6. Wall Street (1987)
The Misquote: "Greed is good."
The Real Quote: "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works."
Why It Was Misquoted: The character of Gordon Gecko feels like a perfect summation of eighties greed and has endured a lot better than a clean cut Charlie Sheen. But his most famous line, the quote that represents his entire ideology is, for lack of a better word, wrong. The reason for it is simple; in the trailer, the line is cut down just to Greed is good. More people will see a trailer than the film itself and thus the shortened version went down in history.
5. Dirty Harry (1971)
The Misquote: "Do you feel lucky, punk?"
The Real Quote: "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"
Why It Was Misquoted: So overridingly iconic is Dirty Harrys catchphrase is that you probably instinctively hear it in Clint Eastwoods SF drawl. Its clear why audiences remember the misquote. Aside from having all the constituent words present within a breath of each other, as always the shortening of a long line is more favourable to the memory. The line appears twice in the film; the more famous early moment and during the films finale, saying a lot about Harrys character and even more about peoples inability to remember film lines.
4. The Graduate (1967)
The Misquote: "Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?"
The Real Quote: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?"
Why It Was Misquoted: (500) Days Of Summer delights in the fact that Tom has woefully misunderstood The Graduate and this constant misquote suggests a lot of the audience have (or at least one particular scene). Made famous due to the through the leg shot, framing Dustin Hoffman completely helpless, the iconic line comes after hes figured out what Anne Bancroft's cougar is up to and finds humour in his flustered nature, then wave of uncertainty. The misquote gives off a more naïve attitude; a much simpler notion to put across in one line, hence its endurance.