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
“We must bring three parts in four of the treat along with us — In short we must be happy within — and then few things without us make much difference — This is my Shandean philosophy.”
Laurence Sterne (1713–1768) first seen 1764 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: York, November 16, 1764
“On en trouve [l'argent] toujours quand il s'agit d'aller faire tuer des hommes sur la frontière: il n'y en a plus quand il faut les sauver.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) first seen 1770 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charity" (1770)
“I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son.”
Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) said by 1794 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Seventy sail of transports and ships fell down to Red Hook. They were bound for Rhode Island, and had on board about three thousand troops. They also inform, that after the Sunday action an officer of Distinction was brought into the city, badly wounded.”
Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) said by 1786 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“La clarté est la bonne foi des philosophes”
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–1747) said by 1747 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maxim 729; reported in H. L. Mencken (ed.) A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960 [1942]) p. 185
“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
“诚如最高的权利就是最大的不公，反过来也一样。最大的不公往往就是最高的权利。”
格奥尔格·利希滕贝格 (1742–1799) said by 1799 at the latest wikiquote:zh, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is the porcelain clay of humankind.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) said by 1700 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let me add, that only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) first seen 1787 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to the Abbés Chalut and Arnaud (17 April 1787)
“I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them.”
Isaac Watts (1674–1748) said by 1748 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that "All abilities come from one mind" sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat.”
Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659–1719) said by 1719 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since truth and constancy are vain, Since neither love, nor sense of pain, Nor force of reason, can persuade, Then let example be obey'd.”
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) said by 1735 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am now pretty far advanced in life, and all my views are centered in the Happiness and well-fare of my children; you will, therefore, find from me every Indulgence which you have a right to expect from an affectionate Parent.”
George Mason (1725–1792) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his son, George Mason V. (8 January 1783)
“For dear to gods and men is sacred song. Self-taught I sing; by Heaven, and Heaven alone, The genuine seeds of poesy are sown.”
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) said by 1744 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“America...has neither king, nobility nor clergy established by law and it is notwithstanding, I am satisfied, at this hour, the most flourishing and the best governed spot on the face of this earth.”
Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763–1798) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the peasantry of Ireland, by A Traveller (14 October 1796), quoted in T. W. Moody, R. B. McDowell and C. J. Woods (eds.), The Writings of Theobald Wolfe Tone, 1763–98, Volume II: America, France and Bantry Ba…
“I keep the subject constantly before me, and wait 'till the first dawnings open slowly, by little and little, into a full and clear light.”
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) said by 1727 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reply upon being asked how he made his discoveries, as quoted in "Biographia Britannica: Or the Lives of the Most Eminent Persons who Have Flourished in Great Britain from the Earliest Ages Down to the Present Times, Vo…
“The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet, from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good Government, to become a great and happy people.”
George Washington (1732–1799) said by 1799 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In reality, the world have payed too great a compliment to critics, and have imagined them men of much greater profundity than they really are.”
Henry Fielding (1707–1754) said by 1754 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sweet William's Farewell to Black-eyed Susan, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
“Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not pull it out and strike it; merely to show that you have one.”
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) first seen 1748 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 22 February 1748
“People's opinions of themselves are commonly legible in their countenances.”
Jeremy Collier (1650–1726) said by 1726 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am made to combat crime, not to govern it. The time is not here where good men can serve their patrie with impunity; the defenders of liberty will only be outcasts, as long as the horde of rogues is in control.”
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) said by 1794 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fellow of mediocre talent will remain a mediocrity, whether he travels or not; but one of superior talent (which without impiety I cannot deny that I possess) will go to seed if he always remains in the same place.”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) first seen 1778 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Leopold Mozart (11 September 1778), from Wolfgang Amadé Mozart by Georg Knepler (1991), trans. J. Bradford Robinson [Cambridge University Press, 1994, ], p. 12.