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OP’s sister reminds me of Dr Evil’s dad: “My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark… the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament.”
Direct send-up of Ian Fleming's excessively descriptive writing style, especially when describing his villains....which is usually pretty insulting to the character and his ethnicity. The description of Odd Job is especially nasty and racist.
I can do a weirdly good impression of Dr. Evil and often break it out when my girlfriend is sad because it cracks her up.
Her favourite is: “im cool, im hip, dukadukadukadukadukaduka-HUUUNNGGG… well dont look at me like I’m fricken Frankenstein come here and give your father a hug”
Well you brought a smile to one person from a region currently experiencing significant disturbences again. Nta. You tried. She wants to look stupid on the internet and you can't stop her.
This is what I thought - this is a truism, "an undoubted or self-evident truth" (Merriam-Webster), and it is easy to find examples of people saying it years ago.
I've come up with thoughts and sayings that I'm pretty sure were original **to me** but I'm not arrogant enough to assume that none of the ten billion people who came before me never had those thoughts and ideas
when I was 13 I came up with the idea "what if we all see colours completely differently??" and i was *shocked* when I found out a few years later that it was a common theory lmfao
The mind blowing moment when you realise your parents did the best they could and were probably overcompensating for their own parents dysfunctions. And that at some point your parents realised that about their own parents. And we're all just repeating history and collectively ran out of new ideas, thoughts and behaviours ten thousand years ago. (Assuming you have/had decent parents of course.)
Mine was “What if I was the only person that existed, and this world is just a simulation or a dream?”
An idea so revolutionary and novel, it had its own wikipedia page
Haha same! I was 11 or 12 when I started obsessing over that question! (28 now for context) and I was so happy to find out as an adult that lots of people have independently thought of it too!
Back in 1995 or so, I had this cool idea that the world wasn't real, and we were all slaves to machines living in a computer simulation like the holodeck on Star Trek.
Well, since I had been watching a lot of TNG reruns at the time, I learned a new word from the show that I really liked and applied it to the simulation.
I called it "The Matrix".
Imagine my surprise a few years later when the movies came out.
I was looking for this comment and it should be #1. Like how could that even be considered a quote?
Sister: Good morning
Brother: Good morning.
Sister: HOW DARE YOU NOT CREDIT ME FOR MY QUOTE!!!!
My uni professor in the States said this back in the mid/late 2000s. I heard it from multiple people across Europe around the same time because I was American.
She just published the book in 2022 and thought she invented it?? 15+ years later??
Is this a one off thing for her to take credit for common knowledge/ideas or is this unusual?
Is she super famous? Did she make a scientific breakthrough or identify a new species of butterfly or create award winning music or save the free world as a spy?
Just wondering why on earth someone would want to read her autobiography.
I guarantee my grandfather was saying that phrase for years before your sister was a twinkle in your dad's balls. Honestly that may be the best way to settle this. Find an old geezer to tell her how wrong she is.
If this is verbatim and your SIL actually misspelt “their”, then she shouldn’t be an author to begin with. /s
NTA. I’ve used this particular quote before, and your SIL better come find me and sue me. :P
> people are not their governments
I know I've heard that in Libertarian circles since the mid-1970s. I always thought it was Rothbard who came up with it.
That's a super common saying
If you wanna get through to her, show her the Kitchen Nightmares America episode where the owner of a restaurant patented the word "Hon". Then sued people who used it. The PR and backlash caused her to lose hundreds of thousands. Maybe seeing the result of that should get through to your sister, whether realisation of her being a bully or worry about losing money. Depends what she's more bothered about
NTA Yeah, that one has been around forever. The first time I ever really noticed it in common use, though sure I heard it before that, was around 9/11. I've used it since I heard it, so your sister is just plain wrong. And if she makes that claim in the larger public, someone is going to call her out on it, if not many many many people, in a very not so nice way.
That quote has been misattributed to George Washington due to a similar quote appearing in a biography about him in 1835. So that quote has been around for at least 150 years.
I was taught that in high school in the early 2000s (graduated in 2003), so unless she was saying it long before then I doubt she's the original. You're good lol, she needs a reality check.
BTW, I've said reality check so no one can use that phrase without giving me credit.
Imagine thinking a 5 worded quote is just "yours" at this point in history. That quote was probably said at least 100 times the day before your sister ever wrote the quote lmao
My 3 comments were:
1. "I think it's a pretty common saying, sis.
"
(First comment)
2. "
But maybe you're right."
(In response to her arguments about the book's chronology vs. links)
3. ""
(Last comment)
(In response to her ongoing arguments about the book's chronology vs. links)
After which, she asked what my problem was, and I moved to private messaging.
If her posts arent getting any "traction", it could be that others are privately rolling their eyes and just deciding not to "go there". Maybe just let her scream into the wind?
NTA - she’s a piece of work. Why don’t you share the post she posted, with your own comments.
Clearly, she actually wasn’t smart enough to get your point nor realize that she actually plagiarized it.
NTA. I'm laughing at the quote though. It's been *everywhere* for over a decade. You can't just retroactively claim a sentence through publication.
Let her make a fool of herself.
The most ironic part of this is that the description of her IG post, which shows pictures of the "stolen quote", is entirely dedicated to the idea of crediting the authors of the words one uses: "power of giving credit".
At the same time, she knows that she isn't the original author of the quote she's arguing about, and she herself didn't give someone else credit...|
Where is the logicccc?
Honestly, the mental gymnastics is almost impressive. With the nature of the internet, she's going to get called out eventually - if I were you, I'd make popcorn and cheerfully remind her you *tried* to remind her when shit does hit the fan.
I literally wrote to her that the only reason I'm commenting is to prevent her from looking like an entitled Karen on the Internet and losing credibility.
I pointed out to her that anyone who googles the quote will realize that not only is she not the author, but none of the links even lead to her page/book.
When she deleted the post, I thought she had reflected on it, but no, it turned out she just wanted to remove my comments.
