Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Attribution ·139 of 348
"I'd rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe."
They never said that.
What people say
"I'd rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe."
What was actually said
"Liberty is a better husband than love to many of us." Louisa May Alcott — Quoted in Louisa May Alcott (1898), Ednah Dow Cheney
Why it stuck
The "canoe" version is a 2010s feminist-poster paraphrase. Alcott's actual line, recorded by her first biographer, uses the marital metaphor directly.
Alcott's journals use both formulations interchangeably, but "liberty is a better husband" is the one with a clear citation.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.