Quotes from the saints have long been a source of prayer and inspiration for Catholics. Consider Augustine’s words from his Confessions, “Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you” or St. Francis de Sales’ words from a letter, “Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.”
While there are endless legitimate saint quotes out there, there are also a number of quotes commonly attributed to saints that a saint didn't actually say or write.
Here are just a few quotes that everyone seems to think were said by saints, but can’t be verified anywhere. Either they were modified over the years by oral tradition or paraphrased or just plain made up!
1St. Catherine of Siena did not say, “Be who you are and you will set the world on fire.”
So what did she say? In a letter, St. Catherine did write, “Where it came from: If you are what you ought to be, you will set fire to all Italy, and not only yonder.”
2St. Joan of Arc did not say: “I am not afraid, I was born to do this.”
During her trial, however, she did reportedly say, “I do not fear the soldiers, for my road is made open to me.” Joan added, “And if the soldiers come, I have God, my Lord, who will know how to clear the route that leads to my lord the Dauphin. It was for this that I was born!”
3We don’t know if Padre Pio said, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”
Many people have said that he said things like this, but we don’t know if he used these exact words.
4St. Francis of Assisi didn’t say "Preach the Gospel at all times, use words if necessary."
It appears he did write in the Rule for his community: "All the brothers ... should preach by their deeds.”
In fact, St. Francis of Assisi is a popular saint to attribute quotes to…
5St. Francis also didn’t say, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace" nor write any of the popular “Peace Prayer.”
The Peace Prayer is a 20th-century composition that was made popular by Pope Benedict XV. It was later misattributed to St. Francis because it seemed in line with his charism.
6St. Ignatius of Loyola did not say: “Work as if everything depended on you; pray as if everything depended on God.”
This popular saying may encapsulate some Ignatian thought, but it doesn’t have any apparent source.
7St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) did not say: “The world doesn't need what women have, it needs what women are."
This inspirational line unfortunately is not a direct quote. She did write, however, “The children in school ... do not need merely what we have, but rather what we are.”
8Mother Teresa did not say, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”
She did say that love starts in the home, but she also boldly said during her visit to the U.S., “If we remember that God loves us, and that we can love others as He loves us, then America can become a sign of peace for the world. From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak — the unborn child — must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for.”
These are just a sampling of quotes that aren’t actually quotes. The good news is, the saints did write and say many things that we can pray with and learn from. And they may just be spiritually richer than the paraphrases and counterfeits.