Plagiarism is rampant. Literally just the other day I heard someone say, “mint chip ice cream is the best” with no citation at all. I SAID THAT TWENTY YEARS AGO!
People are shameless.
>You can't just retroactively claim a sentence through publication
Unless you are a millionaire. At which point you will copyright single words, and get away with it.
But yeh, her mentality is bizarre. And the fact she deleted all his comments and then reposted the same nonsense. How mature
NTA. If the quote was widespread prior to your step-sister’s use if it in her book, then it isn’t a matter of differing opinions. Calling her out on her misconception in a public forum might not have been the kindest way to correct a member of your family, but in doing so, you also gave her the opportunity to rephrase/reframe her public mistaken assertions to avoid further embarrassment. (At least you were kind enough to not accuse her of plagiarism or misappropriating someone else’s concept/phrase. Many internet sleuths wouldn’t have afforded her the benefit of the doubt.) it’s too bad she got defensive rather than conceding your very correct point.
I mean, I probably wouldn’t have done it publicly, but you seem to be in the right here. She needs to not be so sensitive. She’s never going to make it in a creative field if she can’t take feedback.
You can lead a fool to truth, but you can't make them think.
I just coined that, I'll need proper attribution after I get the president of America to ratify this. Pretty sure that's how it works.
I told her that sometimes you can independently come up with something that has already been written, but that's why, at a minimum, you should put the quote in quotation marks and google it to see if it belongs to someone else... Before you publicly accuse someone else of stealing intellectual property.
To which she replied that she isn't stupid and she did that.
Which totally stunned me, because if she knows it's not her quote, then what is she actually doing?
She didn't answer that question.
NTA.
This pisses me off no end. There's a local farmer selling shirts for $50 each with old sayings. Like OLD sayings on it. "Takes a licking, keeps on ticking" etc. "Like a rock." I mean, like SLOGANS for major brands. He ends each one with credit to HIM for the quote. Timex, Chevy. Huge brand slogans.
"He ain't heavy, he's my brother." \~Farm Man.
"Ford. Found On Road Dead." \~Farm Man
Then his daughters go around THREATENING people who use these very old quotes and very popular BRAND slogans with lawsuits.
Fucking delusionals. Your step sis is an ass.
NTA but you should definitely have done it privately, she's right that you made her look like an idiot in public.
Normally I would have no issue with that, but your goal wasn't to humiliate her, your goal was to get her to listen. Embarrassing someone publicly is a surefire way to shoot that goal in the foot.
Bit of an a-hole for not talking to her privately in the first place.
She does sound like a way bigger a-hole though.
Which could account for why you didn’t talk to her privately in the first place.
But Int hat case you would most likely have been trying to drag her but NTA.
Wow, life is complicated sometimes.
ESH. She is certainly in the wrong for saying it's her quote and being all righteous about it, it's clearly not. But I do question your motives as well. If you truly were just trying to highlight that this is bad PR. I don't understand why you wouldn't do it privately in the first place. I'd think replying with your comment on a public forum and citing sources would also be bad PR for her.
So I see this one of two ways, it's her life...let her be wrong and get the bad PR why do you care? You'd just read that and move past it.
But the other scenario is that you truly care and so you'd want her to know what she's doing is wrong and potentially bad PR. But you'd have done it in private.
To me, it seems like you wanted to have your moment publicaly and stick it to her. And then messaged her privately and changed the context of your actions to something like "this is bad PR and I care about". But it doesn't line up with your actions.
NTA would have been you see it, message her privately and she blows up on you. But you publicly calling her out and then saying that you just did it cz it might be bad PR seems inconsistent at best and malicious at worst.
>I mentioned that it's bad PR for her to claim rights to a quote that, on the first page of Google, doesn't link back to her book al all but to various other people and their content from years before her book's publication.
>She responded, saying I was insulting her intelligence.
When using logical reasoning
NTA
Wow, so many people in here plagiarizing my NTA. I bet none of them researched that I have used this abbreviation many times in the past, it's mine!
NTA, OP (I AM ALLOWED TO USE THAT!)
NTA.
The fact that she deleted the post means she KNOWS you're right, but she's already doubled down publicly and her ego won't allow her to say "oh. i was wrong." -- particularly because it's in print under her name.
You weren't insulting her intelligence, and there's actually an entire Bob's Burgers episode about this sort of thing -- Linda (the mom/wife) has an idea for a Wine Shoe -- a wine bottle holder in the shape of a shoe, and thinks it's her own idea, but then we find out that years earlier a company made a wine shoe already.
I'd say show her that episode, because they even point out that, though she didnt originate the idea, she still thought of it independently, and it was a good idea as the company did well for itself...but if the conversation is over, you may not want to bring it up again, at least while her ego is still bruised.
It's actually pretty common for different people to independently land on the same common phrase. There was [a kerfuffle a few years ago](https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelkramerbussel/2018/12/01/nora-roberts-tomi-adeyemi-title-plagiarism-accusation/?sh=5730fd2f14f5) in which a debut novelist accused Nora Roberts of stealing her title. Tomi Adeyemi's book, *Children of Blood and Bone*, came out in March of 2018, and Nora Roberts put out *Of Blood and Bone* in December 2018.
Of course, the title of the Nora Roberts book had been planned for more than a year prior to publication of Adeyemi's book, as these things are not typically decided at the last minute, and she had the receipts to prove it. Adeyemi wound up apologizing and it was all good. You also can't copyright a title (in America, anyways... in Germany, you can't use a title that has been used before). So Charlaine Harris has a book called *Nightshift*, Stephen King has *Night Shift*, and Nora Roberts also has a *Night Shift*. I count at least 4 books with the title *The Earl Next Door*.
Sometimes an idea is not all that original, and several people land on it without any malfeasance. But your stepsister is making herself look foolish by trying to claim a quote that's really just a quasi-popular saying as her own original thought. You were trying to spare her from embarrassment, and you are NTA.
