Special Sub-Topic: Literary Lapses Click Here To Play: Literary Lapses

Lord Acton (1834-1902) 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a hobby.'

...must be in want of a wife.'.

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) 'When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of disposable diapers.'

...and that was the beginning of fairies.'.

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) 'How to Woo Friends and Influence People'

How to Win Friends and Influence People & 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' & win & how to win friends and influence people & 'how to win friends and influence people.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) 'Time present and time past -- Are both perhaps in time future, -- And time pluperfect contained in time past.'

And time future contained in time past..

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) 'It is so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Martha Washington, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great, is to be misunderstood.'

...and Galileo, and Newton, and every....

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85) 'No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately to Dallas.'

...immediately upon your works.'.

Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) 'Last time I saw Rome, her heart was warm and gay, -- I heard the laughter of her heart in every street cafe.'

'Last time I saw Paris....

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) 'We hold these truths to be sacred and {independent;} that all men are created equal and free, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the persuit of life, liberty and happiness.'

'...the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..

Mark Twain (1835-1910) 'There's plenty of girls that will come hankering and gruvvelling around when you've got an apple, and beg the core off {you;} but when THEY'VE got one, and you beg for the core and remind them how you give them a core one time, they make a mouth at you and say thank you 'most to death, but there ain't-a-going to BE no core.'

'There's plenty of boys...'.

John Keats (1795-1821) 'Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness, -- Close bosom-friend of the maturing {sun;} -- Conspiring with him how to load and bless -- With fruit the Vines that round the roof-tops run.'

...that round the thatch-eaves run..

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) 'I was a child and she was a child, -- In this Heaven by the {sea;} -- but we loved with a love which was more than love- -- I and my Annabel Lee.'

In this kingdom by the sea;.

Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) 'Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Benjamin, and Peter.'

...Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter..

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1855-1919) 'Laugh and the world laughs with {you;} -- Cry and you cry {alone;} -- For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, -- But has trouble enough of its own.'

Weep and you weep alone;.

W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) 'When you're lying awake with a dismal headache -- and repose is taboo'd by anxiety, -- I conceive you may use any swear words you choose -- to indulge in without impropriety.'

...you may use any language you choose.

Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) 'On either side the river lie -- Long fields of barley and of rye, -- And through the field the road runs by -- To the Lady of Shalott's Camelot;'

To many-towered Camelot;.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) 'Five years have {passed;} five summers, with the length -- Of five long rivers!'

Of five long winters!.

John Milton (1608-1674) 'Of Eve's first disobedience, and the fruit -- Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste -- Brought death into the world, and all our woe...'

Of man's....

James Joyce (1882-1941) 'Once upon a time and a very bad time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo...'

'Once upon a time and a very good time it was...'.

Finally, of course, Shakespeare: 'To be, or not to be, that is the question- -- Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to bare -- The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, -- Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, -- And by opposing end them.' What is wrong with this quote?

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer.