Tell Me And I Forget Teach

Despite its near-universal attribution to Franklin, this quote has no verified source in his writings and is not found in Poor Richard's Almanack or his known letters. Quote Investigator and the Franklin Institute both conclude there is no evidence Franklin wrote it. The sentiment echoes a passage from the ancient Chinese philosopher Xunzi (c. 312–230 BC), whose work was first translated into English in 1928 — more than a century after Franklin's death. The misattribution appears to have emerged in a 1986 language-teaching textbook.