: Re: Attributing Quote to Fictional Characters (Who are based on real people) I'm making a poster of one of my favorite quotes from Almost Famous: You'll meet them all again on their long journey

@Dunderdale623

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The primary attribution is always to the author of the text.
Only then you can go about clarifying, if you feel the need to do so - "X has his character Y, based on real person Z, say..."
Another option:

the quote
— [Character] (based on [Person]), [Title] by [Author].

But the order of dropping detail is:

— [Character] (based on [Person]), [Title] by [Author].
— [Character], [Title] by [Author].
— [Title] by [Author].
— [Author].

If you really, really want to get the focus to that real [person], without dropping them into the bottom of the pecking order, pretend you've never heard of the [title], and just do

— (attributed to [person])

That way your attribution is factually inaccurate (or, honestly, a blatant lie) but it seems accurate, and considering who "said it really", your "mistake" is quite excusable.
Always remember, as Benjamin Franklin said, "People lack all criticism when it comes to believing in attribution of quotes to famous people on the Internet."

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