")
“The Beatles are more popular than Jesus.” - Mick Jagger 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/4 "2012-07-07T21:48:04Z")
[T]oday I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. OJ Simpson October 3, 1995 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/5 "2012-07-07T21:54:59Z")
“Show me your genitals, your genitals. Show me your genitals. GENITALIA!” - Bill Clinton ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/6 "2012-07-08T02:45:51Z")
If the Hulk says “Hulk smash!” it’s an assertion; if Captain America says it, it’s an order. On a similar note, given Doctor Doom’s tendency to speak in the third person, lots of his boasts sound entirely different if you imagine someone else saying them. “None can defeat DOOM!” - Reed Richards. > [@Locrian](#): > > “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus.” - Mick Jagger 😃 “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus.” - the Pope. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/7 "2012-07-08T02:59:37Z")
“L’etat ce moi” – Adolph Hitler ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/8 "2012-07-08T03:43:48Z")
“Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country” -The Unabomber ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/9 "2012-07-08T03:57:59Z")
Oh my God, that thread is _hilarious_. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/10 "2012-07-08T04:09:48Z")
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” - any future victim in a _Nightmare on Elm Street_ movie ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/11 "2012-07-08T04:30:15Z")
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” -Mike Tyson ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/12 "2012-07-08T06:01:25Z")
Let them eat cake. -Betty Crocker ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-famous-quotes-would-take-on-a-totally-different-meaning-if-said-by-someone-else/627544/13 "2012-07-08T09:40:32Z")
I can’t think of any right now, but I did like: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Glenn Beck.