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Who really said it

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated

Genuinely Twain — but not in these words Mark Twain 1835–1910 · American author and humorist
Attributed Free to reuse

The remark is real. In London on 31 May 1897, Samuel Clemens handed a written note to a reporter who had been cabled from New York that he was destitute and dying. What he actually wrote was: “The report of my illness grew out of his illness; the report of my death was an exaggeration.” Singular ‘report,’ no ‘greatly,’ and part of an explanation about his cousin — not a standalone epigram.

Last verified 20 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Unconfirmed quote & credit

“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” Twain actually wrote: "The report of my illness grew out of his illness; the report of my death was an exaggeration." —Mark Twain, London, 31 May 1897. Public domain — free to reuse.

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In context

Evoking the world of Mark Twain — American author and humorist. Theme: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated". 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.

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Provenance

The source

Document
Handwritten note to a reporter, London
Dated
31 May 1897
Published
“Mark Twain Amused,” New York Journal, 2 June 1897
Author
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), 1835–1910

James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness; the report of my death was an exaggeration. London, 31 May 1897

The note as printed. Read whole, it is a man patiently correcting a newsroom error about his cousin — the joke is the last six words, and it is drier than the version everyone quotes.

Quote Investigator — the 1897-to-1912 wording chain

How we traced it

  • A New York paper cabled its London correspondent that Twain was destitute and dying. The correspondent found him alive in London and submitted a written enquiry; Twain replied in writing on 31 May 1897, and the note was printed on 2 June 1897 under the headline ‘Mark Twain Amused’ Quote Investigator ↗.
  • The confusion was real: his cousin James Ross Clemens had genuinely been seriously ill in London. That is what the note is explaining — the famous clause is the third of three, not an aphorism sourced text ↗.
  • The drift began within days. A newspaper had ‘greatly exaggerated’ by 3 June 1897; the plural ‘Reports’ appears by November 1897; ‘grossly’ by 1898. Twain himself wrote ‘greatly’ when he retold the episode in 1906, so that word has partial authority — the plural and ‘have been’ never did Wikiquote ↗.
Public domain

Free to reuse. Twain died in 1910 and the note was published in 1897, so both the words and the newspaper text are in the public domain worldwide. You may reproduce it commercially without permission — the only thing to get right is the wording, which almost nobody does. This is not legal advice.

Fact-check

Right man, wrong words

The attribution is correct and the source is dated to the day. What has gone wrong is the sentence itself — and unusually, we can watch it change week by week in the newspapers of 1897.

‘The report’ → ‘Reports’ altered

Twain wrote about one specific report — the false cable from New York. The plural turns a correction of a particular error into a general shrug at the world’s rumours the chain ↗.

‘greatly’ / ‘grossly’ added — partly by Twain

The 1897 note has no intensifier. A newspaper added ‘greatly’ within two days and ‘grossly’ followed by 1898. Twain himself used ‘greatly’ when retelling it in 1906 — so that word has some authority; ‘grossly,’ spread by his 1912 biographer, has none.

The cousin context lost

The line only makes sense as the third clause of an explanation: his cousin James Ross Clemens really had been seriously ill, and a newsroom conflated them. Quoted alone it becomes a witticism about nothing.

Genuinely Mark Twain, London, 31 May 1897 — but he wrote ‘the report of my death was an exaggeration.’ The plural and ‘have been’ are newspaper drift the note ↗.

Context

Why it resonates

It is the perfect reply to being written off — unbothered, faintly amused, and delivered by a man who was in fact broke and would spend years on a lecture circuit paying off his creditors. The composure is the joke.

The real note is funnier for being smaller. He is not making a statement about mortality; he is patiently explaining that a newspaper mixed him up with his cousin, and allowing himself exactly six words of dryness at the end.

The report of my death was an exaggeration.

How the sentence drifted, 1897 to 1912

31 May 1897, Twain’s note: ‘the report of my death was an exaggeration.’

3 June 1897, a newspaper: ‘reported death has been greatly exaggerated.’

November 1897: the plural arrives — ‘Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’

1906, Twain retelling it himself: ‘Say the report is greatly exaggerated.’

1912, his biographer: ‘…the report of my death has been grossly exaggerated’ — the main vector for ‘grossly.’

Explore

Filed under

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

Truth Mortality

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.

The Report of My Death Was an Exaggerationquoteinvestigator.com

The full citation chain from the 1897 note through the 1897–98 newspaper drift to Paine’s 1912 biography.
Mark Twain — sourced quotationwist.info

The 31 May 1897 note text with its New York Journal publication details.
Mark Twain — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

The sourced section, distinguishing the genuine wording from the many circulating variants.

The true author

About Mark Twain

Mark Twain

1835–1910 · American author and humorist

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), writing as Mark Twain, is the most quotable American writer and therefore the most misquoted — the Center for Mark Twain Studies maintains a standing catalogue of things he never said. This is the rarer opposite case: a remark that really is his, worn smooth by 130 years of retelling until the version everyone knows is nobody’s exact words.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain). Written note to a reporter, London, 31 May 1897. Published as “Mark Twain Amused,” New York Journal, 2 June 1897.

MLA (9th ed.)

Twain, Mark. “Mark Twain Amused.” New York Journal, 2 June 1897.

APA (7th ed.)

Twain, M. (1897, June 2). Mark Twain amused. New York Journal.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated’?” Last verified 20 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-reports-of-my-death-have-been-greatly-exaggerated

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