Be careful when attributing you may die of a misprint quote to Mark Twain, because people may die laughing at your misquotation.
I am talking about the oft-misquoted line:
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
Ask Google Search, “who said be careful about reading health books?”
It will tell you it is Mark Twain, as published by GoodReads site.
As expected, BrainyQuote also attributed this quote to Mark Twain.
Be careful when you use or share quotations from these two sites, which are notorious for misquotes.
Mark Twain, the author and humorist who wrote the classic American novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, did not write or say this quote.
You May Die Of A Misprint
But there is this very similar quote in German language which was said to be uttered by a German Jewish physician and lecturer on philosophy, Markus or Marcus Herz.
The original line in German is:
“Sie werden noch einmal an einem Druckfehler sterben!”
(Zur Diätetik Der Seele Bon Ernst Von Feuchtersleben, Dritte, Verbeferte Und Bedeutend Vermehrte Auflage, Druck Und Verlag Von Carl Gerold. 1842, IX Hypochondrie; P. 100) source
(The quote is also found here and here.)
These are the two different English translations of this German quotation.
The first version is:
“…you will some day die of misprint.”
(The Hygiene Of The Soul: Memoir Of A Physician And Philosopher By Gustav Pollak, New York: Dodd, Mead And Company, 1910, VIII, P. 101-102) source
(The quote is also found here.)
Note: You can read free books by Gustav Pollak over here.
The second English translation is:
“…an error of the press will assuredly, some day or other, be the death of you.”
(The Dietetics Of The Soul By Ernst Freiherr von Feuchtersleben, Translated By Henry Aimé Ouvry, Edited From The Seventh Edition, London: John Churchill, 1852, X. Hypochondriasis, P. 127) source
(The quote is also found here and here.)
Note: This is NOT a direct quote by Dr. Markus or Marcus Hertz.
It is just a claim or a hearsay as mentioned in the books.
In the original German book, it stated: zu deren einem Markus Herz, der berühmt gewordene Feind alles Schwindels, einmal sagte:
In the English translations, it mentioned: …Dr. Herz once said: and Marcus Herz once wittily remarked.
In other words, whether Dr. Herz did said this funny line or not, we do not know.
By the way, these two popular quotes about reading are misattributed to Mark Twain as well.
“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.”
“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”
This is an authentic Mark Twain quote about reading.
It is from his address at the dinner of the Nineteenth Century Club at Sherry’s, New York back in 1900.
“I don’t believe any of you have ever read Paradise Lost…It’s a classic… something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.”
(Mark Twain’s Speeches, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1910, Disappearance Of Literature, November 20, 1900, P. 194) source
(The quote is also found here.)
Related: Read the free “Paradise Lost” by John Milton over here or here.
