Ivanka Trump deletes tweet after being teased for sharing quote credited to the wrong Socrates
The internet has taken a break from poking fun at President Trump’s Twitter typos to mock his elder daughter’s attribution of a quote to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.
Ivanka Trump was up bright and early Tuesday morning to share an inspiring message: “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
The quote is attributed to Socrates, and while that’s technically accurate, it’s not the Socrates famed for his quotable wisdom, death-by-hemlock, and epic cameo in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
The Socrates Trump is quoting is actually a character who appears in author, self-help coach, and former gymnast Dan Millman’s writing. A quick Google search shows the quote — which has been altered in later editions of the book — originating from Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior, in which it is uttered by a spiritually minded gas station attendant nicknamed Socrates. Nick Nolte played this Socrates in a 2006 film adaption of the book.
Unfortunately, Trump didn’t do a Google search and was promptly teased online for the quote slip-up.
Not the actual Socrates pic.twitter.com/SbkKe81AfA
— 🌀Jupiter’s Shadow (@Some_Mexican_Ok) October 16, 2018
ok… pic.twitter.com/uXCc3xlWmK
— ?𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝕝𝕪𝕟𝕟? (@_ashlynn_b) October 16, 2018
In the spirit of “building the new,” the first daughter deleted her original tweet and reposted the quote with a note clarifying that it didn’t come from that Socrates.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
-Socrates (note: a fictional character not the philosopher)— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 16, 2018
This isn’t the first time the White House adviser has faced fallout after tweeting a quote. In June, she quoted a “Chinese proverb” that turned out to be fake.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Ivanka Trump squelches rumors she’ll replace Nikki Haley as U.N. ambassador
Chelsea Clinton tweets ‘Please leave Judge Kavanaugh’s daughters alone’ after controversial cartoon
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