Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Said in the 1400s
“Whoever resigns himself in love, Lives with greater freedom than anyone. Such a person lives without anxious care, For God cannot lose what is his own.”
Denis the Carthusian (1402–1471) said by 1471 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Denis the Carthusian, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, trans. Ide M. Ni Riain (Dublin: The Columba Press, 2013), 110.
“Thou speakest as a fool, for by the God of Heaven in whose grace I trust and in whom is my firm hope of victory, I would not have one more than I have, even if I could... Dost thou not believe that the Almighty can through this humble little band overcome the pride of these Frenchmen, who boast of their numbers and their strength?”
Henry V of England (1386–1422) first seen 1327 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Answer to Walter Hungerford, who lamented on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt that in addition to the small band which he had there could have had ten thousand of the better archers of England, as recorded in Gesta He…
“I am your leader: follow me.”
Richard II of England (1367–1400) said by 1400 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remark to the peasants at Smithfield, London, during the Peasants' Revolt, quoted in Gwilym Dodd, The Reign of Richard II (Tempus, 2000), p. 20
“God is the best helper, but He loves to be helped. Be earnest in prayer, but do not neglect human means. You must help yourself in all manner of ways, and then the Lord will be with you.”
Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) said by 1498 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) edited by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, p. 124
“All those things [meaning works of art] have given me the greatest satisfaction and contentment because they are not only for the honor of God but are likewise for my own remembrance. For fifty years, I have done nothing else but earn money and spend money; and it became clear that spending money gives me greater pleasure than earning it.”
Cosimo de' Medici (1389–1464) said by 1464 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Cosimo de' Medici by Salviati; as cited in Taylor, F.H. (1948). The taste of angels, a history of art collecting from Rameses to Napoleon. Boston: Little, Brown. pp. 65–66.
“If you cut even a branch out of my forests, I'd cut your head off!”
Mehmed II (1432–1481) said by 1481 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When Sikandar’s successor Sultan Zainul Abedin (aka Shahi Khan, r. 1417–67), another deviant Muslim ruler, permitted the converted Hindus to revert, records Sydney Owen, ‘many Hindus (i.e., Hindus converted to Islam by force) were re-admitted into the Hindu fold.’”
Zain-ul-Abidin (1401–1470) said by 1470 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: quoted in M.A. Khan , Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery (2011), quoting Owen S (1987) From Mahmud Ghazni to the Disintegration of Mughal Empire, Kanishka Publishing House, New Delhi,
“The cristall water ran so clere and cold, That in myn ere maid contynualy A maner soun, mellit with armony, That full of lytill fischis by the brym Now here now there with bakkis blewe as lede Lap and playit, and in a rout can swym So prattily, and dressit tham to sprede Thair curall fynnis as the ruby rede, That in the sonne on thair scalis bryght As gesserant ay glitterit in my sight.”
James I of Scotland (1394–1437) first seen 1060 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Line 1060
“Even in one’s sleep, it is dreams of this world one sees, and of no other; just as there is no dawning here that brings true awakening.”
Shotetsu (1381–1459) said by 1459 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dream", Unforgotten Dreams: Poems by the Zen Monk Shōtetsu, 1997, edited and translated by Steven D. Carter, page 34
“Man is the same [but] of different qualities; One is worth a pearl, another is not worth a shell. Sandal is wood, arkhor is wood, [but] Arkhor is not of any use. 1”
Nund Rishi (1378–1439) said by 1439 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Indian Antiquary, November 1933, p. 216
“I choose to live hidden all the days of my pilgrimage, behaving like a true pilgrim and empty-handed traveller, in order that I may in safety await the day of the Lord, being most rich, and at the same time very poor; most rich in seeking nothing, very poor in having nothing.”
Gerlac Peterson (1370–1411) said by 1411 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oncques feu ne fut sans fumée.”
Charles, Duke of Orléans (1394–1465) said by 1465 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And fadir Chaucer fayn wolde han me taght; But I was dul and lernèd lite or naght. Allas! my worthi maister honorable, This landës verray tresor and richesse.”
Thomas Occleve (1369–1426) said by 1426 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Line 2078; vol. 3, pp. 75-6; modernized-spelling version from Henry S. Pancoast (ed.) English Prose and Verse from Beowulf to Stevenson (New York: H. Holt, 1915) pp. 81-2.
“Every man waits his destined hour; even the cities are doomed to their fate. Let us spend our leisure with our books, which will take our minds off these troubles, and will teach us to despise what many people desire.”
Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459) first seen 1430 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Niccolò de' Niccoli, Rome, 3 September 1430 (tr. P. W. G. Gordan, 1974)
“Truth is the highest thing that man may keep.”
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) said by 1400 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Even a most evil man is better than the devil!”
Jan Hus (1370–1415) said by 1415 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the content of his work it is interesting to notice that he is profoundly English. His romanticism, and his choice of the theme of Time and Age – both these look back to the Anglo-Saxons and forward to the nineteenth century. Yet his form is French. The heart is insular and romantic, the head cool and continental: it is a good combination.”
John Gower (1330–1408) said by 1408 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: C. S. Lewis, The Allegory of Love (1975 [1936]), p. 222.
“With the senses man measures perceptible things, with the intellect he measures intelligible things, and he attains unto supra-intelligible things transcendently.”
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) said by 1464 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source