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Who really said it

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments

Not George Washington — actually William E. Borah William Edgar Borah 1865–1940 · U.S. Senator from Idaho
Disputed Free to reuse

This aphorism does not appear in any of George Washington’s writings, and his estate at Mount Vernon lists it among its “spurious quotations.” The Check Your Fact review ↗, citing Mount Vernon’s encyclopedia, traces the words to Idaho senator William E. Borah, credited with the line in a Reader’s Digest piece around 1929. The Washington credit is a later, unsupported reassignment.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments” Often credited to George Washington, but it is spurious — the words are U.S. Senator William E. Borah's (c. 1929).

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to George Washington. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Free to use, including in commercial and paid presentations — no permission or licence needed.

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In context

Evoking the world of William Edgar Borah — U.S. Senator from Idaho & famed orator. Theme: "The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

What the record shows

Real author
William Edgar Borah (1865–1940)
Documented in
Reader’s Digest, c. 1929 (per Mount Vernon)
Falsely credited to
George Washington
Status
Spurious Washington quotation

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.

No fuller original context has been located for the popular one-sentence form; it circulates as a standalone aphorism.

Check Your Fact: Did George Washington say this?

How we traced it

Public domain

The wording is credited to Senator William E. Borah in a Reader’s Digest piece around 1929 (per Mount Vernon’s encyclopedia, as reported by Check Your Fact). As a U.S. work first circulated before 1931, that text is in the public domain in the United States. Note that this first-publication detail comes from secondary sources; the exact 1929 issue was not independently examined here.

Fact-check

Why the Washington credit is wrong

This is a textbook feel-good aphorism pinned on Washington because his name lends any anti-big-government line instant authority. The evidence points elsewhere.

George Washington Spurious

The line appears in none of Washington’s writings and is catalogued on Mount Vernon’s spurious-quotations list ↗; the words are Senator William E. Borah’s.

The sentence is Senator William E. Borah’s ↗, popularized through Reader’s Digest around 1929 and only later mis-stamped onto George Washington.

Context

Why it gets misattributed

Short, quotable critiques of government are magnets for Washington’s name: attach it to the founding father and the line reads as timeless national wisdom rather than one 20th-century senator’s turn of phrase. That is exactly the pattern Mount Vernon built its ‘spurious quotations’ page to counter.

William Borah — a leading isolationist and one of the Senate’s most quoted orators — is the documented source, but his name lacks Washington’s marketing power online, so the misattribution keeps spreading.

A senator’s aphorism, wearing a founding father’s name.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Freedom Wisdom Power

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Fact check: Did Washington say this?checkyourfact.com

Rates the Washington credit false and attributes the line to Sen. William E. Borah, citing Mount Vernon.
Spurious Quotationsmountvernon.org

George Washington’s Mount Vernon list of quotations wrongly attributed to Washington.
Borah quote entrygoodreads.com

Community quotation database filing the line under William Edgar Borah.
Quote details: W. H. Borahquotationspage.com

Older quotation reference attributing the line to Borah under the subject ‘Government.’
William Borahen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the Idaho senator and orator credited with the quotation.
Quotefancy (Washington)quotefancy.com

Example of the popular but unsupported George Washington attribution.

The true source

About the real author

William Edgar Borah

1865–1940 · U.S. Senator from Idaho & famed orator

William Edgar Borah was a Republican U.S. senator from Idaho who served from 1907 until his death in 1940, earning the nickname “the Lion of Idaho.” A celebrated orator and leading isolationist, he was a central voice against the League of Nations and a frequent commentator on the reach of government — the milieu from which this line about citizens tolerating unnecessary burdens emerged.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary attribution

Attributed to William E. Borah; documented via George Washington’s Mount Vernon, “Spurious Quotations,” which credits Borah (Reader’s Digest, c. 1929). Not found in Washington’s writings.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-marvel-of-all-history-is-the-patience-with-which-men

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