Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Poetry ·304 of 348
"To err is human, to forgive divine."
They never said that.
What people say
"To err is human, to forgive divine."
What was actually said
"To err is human, to forgive, divine." Alexander Pope — An Essay on Criticism, Part II (1711)
Why it stuck
The comma before "divine" in Pope's original preserves the heroic-couplet rhythm. Modern quoters drop it and collapse the scansion.
The fuller couplet is: "Good nature and good sense must ever join; / To err is human, to forgive, divine." The comma is Pope's.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.