PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2022-04-11 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Did Ben Franklin Say 'Beer Is Proof that God Loves Us and Wants Us To Be Happy'? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • Since at least the late 1990s, a questionable quote has been shared online attributing to Benjamin Franklin the words, Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. We soon found in our research that while there's no record of him saying this about beer, he did pen a letter with similar thoughts about wine. The quote has been shared so far and wide that even Anheuser-Busch shared it in 2006, in its press release for the company's 300th anniversary. A search of Google Images showed a wall of memes with Franklin's face, mugs of beer, and the fake quote about God. They had all been created in honor of the quote. Some of them appeared to be posters or signs for sale that could be displayed inside homes and bars: The fabricated Franklin quote said, Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. According to blogger Barry Popik's website, it first made the rounds as early as 1997 or 1998. We looked to find out where it came from. That process took us more than two centuries back in time. A blog on the Suffolk University website published that research on Franklin showed he was a lover of wine, not beer. It called the beer quote false. The article also said that much of the fake quote about God, beer, and being happy came from one of Franklin's letters to his friend AndrĂ© Morellet. That letter mentioned wine, not beer. The website franklinpapers.org reprinted the letter in question, which appears to have been written in 1779. Here's a part of the letter which has been translated from French to English: This letter from Franklin made no mention of beer, standing in opposition to the popular and false quote in question. Aside from the fake beer quote, Brittanica.com published that Franklin was perhaps one of the most noteworthy of all the Founding Fathers, especially when it comes to a very important historical document: In sum, the quote mentioning beer that was attributed to Franklin looked to have been spun out of a genuine letter that was about God, wine, and being happy. While it's true that Franklin said this about wine, we rated the claim as False that he said the same about beer. No record confirms this, and it's likely that the quote simply became popular because it kind of sounded cool. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url