Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Attribution ·117 of 348
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. — Mark Twain"
They never said that.
What people say
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. — Mark Twain"
What was actually said
"No verified Twain source." Anonymous — Attributed — no documented Twain original; Theodor Reik (1964) has a related Viennese-style sentiment
Why it stuck
Twain scholars have hunted this for decades. It does not appear in his letters, his notebooks, or his fiction. The attribution first shows up in 1970s American political journalism.
Some scholars point to a 1971 book by John Robert Colombo citing the line without source. Twain was already dead 60 years by then.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.