Whether Mary Shelley said: “No one chooses evil, because it is evil. He is mistaken for the desired happiness ”?

This quote, attributed to the English writer and creator of the image of Frankenstein, spread widely on the Internet. We decided to check if she said something like that.

Find This phrase It is possible on many sites With selection Quote And aphorisms. There is a second one option translation of this statementsalso quite common in Runn: “A person chooses evil not because it is evil; He mistakenly takes him for the happiness that he is looking for. " Quote is found and in social networks, and on Blog-platforms. This phrase is pronounced by the main character of the series "Wenses", Also attributing her to Shelley. The statement was used as an epigraph to one of the episodes and the creators of the series "Think like a criminal" - with the same attribution.

"Checked" Studied All the texts available in digital form are the author of the writer Mary Shelley and did not find such a quote in her works or in her letters. In English sources, the verified statement is as follows: “No man chooosses evil Because it is evil; He Only Mistakes it for Happiness, The Good He Seeks. " We managed to find him in the book "In defense of human rights"Published in 1790 - seven years before the birth of Shelley. Her author - Mary Walstoncraft, the British writer and philosopher of the XVIII century, known for his works on the topic of feminism. In addition, she was the mother of the same Mary Shelleywhich is usually attributed to a quote.

In the girlishness of the author of Frankenstein, Mary Walstoncraft Godwin was called. Marrying the poet Percy Bishi Shelley, she changed her father’s last name (Godvin) to her husband’s last name and became Mary Walstoncraft Shelley. Signing her works, the writer omitted the name of Walstoncraft inherited from her mother. Probably, it was precisely because of confusion with the names at some point that she began to attribute a quote. 

According to the project The Quote InvestigatorThe wrong attribution was likely to spread due to inaccuracy in the Bartlet’s Familiar QUOTATIONS of the 1980 publication. This is a widely known in the United States of the help of winged expressions, first collected in the middle of the XIX century John Bartlett. He was reprinted many times and replenished with new quotes both during the life of Bartlett and after his death (the last at the moment, 19th edition was released in 2022). In that very publication of 1980, the quote we check with the signature “Mary Walstoncraft Godwin” was included in the collection. At the same time, it was indicated that the quote was taken from the work “in defense of human rights”, and the years of his mother Mary Shelley were indicated correctly. That is, probably, the one who included this phrase in the reference book understood who was talking about, but for some reason added the clarification of "Godwin", although the real author of the statement was not customary to be called by her husband. This could mislead less informed readers who might have thought that it was about Mary Shelley, for some reason indicated under the girl’s surname.

The quote was widely dispersed as a statement by the creator of Frankenstein already in the 21st century. For example, in 2013 she appeared in the collection Quotation for the Fast Lane, compiled by Richard Pound, who, according to the annotation, was engaged in the collection of various quotes. 

Although Mary Walstoncraft was the author of aphorism in the form familiar to us, the very thought was found even among the ancient Greek philosopher Epictate. In English -speaking translation collection of his thoughts compiled by the student of the thinker Arrian, the quote sounds like this: “The Soul Never Choosses Evil, Consedered as Evil, But Under the Disguise and Pretence of Some Good”. Russian historian of ancient culture Andrei Tyzhov Transferred The same fragment is slightly different, but a similar thought is still traced: “We will call our soul a culprit, but not evil, for nothing chooses evil as such, but an imaginary good that hides the evil, which we inevitably receive with an imaginary good.” 

Thus, the quote about the choice of an evil man does not belong to Mary Shelley, but her mother Mary Walstoncraft, although such ideas spoke back in antiquity. The statement was mistakenly attributed to the author of “Frankenstein”, apparently, because of confusion with the names of his mother and daughter: before the marriage of Shelly, they called the same as his mother, use the name of her husband, Mary Walstoncraft Godwin.

Picture on the cover: Mary Walstoncraft Shelley. Richard Rothwell, Public Domain, Via Wikimedia Commons

Incorrect attribution of quote

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