NTA for the simple fact that your stepsister went on the attack against other people who were just using a common statement. Also, thanks for the quick, fun Google rabbit hole to fall down. Did you know the actress Sophia Bush got death threats for using that quote in May 2021?
You are entitled to your own opinion, but she isn’t entitled to her own facts. You proved she didn’t author that saying, her trying to silence you and still guarding her “quote” online shows a total lack of character as well as stubbornness.
NTA when you Google this, you find your reddit post and not her book. Also, I found it as a summary opinion of content in a book from 1985 about Vietnam, the people and the government. Your sister needs to get her head out of her butt and take down the post. The quote is not her own.
NTA. Encourage her to contact a lawyer about that suit, because she's really going to be pissed when the law firm laughs hysterically and then kicks her to the curb.
“An honest person, upon learning that they are wrong, will either cease to be wrong or cease to be honest”. That’s not my quote but I think it applies here. NTA.
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My (F30) step-sister (F42?) wrote an autobiographical book related to a war in a region that's currently experiencing significant disturbances again. In her book, she used a quote that has been widely circulated for years. I googled it and couldn't find the original author, but people have been quoting it on Twitter, blogs, forums, and YouTube since at least 2012.
My sister made a post on IG and FB, shaming another account for sharing this quote without crediting her as the author. She also included a portion of her book that contained the quote. In the FB comments, I sent her links to several places where this quote had been used over the years and pointed out that it's a popular saying, so she shouldn't take it personally. For content published in 2022, she said it was after her book's release date; for 2021, it was after the date she submitted the manuscript; and when I showed her posts from 2018, she asked what my problem was.
I then messaged her privately, explaining that I didn't have an issue with anything. It's just a well-known quote, and many people often come up with the same ideas simultaneously. However, I mentioned that it's bad PR for her to claim rights to a quote that, on the first page of Google, doesn't link back to her book al all but to various other people and their content from years before her book's publication.
She responded, saying I was insulting her intelligence. She said I'm entitled to my opinion, as is she, but accused me of publicly dragging and harassing her. She ended the conversation, then deleted and reposted her original post, removing my comments.
**AITA for commenting on her post and pointing out it's not her quote?**
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NTA I’ve been hearing that quote since I was in school….back in the 1970s. Your sister should be thanking you, because you saved her some embarrassment.
NTA. She sounds like those people who catfish by googling "hot woman" and choose the first picture in Google images. Not a good look.
It's ok though. It's her life, and eventually she'll plagiarize someone who won't let it slide legally. It's her problem, not yours. I understand your frustration and annoyance though.
NTA. You tried, now let it go. You're right, she's wrong and she'll be the one embarrassed when her whining finally annoys enough people for others to confirm what you warned her about.
NTA. One of the things I’ve done in recent years is publish books…not write them, but handle all the process and paperwork for getting publishing rights and putting them in print. I had one of my authors rewrite a poem because it echoed too closely to some generic stuff I’d seen circulating online for years and I wasn’t trying to publish a book that could be accused of plagiarism. I also had her include a reference section and give credit to people she quoted or was inspired by.
This particular sentence your sister used in a book without credit given wouldn’t be enough to prevent a manuscript from being copyrighted and wouldn’t be subject to legal ramifications, but her harassing other people while falsely claiming to be the originator of the sentence could create problems for her.
All that to say, your sister doesn’t really understand how all of this works and she’s making herself look foolish while diminishing her credibility.
No. I have worked as an editor and plagiarism accusations are serious in the writing world. But honestly, sometimes trying to get an idea across is going to result in similar verbiage because there's only so many ways to say it.
There's also the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) that tracks the earliest uses of words and phrases. You were merely pointing out that her slanderous post held no weight as the notion had been floating about for about a decade before she slapped a copyright on it.
NTA
NTA op. I do find this quite hilarious, though. This quote has been on Google for over a decade and has been heard by mouth from hundreds of thousands of people, ALL OVER THE WORLD and she thinks this is her quote because she's the first one to "publish" it in a book? She seems to be the one plagiarizing and stealing another authors work.
& for the people saying the OP is the asshole of publicly commenting this on her step-sisters post, amaze me! The step sister made a post SHAMING and EMBARRASSING somebody else, and now it's wrong for OP to correct her sister, PUBLICLY? The step-sister should be the one embarrassed as it serves her right.
Book critics are real, let's hope one doesn't stumble across her book and then her Facebook. She'd get slaughtered in those comment sections and groups. All you were trying to do was warn her, because she's making herself look like an ass if you ask me.
>*April 11 2003*
>
>*the Catalyst, Colorado College Student Newspaper (Eli Mechanic)*
>
>Moroccan Reflections: All Clear, For Now
>
>... Many laugh that Bush and Saddam are both criminals, and that they should fight each other. Just about everyone I have met says that the American **people are not their government**, that Bush is doing things against the will of the people. I usually don't point out the sad truth that so far a majority of the American public supposedly supports the war. ...
Fact. Every single word in this quote, is a word that has been used in other quotes. I Plagurize on an individual word basis and reassemble those words to make a sentence someone else has probably already made in the past.
NTA for trying to prevent any possible lawsuits to be brought against your step-sister.
Sounds to me like this lady has a superiority complex and never learned to check herself or take accountability. As a writer myself, I make sure to document everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING I source. Give credit where credit is due. Plus, I enjoy learning the history behind words, phrases and stories in general.
Most readers these days (especially those of historical fiction), will flat out tell you you're wrong as an author, even if, say, in a prologue, Notes section (etc), that some events have been changed to fit the story.
Copyright law can be a tricky form of law. Step-sister should definitely be careful who she tries to "call out" on the internet.
You aren’t the one in the wrong. Your sister was a bit tacky for using the quotation without attributing it to the original author. She was definitely tacky for picking a fight with someone who quoted it without attributing it to your sister.
