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On the other hand, sometimes se non è vero, è ben trovato. We need stories. Models. The Gandhi we know was not the real one, same for Churchill or any other person, and the same thing happens with some villains. My personal point of view is that apocryphal quotes are just an extension of that mechanism, and can be useful in the construction of our thoughts.

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Sure, but the formula is so clunky. Just take:

A) a person famous for their brilliance or other quality

B) a humdrum everyday failing experienced by regular people, such as hubris, poor ability to predict the future, problems in school, difficulty in relationships, etc.

Mix them together and you get "Einstein flunked math in primary school" and Freud saying "who knows what women want" and other stuff.

I'm all for stories, but these aren't very good ones.

Nah the formula is different:

1. Take some conditional and true statement: “The original IBM PC can address 1024KB memory of which 640KB are in user space.”

2. Remove all conditionalities: “The PC has 640KB RAM as that’s all one needs.”

3. Attribute it to a famous figure: “Bill Gates said that 640K is all anyone ought to need.”

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