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Ivanka Trump's Motivational 'Socrates' Tweet Goes Hilariously Awry

Donald Trump's daughter deleted her post after she was mocked, then tried again.
Lee Moran
By 

Reporter, HuffPost

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Ivanka Trump was mocked on Twitter Tuesday morning after she appeared to misattribute a motivational quote to ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new,” President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser tweeted.

However, some folks noted that Socrates the philosopher didn’t actually coin the phrase. Instead, they said, it was originated by a gas attendant character called Socrates in author Dan Millman’s bestselling fictionalized memoir, Way Of The Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives.

Not the actual Socrates pic.twitter.com/SbkKe81AfA

— 🌀Jupiter’s Shadow (@Some_Mexican_Ok) October 16, 2018

It's okay that Ivanka misled us. Instead of saying Socrates, not the ancient Greek guy but Socrates a character from "Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives", by Dan Millman.

— Jim (@Jim56931230) October 16, 2018

I think in this case, fighting the old might well advised.
Also, Socarates didn't say that
It was a character called Socrates who was a gas-station attendant in a book published in the 1980s by Dan Millman.

— Mister Laurie to you (@SICrecords) October 16, 2018

The Millman book theory was backed up by old posts on the QuoteInvestigator.com and WikiQuote.org websites.

Trump’s tweet was deleted after around 30 minutes of being online. It was later replaced with this post, which clarified that the Socrates she cited was indeed “a fictional character.”

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
-Socrates (note: a fictional character not the philosopher)

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 16, 2018

The flub predictably caused much mirth online:

"Yabba dabba Doo!"
--Fred Flintstone (note: a fictional character)

— Average Joe (@Fight4Goodness) October 16, 2018

“The secret of misidentified quotes is to put a dash line before any famous person’s name immediately following the quote.”
-Abraham Lincoln (note: a fictional character but still giving the wrong impression)

— 🦇 Bloodbert "Impartial Drunk" Taco 🦇 (@blobert) October 16, 2018

I think you meant this:
"The truth is that men are tired of liberty."
Benito Mussolini

— Mr Brick Housewall (@BrickHousewall) October 16, 2018

That just made it worse, hon. Delete it.

— justagirl (@michelesanto1) October 16, 2018

Was this So-Crates from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure?

— Supa Sandwich 🔇 (@ArmedfceSndwich) October 16, 2018

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