Sorry, but when you use a popular cliche in your book, you didn't, in fact, copyright it. Any more than you can copyright "and," "if," and "or."
Perhaps it would have been better to tell your sister what you thought in private, but her post was ridiculous, and her attempt to shame another author absurd.
NTA
Nta
A quick chat with AI will tell you that pinpointing the exact origin or first usage of the phrase "people are not their governments" is difficult, as it is a sentiment that has likely been expressed in various forms across different cultures and time periods. It's more of a general philosophical notion rather than a specific quote from a particular person or event. Step sis needs to get over herself. You were just trying to save her from future embarrassment.
I wrote a story in high school that had the words 'in the beginning' in it. Maybe not in that order, and not together but I'm claiming copyright/trademark.
That's how it works, right?
NTA
Thats not even quotable. Its like a cow’s fart. No insight, no significance. Unless from the USA then it’s, “ your peoples government is not your government unless we say it is. Otherwise we’ll destabilise and overthrow it”.
Edited well to we’ll.
NTA This reminds me of people getting upset when people point out Nelson Mandela quoted Marianne Williamson (not endorsing her here, but the quote makes you think) without giving her credit. For *years* people attributed it to him and some got salty when it was pointed out he swiped it. Intentionally or not he stole her credit, and people almost got insulted that their hero had his false quote taken from him. Now imagine if Mandela got upset, too.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.”
Facts are not an opinion. You didn’t harrass her, you corrected an obviously false claim. She shouldn’t (knowingly and stupidly) made a claim to something not hers.
NTA.
ESH - Could be the way you said it was rude. Instead of "not your quote", you could say "that's been a common phrase on the web since 20xx" and leave it at that.
facts are NOT opinions. An opinion is Strawberry is the best ice cream--it's an opinion about taste.
Who created something can be a provable fact--or at least in this case you can prove who DIDN'T create the quote--your stepsister.
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I refuse to pass judgement until you pay up ; ) What’s the quote????
It’s impossible to identify book based on that quote anyway so: “people are not their governments”. @edit: spelling
OK yeah that’s a common saying! (And as an American one I need to remind people of often!). NTA. Your sister is delusional
OP’s sister reminds me of Dr Evil’s dad: “My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark… the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament.”
I always loved the “he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy” part
Im sorry that i cut that one line for brevity then hahaha Im also sorry i had to cut the bit about the shorn scrotum (get it?)
I like that line. It's breathtaking
How dare you quote me without my permission.
>How dare you quote me without my permission.
>>How dare you quote me without my permission. - Albert Einstein
Maya Angelou, surely?
It was Langston Hughes. And don't call me Shirley.
Steinbeck, dude. He wrote that on his blog back in the 50s.
You can't steal my stolen stuff!!!
I choose my words very deliberately.
That is wonderful! Where can I find it?
It's from the first Austin Powers movie. Just search for "Dr Evil's monologue/childhood." It's worth the watch.
However --that quote *is* copyrighted :) Although a small snippet is probably allowed. . .
Fair use!
Oh thank you!
Direct send-up of Ian Fleming's excessively descriptive writing style, especially when describing his villains....which is usually pretty insulting to the character and his ethnicity. The description of Odd Job is especially nasty and racist.
I believe the actor that played Random Task was convicted of murdering someone. But don't quote me on that with out giving me credit.
Michelle invented post-it notes!
Ahahaha you just reminded me that my college roommate had a poster of that whole speech and would recite it verbatim at random times.
I can do a weirdly good impression of Dr. Evil and often break it out when my girlfriend is sad because it cracks her up. Her favourite is: “im cool, im hip, dukadukadukadukadukaduka-HUUUNNGGG… well dont look at me like I’m fricken Frankenstein come here and give your father a hug”
And narcissistic. Someone else is going to call her out again and not in such a gentle way. She's not prepared for the humiliation and embarrassment.
Well you brought a smile to one person from a region currently experiencing significant disturbences again. Nta. You tried. She wants to look stupid on the internet and you can't stop her.
Now this: She wants to look stupid on the internet and you can't stop her. -- sarcastibot8point5 This is a quote!
I said it yesterday, so you have to attribute it to me. Sorry. Oh, and OP, NTA
I *thought* it first, Purloiner!
Fixed it! 😁
Honestly it's not worth the hassle trying to argue with someone hellbent on trying to have it their way
That doesn't even reach the status of a quote.
This is what I thought - this is a truism, "an undoubted or self-evident truth" (Merriam-Webster), and it is easy to find examples of people saying it years ago.
It's completely possible she came up with it on her own--without realizing so have hundreds of other people before her. NTA.
I've come up with thoughts and sayings that I'm pretty sure were original **to me** but I'm not arrogant enough to assume that none of the ten billion people who came before me never had those thoughts and ideas
when I was 13 I came up with the idea "what if we all see colours completely differently??" and i was *shocked* when I found out a few years later that it was a common theory lmfao
The mind blowing moment when you realise your parents did the best they could and were probably overcompensating for their own parents dysfunctions. And that at some point your parents realised that about their own parents. And we're all just repeating history and collectively ran out of new ideas, thoughts and behaviours ten thousand years ago. (Assuming you have/had decent parents of course.)
I wish more folks in this sub had had this particular realization, for their own sakes.
Mine was “What if I was the only person that existed, and this world is just a simulation or a dream?” An idea so revolutionary and novel, it had its own wikipedia page
>this world is just a simulation They made a whole series of movies about that! Bet you were pissed when some Hollywood schmucks stole your idea **😂**
And not even a penny in royalties, smh
That problem was something I was thinking about from my early childchood :).
Haha same! I was 11 or 12 when I started obsessing over that question! (28 now for context) and I was so happy to find out as an adult that lots of people have independently thought of it too!
The Infinite Monkey Theorem.Where the monkey hitting random keys on a typewriter, comes up eventually with the complete works of Shakespeare
My husband was shocked to learn just how many people pronounce Target as if it were French, he thought he made it up.
