That seems to be the message of recent revelations. According to the headline writers, John Reid, the then Defence Secretary, rashly predicted that British troops would leave Helmand province in Iraq without having to fire a single shot.
But Reid, it seems, didn't say that at all. He observed, foolishly enough, that if they accomplished their task, "and had not fired a single shot at the end of it, we would be very happy indeed"; which is, as Cromwell actually did say, a "clean different thing".
Other politicians have suffered from the urge of editors to find a snappy headline.
It seems that Prime Minister Callaghan did not react to a major economic problem with the glib, "Crisis? What crisis?". Nor did Supermac, Prime Minster Macmillan, utter that piece of worldly-wise advice, "events, dear boy, events," about the unpredictability of the future.
The phrase attributed to Norman Tebbitt ,"On your bike" was a journalist's development of TeBbitt's advice based on the action of his father, who "got on his bike and looked for work".
One is reminded of the story, again perhaps apocryphal, of the New York editor telling a cub reporter to head to the town of Ubokus to rustle up a story - any story - because, he said, "I've got a great headline…Hocus Pocus in Ubokus!"
But politicians are not the only ones to suffer from misquotations. The phrase from Thomas Gray's famous Elegy, employed by Thomas Hardy as a title for a memorable novel, is often misquoted as "Far From The Maddening Crowd', when poet and novelist both used the word 'madding'.
And the Bible suffers, too. Many tell us that the Bible declares money to be the root of all evil. What Paul did say, however, was that the love of money was a root of all kinds of evil. (I Timothy 6;10).
The possession of great wealth is not in itself a desirable or an undesirable thing. Money is morally neutral. Everything depends on how it is obtained and how it is used.
The novelist, W.M. Thackeray, reared in privilege, once remarked, "We must not say a word against filthy lucre for I see the use and comfort of it every day more and more." One good thing about money, observed one wit, is that it sure keeps you in touch with your children!
The danger lies in setting one's heart so upon it that all scruples are set aside, and spiritual values are dismissed as secondary.
Jesus warned how difficult it would be for the rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven (Mark 10;24); and Paul tells of one of his colleagues, Demas by name, who forsook him, "because he loved this world" (2 Timothy 4;10.).
Bunyan gave Demas a minor role in 'Pilgrim's Progress', picturing him beside a silver mine, while other erstwhile companions were pressing on towards the heavenly city.
As the Master warned, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8: 36). Beware, my friends, the lust for gold.