Who said it?
Ten famous lines, four faces each. Pick the person who really said it, then read the story behind the answer.
How Who said it? works
Each round shows one famous line and four portraits. You pick the person you think really said it, and the page tells you straight away whether you were right. Every question is drawn from the quotes we have traced to a primary source, so the answer is never a guess on our side: the speaker, the work the line comes from and the year are all taken from the full quote page.
Most people find that they know the famous lines but not their authors. Lincoln, Einstein and Churchill are easy, yet the same crowd mixes up Shakespeare with Wordsworth, or attaches a Victorian novelist's sentence to a politician. That is normal. Quotes travel far from their source, get shortened in speeches and posters, and end up in the mouth of whoever is most famous.
After each answer you get the context: where the line was first said or written, and what it meant at the time. If you want the whole story, with the timeline, the exact original wording and how to use the quote in a speech, the link under the answer opens the full page.
Quick answers
Are the answers checked?
Yes. Every quote in this game has a full page with its primary source. We only use lines we could trace to the original book, speech, letter or recording.
Why are some portraits not photographs?
Cameras only appeared in the 1800s, so older speakers are shown in public-domain paintings, busts or engravings.
Do I need to sign up?
No. The game runs in your browser and nothing is stored.
How many questions are there?
Ten per round, drawn at random from every quote on the site that has a portrait. New quotes are added every week, so the pool keeps growing.
More to explore
All games → · Famous misquotes → · Browse the people → · How we verify quotes →