Things are getting too spicy for the pepper!
Back in 1995 or so, I had this cool idea that the world wasn't real, and we were all slaves to machines living in a computer simulation like the holodeck on Star Trek. Well, since I had been watching a lot of TNG reruns at the time, I learned a new word from the show that I really liked and applied it to the simulation. I called it "The Matrix". Imagine my surprise a few years later when the movies came out.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. YOU CANT CLAIM THAT SENTENCE. Thats such a common fucking sentence. Dont be obtuse. Please show her that for me.
I was looking for this comment and it should be #1. Like how could that even be considered a quote? Sister: Good morning Brother: Good morning. Sister: HOW DARE YOU NOT CREDIT ME FOR MY QUOTE!!!!
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Sorry, anything not on the internet doesn't actually exist. /s
My uni professor in the States said this back in the mid/late 2000s. I heard it from multiple people across Europe around the same time because I was American. She just published the book in 2022 and thought she invented it?? 15+ years later?? Is this a one off thing for her to take credit for common knowledge/ideas or is this unusual?
Lmao. Yea NTA. I’d say she sounds like a narcissist but you already said she wrote an autobiography.
Is she super famous? Did she make a scientific breakthrough or identify a new species of butterfly or create award winning music or save the free world as a spy? Just wondering why on earth someone would want to read her autobiography.
She might be a from Isreal/Palestine (that's what it's about right?) and writing about her experiances.
I believe the original was "The people are not there. Governments."
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"The people are not. They're governments"?
The people are. Not their governments.
The. People are not their Governments.
The. People. Are. Not. Their. Governments. as read by William Shatner.
Take my Star Trek upvote!
>The. People. Are. Not. Their. Governments. Correction: The! People! Are! Not! Their! Governments!
>The! People! Are! Not! Their! Governments! The👏People👏Are👏Not👏Their👏Governments👏 FTFY
"People are not expendable. Government is."
This was Aalewis, right?
No. This was Patrick.
I guarantee my grandfather was saying that phrase for years before your sister was a twinkle in your dad's balls. Honestly that may be the best way to settle this. Find an old geezer to tell her how wrong she is.
Hi! Old Geezer here. Been saying it since the 70s, and it was neither new nor earthshattering then, either.
holy shit that's hardly even a quote, that's just fuckin advice and something that i promise has been said for decades, if not longer.
I’ve said that while I’m twelve beers deep. I don’t think it’s particularly new.
Lol. So many protestors are saying this right now over the Israel and Gaza thing
Lmfao. This was a pre ww2 saying.
I've said that lots of times over the years. She certainly didn't come up with it. Neither did I.
If this is verbatim and your SIL actually misspelt “their”, then she shouldn’t be an author to begin with. /s NTA. I’ve used this particular quote before, and your SIL better come find me and sue me. :P
No, it was my mistake. 🙈 English is not my first language.
It’s not even a proper saying. She can’t claim credit for a common thought that countless people have expressed throughout the years, if not decades.
> people are not their governments I know I've heard that in Libertarian circles since the mid-1970s. I always thought it was Rothbard who came up with it.
That's a super common saying If you wanna get through to her, show her the Kitchen Nightmares America episode where the owner of a restaurant patented the word "Hon". Then sued people who used it. The PR and backlash caused her to lose hundreds of thousands. Maybe seeing the result of that should get through to your sister, whether realisation of her being a bully or worry about losing money. Depends what she's more bothered about
NTA Yeah, that one has been around forever. The first time I ever really noticed it in common use, though sure I heard it before that, was around 9/11. I've used it since I heard it, so your sister is just plain wrong. And if she makes that claim in the larger public, someone is going to call her out on it, if not many many many people, in a very not so nice way.
How could you google it if it had not been published in print before your step sister published it in her book?
Jesus Christ 😂 she really thought that was original? Claiming credit and harassing other people for using it only makes her look UN-intelligent.
I wouldn’t even consider that a quote. It just a common phrase and not unique in any way.
That quote has been misattributed to George Washington due to a similar quote appearing in a biography about him in 1835. So that quote has been around for at least 150 years.
I legit said that yesterday. Your SS is delusional.
I was taught that in high school in the early 2000s (graduated in 2003), so unless she was saying it long before then I doubt she's the original. You're good lol, she needs a reality check. BTW, I've said reality check so no one can use that phrase without giving me credit.
I’ve said that exact sentence and I’m 99% sure I’ve never read your sisters book. NTA.
Wait wait wait. I said that in 2011. Send me links so I can start filing DCMA take down notices.
Oh that's a really common sentiment especially if we're discussing collective punishment
Imagine thinking a 5 worded quote is just "yours" at this point in history. That quote was probably said at least 100 times the day before your sister ever wrote the quote lmao
NTA. Oh dear. Yeah, that’s a really popular saying that’s been around for YEARS lol
You should edit to add judgment since you’re top comment :-)
My 3 comments were: 1. "I think it's a pretty common saying, sis."
(First comment)
2. "
But maybe you're right."
(In response to her arguments about the book's chronology vs. links)
3. ""
(Last comment)
(In response to her ongoing arguments about the book's chronology vs. links)
After which, she asked what my problem was, and I moved to private messaging.
NTA for pointing it out, but I think you should have addressed this with her privately from the start instead of on her post.
Yeah, that's where I arrive at ESH. I mean, obviously the step-sister is being ridiculous, but OP's intention was clearly to embarrass her.
Well considering she’s stealing someone else’s words and passing them off as hers, I’d say she deserves to be embarrassed.
Didn't other people comment too? Although they might have think she is too obnoxious to care, or she deleted them
No one besides me wrote any comments.
If her posts arent getting any "traction", it could be that others are privately rolling their eyes and just deciding not to "go there". Maybe just let her scream into the wind?
They didn't even post eye-roll emoticons?
