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
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Said in the 1700s
“Hail, ye small, sweet courtesies of life! for smooth do ye make the road of it.”
Laurence Sterne (1713–1768) said by 1768 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep than a sheep at the head of an army of lions.”
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731) said by 1731 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies (1741)
“Insult not another for his want of a talent you possess: He may have others which you want.”
James Burgh (1714–1775) said by 1775 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Partial freedom seems to me the most invidious form of slavery.”
Edmund Burke (1729–1797) said by 1797 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Is the Party Over?" (2017), by Daniel Ritchie, National Affairs
“If everyone were in accord and left things to Providence, their hearts would be at ease. If they are not in accord, though they would do acts of righteousness, they lack loyalty.”
Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659–1719) said by 1719 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So, there lies the brave de Kalb. The generous stranger, who came from a distant land to fight our battles and to water with his blood the tree of liberty. Would to God he had lived to share its fruits!”
George Washington (1732–1799) said by 1799 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Upon visiting the grave of Johann de Kalb, some years after his death, as quoted in "Baron De Kalb" (1827), by George R. Graham and Edgar Allan Poe, Graham's Illustrated Magazine of Literature, Romance, Art, and Fashion…
“The English are very fond of a game they call cricket. For this purpose they go into a large open field, and knock a small ball about with a piece of wood. I will not attempt to describe this game to you, it is too complicated; but it requires agility and skill, and everyone plays it, the common people and also men of rank.”
César-François de Saussure (1705–1783) said by 1783 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our present joy is sweeter by past pain, To love and heav'n, by suff'ring we attain.”
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) said by 1735 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Les économistes sont des chirurgiens qui … opérant à merveille sur le mort et martyrisant le vif.”
Nicolas Chamfort (1740–1794) said by 1794 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where men are the most sure and arrogant, they are commonly the most mistaken, and have there given reins to passion, without that proper deliberation and suspense, which can alone secure them from the grossest absurdities.”
David Hume (1711–1776) said by 1776 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Quiconque est capable de mentir est indigne d'être compté au nombre des hommes; et quiconque ne sait pas se taire est indigne de gouverner.”
François Fénelon (1651–1715) said by 1715 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What means this heaviness that hangs upon me? This lethargy that creeps through all my senses? Nature, oppress'd and harrass'd out with care, Sinks down to rest.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) said by 1719 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He rolls it under his tongue as a sweet morsel.”
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) said by 1714 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Mathew Henry
“We owe to our Mother-Country the Duty of Subjects but will not pay her the Submission of Slaves.”
George Mason (1725–1792) first seen 1770 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to a member of the Brent family (6 December 1770)
“Truly, if the preservation of all mankind, as much as in him lies, were every one's persuasion, as indeed it is every one's duty, and the true principle to regulate our religion, politicks and morality by, the world would be much quieter, and better natur'd than it is.”
John Locke (1632–1704) said by 1704 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I shall... give an Account of what has been formerly attempted for making Sea-Water drinkable, especially what was done by Mr. Walcot and Mr. Fitz-gerald in King Charles the Second's Time.”
Stephen Hales (1677–1761) said by 1761 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In delivering the principles of this method, we apprehend it is better to avoid such suppositions: but after these are demonstrated, short and concise ways of speaking, though less accurate, may be permitted, when there is no hazard of our introducing any uncertainty or obscurity into the science from the use of them, or of involving it in disputes.”
Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746) said by 1746 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Princes may make laws and repeal them, but they can neither make nor destroy virtue, and how indeed should they be able to do what is impossible to the Deity himself? Virtue being as immutable in its nature as the divine will which is the ground of it.”
Ethan Allen (1738–1789) said by 1789 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My banks they are furnish’d with bees, Whose murmur invites one to sleep.”
William Shenstone (1714–1763) first seen 1743 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Pastoral Ballad" (1743), Part II: Hope; p. 191.
“Autumnal heat declines, Ere heat is quite decay’d, or cold begun.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) said by 1700 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Quand il s'agit d'argent, tout le monde est de la même religion.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) first seen 1760 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Mme. d'Épinal, Ferney (26 December 1760) from Oeuvres Complètes de Voltaire: Correspondance (Garnier frères, Paris, 1881), vol. IX, letter # 4390 (p. 124)
“I nauseate walking; 'tis a country diversion, I loathe the country.”
William Congreve (1670–1729) said by 1729 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Envy is a kind of praise.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the hills the unbelievers of the land of the enemy have forbidden fasting and prayer; convert them all to Islam, so that the religion of Thy messenger may gain in strength.”
Tipu Sultan (1751–1799) said by 1799 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Tipu Sultan's dream journal. quoted in Vikram Sampath - Tipu - The Saga of Mysore's Interregnum (2024)