Here is an alleged John Wesley quote frequently encountered on Social Media and on Internet quote sites: Did John Wesley say (as it is claimed, for example here):

Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame if I cannot write better sermons now than I did seven years ago.

NO! He quoted someone else (“a good man” he says) who said this — and then said that he disagreed with this idea! Now, look. It’s just not reasonable that he advocated burning his old sermons. He published many of his sermons — even ones he no longer fully endorsed! How could he do that if he burned them? He didn’t burn them, and it’s not reasonable to think he advocated doing so! Here is the relevant entry from John Wesley’s Journal: September 1, 1778:

Tuesday, September 1.—I went to Tiverton. I was musing here on what I heard a good man say long since — “Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame if I cannot write better sermons now than I could seven years ago.” Whatever others can do, I really cannot. I cannot write a better sermon on the Good Steward than I did seven years ago; I cannot write a better on the Great Assize than I did twenty years ago; I cannot write a better on the Use of Money, than I did nearly thirty years ago; nay, I know not that I can write a better on the Circumcision of the Heart than I did five-and-forty years ago. Perhaps, indeed, I may have read five or six hundred books more than I had then, and may know a little more history, or natural philosophy, than I did; but I am not sensible that this has made any essential addition to my knowledge in divinity. Forty years ago I knew and preached every Christian doctrine which I preach now.

So, you see: he said exactly the opposite! He did not advocate burning old sermons, and he did not do it himself. So, just put those matches away…. And while we are on this topic: there are a lot of false — or, at least, unverifiable — John Wesley quotes that are circulating on the Internet. I blame social media for spreading these, though you will find them on Internet quote sites (like the one to which I linked above) — generally with no citation of the source where they can be found! Right. And, for many of them no source can be found. One of the most common is:

I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.

It comes in several other forms like: ““When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn” and “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” That last variation couldn’t possibly be right since the word “enthusiasm” had a different meaning in Wesley’s day. It meant: fanaticism. No citation is ever given for this quote. And, none can be found. Students of John Wesley’s writings have searched and searched for the source of this quotation. It cannot be found.

And, it doesn’t sound like anything John Wesley would say. It sounds like a preacher bragging that he does something wonderful and that’s why people come to hear him. But, John Wesley sought to direct people’s attention to Jesus Christ — not himself.

Here’s another common one:

In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and, in all things, charity.

Again, you may search as long as you like, but you will discover that this expression was not used by John Wesley.

It’s a nice sentiment, but it is a mistake to attribute it to John Wesley. I am told it can be attributed to Lutheran theologian Rupertus Meldenius ca. 1618. It is also frequently attributed to seventeenth-century Moravian bishop Jan Amos Comenius, and it was cited with approval by Pope John XXIII in his first encyclical Ad Petri Cathedram (1959).

The Internet and, specifically social media, have been the means to spreading many false quotes. Most of the quotes that circulate in various “memes” have no source indicated at all. When someone attempts to track down the source — the search ends in frustration.