For several years now, social media users have been sharing a motivational quote attributed to the Oscar-winning actor. The artist allegedly urges you to stop communicating with people who do not want to change and “are not interested in your presence.” We checked whether this attribution is correct.
An alleged statement by Anthony Hopkins is being circulated on the RuNet in at least three versions. The first and shortest consists of one paragraph and sounds like this: “Let go of people who are not ready to love you. This is the most difficult and important thing you will have to do in life. Stop having difficult conversations with people who don't want to change. Stop hanging out with people who are not interested in your presence.” For example, in the “Book of Knowledge” public page on VKontakte, posts with this quote attributed to the actor have appeared at least four times since 2022 and have received a total of more than 1.2 million views (here, here, here And here).
The second version of the text already has several paragraphs, it begins like this: “The most valuable thing you have is your time and energy, since both of these substances are limited. When you realize this, you begin to understand why you feel so anxious about spending time with people who steal your energy. When you start fighting for a joyful, interesting life, not everyone will be ready to follow you. This means that you need to let go of people who are not ready to accompany you. The truth is that you are not for everyone and not everyone is for you.” Then the words given at the beginning of this analysis follow, and the statement ends with the following conclusion: “I know that your instinct is to do everything possible to gain the recognition of others, but this is an impulse that steals your time, energy, mental and physical health. There are people who shouldn't be in your life. Make your life a safe haven where you only allow “compatible” people. It's not your responsibility to convince people to become better people. It is not your job to exist for people and give them your life. Your only obligation is to realize that you are the master of your destiny. You deserve true friendship, commitment and meaningful love.” This version of the quote has been repeatedly posted on the public page “The Path to Yourself ☼ Self-Knowledge” - at least six times for a total of 80,000 views (here, here, here, here, here And here). Similar post in the community "A window to a wonderful world. Awareness of reality” received more than 70,000 views. This version of the statement is also popular in Telegram, Instagram* And Facebook*.
The third version of the quote is the most voluminous: it has a slightly different translation of several phrases, and also slightly changed the arrangement of sentences. The full text can be found in the screenshot below. In this version, the parting words authored by Hopkins were published, for example, in the public pages “The path to yourself ☼ Self-knowledge" (62,000 views) and "World of cinema: Castings, actors, directors, producers"(25,000).
Since this quote is attributed to Hopkins attributed to and English-speaking users, in 2021 on it turned Attention fact checkers from the Snopes project. According to them, under the guise of thoughts of an Oscar-winning actor, this text first appeared on the Internet approximately in September 2020. However, in the artist’s verified accounts on social networks (X, Instagram, Facebook) there are no records with a similar quote; it was not possible to find similar statements in his numerous interviews. At the same time, none of the posts with the statement in question mentions where and when Hopkins allegedly wrote or delivered such parting words.
Snopes notes that the text itself appeared almost two years before its authorship began to be attributed to the British actor. As fact checkers found out, back in December 2018, the writer Brianna Wiest published an essay entitled “This Year, Let Go of People Who Are Not Ready to Love You” on Thought Catalog. IN profile The author indicates that, by agreement with this platform, she first publishes her books and other works there.
On Thought Catalog indeed posted text by Wiest, who repeats almost verbatim the full viral quote attributed to Hopkins. At the same time, the publication date is not indicated on the platform - it is only reported that the material was updated on April 17, 2024. However, six years earlier, judging by archival copy, the same essay was available to readers, but called a little differently: “Next year, let go of people who are not ready to love you.” Then it was indicated that the material was updated on December 13, 2018. Executive Director, Thought Catalog Noel Beams confirmed to “Verified” that the text was posted on the site in 2018. In addition, his slightly edited version of Uist in January 2023 also published on my Instagram.
Thus, there is no evidence that Anthony Hopkins ever spoke the viral text being analyzed. At least two years before this quote was attributed to the British actor, it was published on her blog American writer.
*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Instagram and Facebook, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.
Cover photo: frame from the movie "Son"
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