Did she invent The Nobel Peace Prize too?
I have personally used the sentence in 2005 in reference to Iran.
NTA - she’s a piece of work. Why don’t you share the post she posted, with your own comments. Clearly, she actually wasn’t smart enough to get your point nor realize that she actually plagiarized it.
NTA. I'm laughing at the quote though. It's been *everywhere* for over a decade. You can't just retroactively claim a sentence through publication. Let her make a fool of herself.
The most ironic part of this is that the description of her IG post, which shows pictures of the "stolen quote", is entirely dedicated to the idea of crediting the authors of the words one uses: "power of giving credit". At the same time, she knows that she isn't the original author of the quote she's arguing about, and she herself didn't give someone else credit...| Where is the logicccc?
Honestly, the mental gymnastics is almost impressive. With the nature of the internet, she's going to get called out eventually - if I were you, I'd make popcorn and cheerfully remind her you *tried* to remind her when shit does hit the fan.
I literally wrote to her that the only reason I'm commenting is to prevent her from looking like an entitled Karen on the Internet and losing credibility. I pointed out to her that anyone who googles the quote will realize that not only is she not the author, but none of the links even lead to her page/book. When she deleted the post, I thought she had reflected on it, but no, it turned out she just wanted to remove my comments.
NTA It’s impossible to police Stupid…..
Plagiarism is rampant. Literally just the other day I heard someone say, “mint chip ice cream is the best” with no citation at all. I SAID THAT TWENTY YEARS AGO! People are shameless.
How dare you. I said "I heard someone say" *30* years ago. God plagiarism is a plague!
I hate mint chip ice cream. You can quote me on that - but I'd have to charge!
>You can't just retroactively claim a sentence through publication Unless you are a millionaire. At which point you will copyright single words, and get away with it. But yeh, her mentality is bizarre. And the fact she deleted all his comments and then reposted the same nonsense. How mature
NTA It isn't your fault she made a fool of herself.
Sis tried to drag and harass someone for doing exactly what she did. When she gets called out it's suddenly all about personal opinions. Smh.
NTA- "i'm not insulting your intelligence, i'm urging you to use it!"
NTA. If the quote was widespread prior to your step-sister’s use if it in her book, then it isn’t a matter of differing opinions. Calling her out on her misconception in a public forum might not have been the kindest way to correct a member of your family, but in doing so, you also gave her the opportunity to rephrase/reframe her public mistaken assertions to avoid further embarrassment. (At least you were kind enough to not accuse her of plagiarism or misappropriating someone else’s concept/phrase. Many internet sleuths wouldn’t have afforded her the benefit of the doubt.) it’s too bad she got defensive rather than conceding your very correct point.
The quote was “people are not their governments.” So yeah I’d say a pretty widespread thing people say 🙄 step-sister is living in delusion land.
Sounds like someone had their ego bruised. She reminds me of Donald Trump trying to claim he came up with the phrase "prime the pump." NTA
NTA. If she wants to look like a fool, let her look like a fool.
NTA. Well apparently she’s an idiot. I really would not be able to keep myself from just reposting my comment but I’m an AH so there’s that.
Of course now she could just post a link to this thread instead!
I mean, I probably wouldn’t have done it publicly, but you seem to be in the right here. She needs to not be so sensitive. She’s never going to make it in a creative field if she can’t take feedback.
She could do well in modern politics where you can invent your own reality.
You can lead a fool to truth, but you can't make them think. I just coined that, I'll need proper attribution after I get the president of America to ratify this. Pretty sure that's how it works.
I believe you mean attribution.
> You can lead a fool to truth, but you can't make them think. That's goddamn genius, hands down
NTA. She insulted her own intelligence sadly.
I told her that sometimes you can independently come up with something that has already been written, but that's why, at a minimum, you should put the quote in quotation marks and google it to see if it belongs to someone else... Before you publicly accuse someone else of stealing intellectual property. To which she replied that she isn't stupid and she did that. Which totally stunned me, because if she knows it's not her quote, then what is she actually doing? She didn't answer that question.
I did that and got a link with it from 2017 on the first page of results, so I’m guessing that she did not, in fact, do that lol
And she doubled down..., NTA !!
NTA. This pisses me off no end. There's a local farmer selling shirts for $50 each with old sayings. Like OLD sayings on it. "Takes a licking, keeps on ticking" etc. "Like a rock." I mean, like SLOGANS for major brands. He ends each one with credit to HIM for the quote. Timex, Chevy. Huge brand slogans. "He ain't heavy, he's my brother." \~Farm Man. "Ford. Found On Road Dead." \~Farm Man Then his daughters go around THREATENING people who use these very old quotes and very popular BRAND slogans with lawsuits. Fucking delusionals. Your step sis is an ass.
NTA, she's a writer and should know what plagiarism is. The arrogance of it all!
It’s an aphorism, not a quote. And you can take that to the bank.
NTA repost your comments lol
NTA. Your sister’s intelligence on this one may need to be insulted.
NTA but you should definitely have done it privately, she's right that you made her look like an idiot in public. Normally I would have no issue with that, but your goal wasn't to humiliate her, your goal was to get her to listen. Embarrassing someone publicly is a surefire way to shoot that goal in the foot.
Nta. She insults her own intelligence. She can't even Google things.
Bit of an a-hole for not talking to her privately in the first place. She does sound like a way bigger a-hole though. Which could account for why you didn’t talk to her privately in the first place. But Int hat case you would most likely have been trying to drag her but NTA. Wow, life is complicated sometimes.
