evidence: It appears that the widespread attribution to Socrates of the 'When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers' bit of wisdom only began after 2008, with the rise of quote-sharing via social media memes: 'When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.' -Socrates. [...] So as far as we can tell, the phrase "when the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser" emerged roughly around 2008 and appears to have no traceable history prior to that. Despite its popularity on social media, no one has ever found a single direct link to any material attributed to Socrates matching the quote. Its abrupt appearance and lack of historical support suggests that Socrates' signature was tacked to the commentary to give it an air of ancient wisdom.