Benjamin Disraeli

1804–1881 · British Prime Minister, novelist and parliamentary wit

Benjamin Disraeli founded modern British Conservatism’s self-image, which makes him the natural owner of a line about growing out of radicalism — and he had himself begun in politics as a Radical before ending as a Tory Prime Minister, so the sentiment fits his life even though the words are not his. He is one of the two or three heaviest magnets in English political misquotation; his Wikiquote page carries a long misattributed section, and this saying is not in it either.

Traced to source

2 quotes we’ve traced to Benjamin Disraeli

“Half of the Town Councilors Are Not Fools”

Disputed

“If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain”

Disputed

Not actually Benjamin Disraeli

Often misattributed to Benjamin Disraeli

Famous lines widely pinned on Benjamin Disraeli that we’ve traced to someone else.

“Half of the Town Councilors Are Not Fools”

Unknown — popularly credited to Benjamin Disraeli

“He Is a Self-Made Man.” “Yes, And He Worships His Creator”

actually Henry Clapp

“I Wish I Was As Sure of Any One Thing As He is of Everything”

actually William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

“If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain”

Unknown — popularly credited to Benjamin Disraeli

On the research bench

Commonly pinned on Benjamin Disraeli — under review

3 lines flagged as pinned on Benjamin Disraeli and queued for a full source trace — not yet verified.

“Thank You for the Gift Book. I Shall Lose No Time In Reading It”

Disputed

“What Is the Difference Between a Misfortune and a Calamity?”

Disputed

“You Shall Either Die Upon the Gallows or of the Pox”

Disputed

Did they really say it?

Thought Benjamin Disraeli said something else?

Type a quote you think Benjamin Disraeli said — we’ll tell you what we know, or point you to the best sources.