Here is the XKCD comic explaining citogenesis: the process by which a made-up “fact” gets cited and becomes widely believed.
And here is an Instagram video wherein a creator tries to track down the source of an allegedly fabricated quote attributed to Dostoyevsky.
I haven’t checked myself to see if the quote has been found; you should also treat this creator with skepticism.
But think hard about the things you quote, and the authority you lend them due solely to their alleged origin. A quote can be no less true or thoughtful or poignant for being attributed to Nancy Schmoe from Des Moines than to Dostoyevsky; but claiming that someone said something they did not say is a bad road to start down.
This already happens in spades to historical figures like Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln, leading to the great meme:
Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.
Abraham Lincoln
But we (mostly) know to be skeptical of it when it’s one of those two. Lesser known quotes, like the one from “A Canticle for Leibowitz” about being vs. having a soul, or the one from Chesterton about slaying dragons, are more likely to pass unchallenged.
Stay skeptical. Don’t be afraid to push back when people say things that don’t quite line up. Don’t be an asshole about it, sure, but it’s okay to say “huh, I haven’t heard that before! Where did you say it was from?” Or “Hey, did you know CS Lewis never said that? It’s actually Walter M. Miller Jr!”
Emilybook 