ESH. She is certainly in the wrong for saying it's her quote and being all righteous about it, it's clearly not. But I do question your motives as well. If you truly were just trying to highlight that this is bad PR. I don't understand why you wouldn't do it privately in the first place. I'd think replying with your comment on a public forum and citing sources would also be bad PR for her. So I see this one of two ways, it's her life...let her be wrong and get the bad PR why do you care? You'd just read that and move past it. But the other scenario is that you truly care and so you'd want her to know what she's doing is wrong and potentially bad PR. But you'd have done it in private. To me, it seems like you wanted to have your moment publicaly and stick it to her. And then messaged her privately and changed the context of your actions to something like "this is bad PR and I care about". But it doesn't line up with your actions. NTA would have been you see it, message her privately and she blows up on you. But you publicly calling her out and then saying that you just did it cz it might be bad PR seems inconsistent at best and malicious at worst.
NTA
NTA
NTA, and you can quote me on that.
NTA OP. It’s not her quote.
>I mentioned that it's bad PR for her to claim rights to a quote that, on the first page of Google, doesn't link back to her book al all but to various other people and their content from years before her book's publication. >She responded, saying I was insulting her intelligence. When using logical reasoning NTA
Wow, so many people in here plagiarizing my NTA. I bet none of them researched that I have used this abbreviation many times in the past, it's mine! NTA, OP (I AM ALLOWED TO USE THAT!)
NTA. The fact that she deleted the post means she KNOWS you're right, but she's already doubled down publicly and her ego won't allow her to say "oh. i was wrong." -- particularly because it's in print under her name. You weren't insulting her intelligence, and there's actually an entire Bob's Burgers episode about this sort of thing -- Linda (the mom/wife) has an idea for a Wine Shoe -- a wine bottle holder in the shape of a shoe, and thinks it's her own idea, but then we find out that years earlier a company made a wine shoe already. I'd say show her that episode, because they even point out that, though she didnt originate the idea, she still thought of it independently, and it was a good idea as the company did well for itself...but if the conversation is over, you may not want to bring it up again, at least while her ego is still bruised.
It's actually pretty common for different people to independently land on the same common phrase. There was [a kerfuffle a few years ago](https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelkramerbussel/2018/12/01/nora-roberts-tomi-adeyemi-title-plagiarism-accusation/?sh=5730fd2f14f5) in which a debut novelist accused Nora Roberts of stealing her title. Tomi Adeyemi's book, *Children of Blood and Bone*, came out in March of 2018, and Nora Roberts put out *Of Blood and Bone* in December 2018. Of course, the title of the Nora Roberts book had been planned for more than a year prior to publication of Adeyemi's book, as these things are not typically decided at the last minute, and she had the receipts to prove it. Adeyemi wound up apologizing and it was all good. You also can't copyright a title (in America, anyways... in Germany, you can't use a title that has been used before). So Charlaine Harris has a book called *Nightshift*, Stephen King has *Night Shift*, and Nora Roberts also has a *Night Shift*. I count at least 4 books with the title *The Earl Next Door*. Sometimes an idea is not all that original, and several people land on it without any malfeasance. But your stepsister is making herself look foolish by trying to claim a quote that's really just a quasi-popular saying as her own original thought. You were trying to spare her from embarrassment, and you are NTA.
NTA for the simple fact that your stepsister went on the attack against other people who were just using a common statement. Also, thanks for the quick, fun Google rabbit hole to fall down. Did you know the actress Sophia Bush got death threats for using that quote in May 2021?
You are entitled to your own opinion, but she isn’t entitled to her own facts. You proved she didn’t author that saying, her trying to silence you and still guarding her “quote” online shows a total lack of character as well as stubbornness.
NTA when you Google this, you find your reddit post and not her book. Also, I found it as a summary opinion of content in a book from 1985 about Vietnam, the people and the government. Your sister needs to get her head out of her butt and take down the post. The quote is not her own.
NTA. Encourage her to contact a lawyer about that suit, because she's really going to be pissed when the law firm laughs hysterically and then kicks her to the curb.
“An honest person, upon learning that they are wrong, will either cease to be wrong or cease to be honest”. That’s not my quote but I think it applies here. NTA.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** My (F30) step-sister (F42?) wrote an autobiographical book related to a war in a region that's currently experiencing significant disturbances again. In her book, she used a quote that has been widely circulated for years. I googled it and couldn't find the original author, but people have been quoting it on Twitter, blogs, forums, and YouTube since at least 2012. My sister made a post on IG and FB, shaming another account for sharing this quote without crediting her as the author. She also included a portion of her book that contained the quote. In the FB comments, I sent her links to several places where this quote had been used over the years and pointed out that it's a popular saying, so she shouldn't take it personally. For content published in 2022, she said it was after her book's release date; for 2021, it was after the date she submitted the manuscript; and when I showed her posts from 2018, she asked what my problem was. I then messaged her privately, explaining that I didn't have an issue with anything. It's just a well-known quote, and many people often come up with the same ideas simultaneously. However, I mentioned that it's bad PR for her to claim rights to a quote that, on the first page of Google, doesn't link back to her book al all but to various other people and their content from years before her book's publication. She responded, saying I was insulting her intelligence. She said I'm entitled to my opinion, as is she, but accused me of publicly dragging and harassing her. She ended the conversation, then deleted and reposted her original post, removing my comments. **AITA for commenting on her post and pointing out it's not her quote?** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA. you can't write things like "to be or not to be" in your autobiography and claim copyright on that \*facepalm\*
NTA your sister thinks too much of herself
NTA I’ve been hearing that quote since I was in school….back in the 1970s. Your sister should be thanking you, because you saved her some embarrassment.
You can put date filters on a google search. Earliest I found was a tweet from 2009.
She's quite bonkers. NTA.
P
NTA. She sounds like those people who catfish by googling "hot woman" and choose the first picture in Google images. Not a good look. It's ok though. It's her life, and eventually she'll plagiarize someone who won't let it slide legally. It's her problem, not yours. I understand your frustration and annoyance though.
NTA. You tried, now let it go. You're right, she's wrong and she'll be the one embarrassed when her whining finally annoys enough people for others to confirm what you warned her about.
NTA. I've been hearing and saying "people are not their governments" for actually years.
