Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Play ·327 of 348
"What fools these mortals be."
They never said that.
What people say
"What fools these mortals be."
What was actually said
"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" Puck — A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) III.ii
Why it stuck
Puck's "Lord" opens the line — it's an exclamation to Oberon, not a standalone dictum. The four-word version kills the addressee.
The Victorians took Puck's line and made it a moral aphorism. Shakespeare made it an aside.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.