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Who really said it

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for

Not Bob Marley — a modern misattribution Bob Marley 1945–1981 · Jamaican reggae musician (credited, but unsupported)
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

This line is pinned to Bob Marley all over the internet, but it appears in none of his songs, interviews or documented writing, and researchers cannot find any use of it before roughly 2001 — two decades after his death in 1981. Wikiquote files it among his unsourced quotes with the note “He never said this” ↗. The true author is unknown.

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

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Disputed — copy with the correction

“Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for” Popularly attributed to Bob Marley, but unsourced — no song, interview, or writing contains it, and it is untraceable before ~2001, 20 years after his death. True author unknown.

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

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Bob Marley — Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter. Theme: "Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for". 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 "Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for". 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

The paper trail (or lack of one)

Credited to
Bob Marley (1945–1981)
Alleged work
None — no song, interview or writing
Earliest trace
c. 2001, two decades after Marley’s death
Status
Unsourced / misattributed

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.

Circulated in many near-identical variants (“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you…”), a hallmark of a line passed hand-to-hand online rather than quoted from a fixed text.

Wikiquote: Bob Marley talk page (unsourced quotes)

What the record shows

Because no author or first publication can be identified for this exact wording, its copyright status cannot be determined and no public-domain claim can be made. If it is a recent, anonymous internet coinage (as the c. 2001 first-appearance suggests), any underlying rights would rest with an unknown writer — not with Bob Marley or his estate.

Fact-check

Why this one is a fake

Bob Marley is one of the internet’s biggest magnets for invented inspirational quotes, and this is a textbook case: hugely popular, endlessly shared, and completely without a source.

Bob Marley Unsourced

It appears in no Marley song, interview or writing, and Wikiquote files it under unsourced quotes with the note “He never said this” ↗.

Bob Marley Too late

The Houston Press could find no use of the line before 2001 ↗ — twenty years after Marley’s death in 1981.

No documented author exists for this exact wording; despite millions of Marley-branded shares, no one has produced a primary source ↗.

Context

Why it sticks to Marley

Marley’s public image — love, endurance, spiritual calm — makes almost any warm aphorism feel plausible in his voice, so lines with no origin drift toward his name and stay there. The quote even circulates in several slightly different wordings, which is the signature of a saying passed around online rather than quoted from a fixed song or text.

That the sentiment is appealing doesn’t make it his. Until someone produces a recording, interview or manuscript, the honest verdict is that Bob Marley did not say this — and its real author is unknown.

Widely shared, deeply Marley-flavored, and completely unsourced.

Explore

Filed under

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

Truth Love

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.

Wikiquote: Bob Marley (talk / unsourced)en.wikiquote.org

Lists the line among unsourced quotes with the note that Marley never said it
The Truth Is, Bob Marley Never Said That, Eitherhoustonpress.com

Fact-check finding no use of the quote before 2001 and no primary source
Wikiquote: Bob Marley (sourced quotes)en.wikiquote.org

Marley's documented quotations and lyrics — this line is absent
Fake Bob Marley Quotesjustinaitken.com

Overview of why so many sourceless inspirational lines get pinned on Marley
Goodreads attribution pagegoodreads.com

Shows the scale of the popular (unsourced) attribution to Marley

Credited, but unsupported

About the credited name

Bob Marley

1945–1981 · Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter

Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer, songwriter and Rastafari icon who brought reggae to a global audience with Bob Marley and the Wailers. His lyrics on love, faith and liberation made him one of the 20th century’s most quoted musicians — which is exactly why feel-good lines he never wrote, like this one, so easily attach to his name.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Earliest documented use

No primary source; earliest documented appearance c. 2001. See “The Truth Is, Bob Marley Never Said That, Either,” Houston Press, and Wikiquote, “Talk:Bob Marley” (unsourced quotes).

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/truth-is-everybody-is-going-to-hurt-you-you-just-gotta-find

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