Do you have a favorite misinterpreted quote which because of its repeated use has taken on a life of its own - the truth be damned?

“A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
This proverb—which provided The Rolling Stones band and Rolling Stone magazine with their names, as well as inspiring one of Bob Dylan’s best-known songs—is commonly believed to be an ode to rootless and free-spirited lifestyles. But for hundreds of years it had the exact opposite meaning, with the moss signifying stability and success.

The phrase was popularized during the Renaissance by Erasmus’s Adagia, which includes the proverb, Lapis obuolutus non obducitur musco (“The rowling ston neuer gathereth Mosse”). Erasmus doesn’t provide an explanation, but John Ray’s 18th-century collection of proverbs likens the stony saying to a phrase from Quintilian, a 1st-century Roman educator: “A plant often removed cannot thrive.”

- from Mental Floss

"A parting shot."

The original was "A Parthian shot."

The Parthians were an ancient people, enemies of the Roman empire, who were skilled archers and horsemen. Even when their cavalry was in retreat, they could shoot arrows behind them at their pursuers. Hence, beware of a Parthian shot!

Well, "Gild the lily" is actually "To gild gold, to paint the lily."

Anything by Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln is usually misattributed to them, or completely fabricated.