Is that quote really from Thomas Jefferson?
You should be skeptical, as there are many, many quotes attributed to famous people…..but those people really didn’t say them!!
Just because you see it on the Web doesn’t mean it’s true, right?
1. Put the quote, within brackets, into a Google search and review the results.
2. Is there a phrase within the quote that doesn’t seem right? For example, was “Gun Control” really a phrase used during Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime? Here’s how to find out:
Go to Google’s Ngram Viewer
Then enter gun control in “graph these comma separated phrases” field, and click on “search lots of books.”
You’ll see a graph that indicates the phrase showed up in our language around 1920, well after Jefferson had died. So he didn’t say anything about “gun control.”
You can also search for multiple phrases, separated by commas, to see where their use intersect and separate over time.