Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Play ·308 of 348
"To thine own self be true — a noble sentiment."
They never said that.
What people say
"To thine own self be true — a noble sentiment."
What was actually said
"This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man." Polonius — Hamlet (1600) I.iii
Why it stuck
Polonius is the comic windbag of the play. The advice is windy, not wise — and he's murdered three acts later for hiding behind a curtain. Shakespeare undercuts the sentiment by assigning it to a buffoon.
Graduation cards attribute this to Shakespeare, not Polonius. The speaker is the joke.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.