Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·342 of 348
"Yes I said yes I will yes."
They never said that.
What people say
"Yes I said yes I will yes."
What was actually said
"and yes I said yes I will Yes." Molly Bloom — Ulysses (1922), Episode 18 (Penelope)
Why it stuck
Joyce's capitalisation ("Yes" at the end) and the lead-in "and" matter. Molly's whole soliloquy is unpunctuated; this final "Yes" is the one full stop in 24,000 words.
The capital "Yes" is the formal end of the novel. Joyce worked on the punctuation of the final line for months.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.