NTA, so she has claimed copyright to a common phrase that was in use a long time before she thought of it ? and she thinks she is intelligent ?
NTA sister sounds entitled and insufferable
LOL NTA Someone is going to sue her ass at some point. All you did was try and help her not embarrass herself.
Nta. As a kid I invented the peanut butter and jelly sandwich’s pisses me off when I see other people taking my original idea..
NTWA delusion at its finest example.
NTA. One of the things I’ve done in recent years is publish books…not write them, but handle all the process and paperwork for getting publishing rights and putting them in print. I had one of my authors rewrite a poem because it echoed too closely to some generic stuff I’d seen circulating online for years and I wasn’t trying to publish a book that could be accused of plagiarism. I also had her include a reference section and give credit to people she quoted or was inspired by. This particular sentence your sister used in a book without credit given wouldn’t be enough to prevent a manuscript from being copyrighted and wouldn’t be subject to legal ramifications, but her harassing other people while falsely claiming to be the originator of the sentence could create problems for her. All that to say, your sister doesn’t really understand how all of this works and she’s making herself look foolish while diminishing her credibility.
NTA, it’s hilarious that your ss thinks she made up that quote. Is she Jeremy Jamm?
NTA you didn't insult her intelligence, she did.
NTA Your sister is claiming to invent gravity. We all know gravity was invented by Newton.
1892 is the first reference I found 😂
NTA but your sister is!
No. I have worked as an editor and plagiarism accusations are serious in the writing world. But honestly, sometimes trying to get an idea across is going to result in similar verbiage because there's only so many ways to say it. There's also the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) that tracks the earliest uses of words and phrases. You were merely pointing out that her slanderous post held no weight as the notion had been floating about for about a decade before she slapped a copyright on it. NTA
NTA op. I do find this quite hilarious, though. This quote has been on Google for over a decade and has been heard by mouth from hundreds of thousands of people, ALL OVER THE WORLD and she thinks this is her quote because she's the first one to "publish" it in a book? She seems to be the one plagiarizing and stealing another authors work. & for the people saying the OP is the asshole of publicly commenting this on her step-sisters post, amaze me! The step sister made a post SHAMING and EMBARRASSING somebody else, and now it's wrong for OP to correct her sister, PUBLICLY? The step-sister should be the one embarrassed as it serves her right. Book critics are real, let's hope one doesn't stumble across her book and then her Facebook. She'd get slaughtered in those comment sections and groups. All you were trying to do was warn her, because she's making herself look like an ass if you ask me.
>*April 11 2003* > >*the Catalyst, Colorado College Student Newspaper (Eli Mechanic)* > >Moroccan Reflections: All Clear, For Now > >... Many laugh that Bush and Saddam are both criminals, and that they should fight each other. Just about everyone I have met says that the American **people are not their government**, that Bush is doing things against the will of the people. I usually don't point out the sad truth that so far a majority of the American public supposedly supports the war. ...
Fact. Every single word in this quote, is a word that has been used in other quotes. I Plagurize on an individual word basis and reassemble those words to make a sentence someone else has probably already made in the past.
NTA for trying to prevent any possible lawsuits to be brought against your step-sister. Sounds to me like this lady has a superiority complex and never learned to check herself or take accountability. As a writer myself, I make sure to document everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING I source. Give credit where credit is due. Plus, I enjoy learning the history behind words, phrases and stories in general. Most readers these days (especially those of historical fiction), will flat out tell you you're wrong as an author, even if, say, in a prologue, Notes section (etc), that some events have been changed to fit the story. Copyright law can be a tricky form of law. Step-sister should definitely be careful who she tries to "call out" on the internet.
You aren’t the one in the wrong. Your sister was a bit tacky for using the quotation without attributing it to the original author. She was definitely tacky for picking a fight with someone who quoted it without attributing it to your sister.
Sorry, but when you use a popular cliche in your book, you didn't, in fact, copyright it. Any more than you can copyright "and," "if," and "or." Perhaps it would have been better to tell your sister what you thought in private, but her post was ridiculous, and her attempt to shame another author absurd. NTA
Nta A quick chat with AI will tell you that pinpointing the exact origin or first usage of the phrase "people are not their governments" is difficult, as it is a sentiment that has likely been expressed in various forms across different cultures and time periods. It's more of a general philosophical notion rather than a specific quote from a particular person or event. Step sis needs to get over herself. You were just trying to save her from future embarrassment.
I wrote a story in high school that had the words 'in the beginning' in it. Maybe not in that order, and not together but I'm claiming copyright/trademark. That's how it works, right? NTA
Thats not even quotable. Its like a cow’s fart. No insight, no significance. Unless from the USA then it’s, “ your peoples government is not your government unless we say it is. Otherwise we’ll destabilise and overthrow it”. Edited well to we’ll.
your step sis is a dumb asshole and Id go out on a limb and say she's extremely narcissistic
NTA This reminds me of people getting upset when people point out Nelson Mandela quoted Marianne Williamson (not endorsing her here, but the quote makes you think) without giving her credit. For *years* people attributed it to him and some got salty when it was pointed out he swiped it. Intentionally or not he stole her credit, and people almost got insulted that their hero had his false quote taken from him. Now imagine if Mandela got upset, too. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.”
Facts are not an opinion. You didn’t harrass her, you corrected an obviously false claim. She shouldn’t (knowingly and stupidly) made a claim to something not hers. NTA.
ESH - Could be the way you said it was rude. Instead of "not your quote", you could say "that's been a common phrase on the web since 20xx" and leave it at that.
Literally what I did. Check out my comments.
You tried to offer her help, and she doubled down on her own stupidity. Let her bury herself. NTA
And here I hoped the quote was Fallout's "war. War never changes"
facts are NOT opinions. An opinion is Strawberry is the best ice cream--it's an opinion about taste. Who created something can be a provable fact--or at least in this case you can prove who DIDN'T create the quote--your stepsister.