Attribuée à Catherine of Siena
«Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.»
Fausse attribution
Verdict
Elle ne figure pas dans l'œuvre de Catherine of Siena
A widespread modern version of the sentence in the letter to Stefano Maconi ('If you are what you ought to be, you will set fire to all Italy'). The original speaks of Italy and of duty, not of the world or personal identity and became popular in twentieth-century anthologies and Catholic youth gatherings.
Ce qu'il a vraiment dit
Paroles vérifiées de Catherine of Siena
«You, eternal Trinity, are a deep sea: the more I enter you, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I seek you.»
Diálogo, ed. Fiorilli (1912), cap. CLXVII
«O mad lover! Was it not enough for you to become flesh, that you willed also to die?»
Diálogo, ed. Fiorilli (1912), cap. XXX
«I confess, and do not deny it, that you loved me before I was, and that you love me ineffably, as one mad for your creature.»
Diálogo, ed. Fiorilli (1912), cap. CLXVII