
Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Said in the 1100s
“Chantars no pot gaire valer, Si d'ins dal cor no mou lo chans! Ni chans no pot dal cor mover, Si no i es fin' amors coraus.”
Bernart de Ventadorn (1140–1190) said by 1190 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Chantars no pot gaire valer", line 1; translation from Alan R. Press Anthology of Troubadour Lyric Poetry (1971) p. 67.
“Don't be like axe and don't offend anyone Don't be useless like a plane Just be like a saw in your life Do something for yourself and something for others”
Sheikh Ahmad-e Jami (1048–1141) said by 1141 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What an individual pursues as a desirable end depends upon what he conceives himself to be.”
Ramanuja (1017–1137) said by 1137 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Ramanuja in: (1979) Awakened India. Vol. 84, p. 206.
“Anything whatsoever may become the subject of a novel, provided only that it happens in this mundane life and not in some fairyland beyond our human ken.”
Murasaki Shikibu (970–1100) said by 1100 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Arthur Waley
“When I drink at the stream of enlightenment, Or the cool blue waters of a mountain cascade, Which is the property of no one else, Strong tea and beer are both abandoned. Such easing of the pain of affliction Is the best way of taking drink– I've left tea and beer behind.”
Milarepa (1040–1135) said by 1135 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anyone who delights in praise destroys it.”
Guigo I (1083–1136) said by 1136 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If teleological study of the world is philosophy, and if the Law commands such a study, then the Law commands philosophy.”
Averroes (1126–1198) said by 1198 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: FM 44 as cited in: Oliver Leaman (2002) An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy, p. 179
“Por remembrer des ancessours Li fez è li diz è li mours, Deit l'en li livres è li gestes E li estoires lire as festes.”
Wace (1100–1175) said by 1175 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Frankish duke wept bitterly to see his soldiers massacred.”
Matthew of Edessa (1100–1144) first seen 1101 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Army of William IX at Heraclea (June 1101) Hallam (1989) p. 96
“In a triangle or a polygon, it is impossible for one side to be greater than the sum of the other sides. It is daring for anyone to say that such a thing is possible. If an idiot says that there is a quadrilateral of sides 2, 6, 3, 12 or a triangle with sides 3, 6, 9, explain to him that they don’t exist.”
Bhāskara II (1114–1185) said by 1185 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: quoted in : Bhaskar Kamble, The Imperishable Seed: How Hindu Mathematics Changed the World and why this History was Erased, Garuda Prakashan Private Limited, 2022 ISBN 9798885750189
“My foot is on the neck of every saint”
Abdul Qadir Gilani (1078–1166) said by 1166 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Stick to your own grammar, my lord, for it is much better.”
Richard I of England (1157–1199) said by 1199 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Circa hoc tempus Siwardus consul fortissimus Nordhymbre, pene gigas statura, manu uero et mente predura, misit filium suum in Scotiam conquirendam. Quem cum bello cesum patri renuntiassent, ait, "Recepitne uulnus letale in anteriori uel posteriori corporis parte?" Dixerunt nuntii, "In anteriori." At ille, "Gaudeo plane, non enim alio me uel filium meum digner funere.”
Henry of Huntingdon (1080–1160) said by 1160 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God knew where he was, but he asked so as to start a conversation with Adam and avoid startling him too much to reply.”
Rashi (1040–1105) said by 1105 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reading seeks for the sweetness of a blessed life, meditation perceives it, prayer asks for it, contemplation tastes it.”
Guigo II (1114–1193) said by 1193 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Keueisy vun dunn diwyrnawd; keueisy dwy, handid mwy eu molawd; keueisy deir a pheddir a phawd; keueisy bymp o rei gwymp eu gwyngnawd; keueisy chwech heb odech pechawd; gwen glaer uch gwengaer yt ym daerhawd; keueisy sseith ac ef gweith gordygnawd; keueisy wyth yn hal pwyth peth or wawd yr geint; ys da deint rac tauaed.”
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (1150–1170) said by 1170 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gorhoffedd" (The Boast), line 75; translation from Robert Gurney Bardic Heritage (London: Chatto & Windus, 1969) p. 41.
“Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai Whose Doorways are alternate Night and Day, How Sultán after Sultán with his Pomp Abode his Hour or two, and went his way.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: XVI (1859)
“Bien pert que c'est aprés mangier, Fet Kex, qui teire ne se pot Plus a paroles an plain pot De vin qu'an un mui de cervoise.”
Chrétien de Troyes (1135–1181) said by 1181 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I establish a firm peace in all my kingdom, and I order that this peace shall henceforth be kept.”
Henry I of England (1068–1135) first seen 1042 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Coronation Charter (5 August 1100), quoted in English Historical Documents, Vol. II. 1042–1189, eds. David C. Douglas and George W. Greenaway (1953), p. 402
“Thy way of thinking is indeed pleasing to the Creator, but not thy way of acting”
Judah Halevi (1075–1141) said by 1141 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Waft, gentle gale, oh waft to Samercand, When next thou visitest that blissful land, The plaint of Khorassania plung'd in woe: Bear to Turania's King our piteous scroll, Whose opening breathes forth all the anguish'd soul, And close denotes whate'er the tortur'd know.”
Anvari (1116–1190) said by 1190 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Tears of Khorassan, translated by William Kirkpatrick, quoted in A Literary History of Persia, 1908