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 800s
“寥落古行宫，宫花寂寞红。 白头宫女在，闲坐说玄宗。”
Yuan Zhen (779–831) said by 831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At an Old Palace", in Song of the Immortals: An Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry, trans. Yuanchong Xu (Beijing: New World Press, 1994), p. 128
“[...] It is better to live for just a single day as a ruler than to live for forty years as an abject slave.”
Babak Khorramdin (798–838) said by 838 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Al-Tabari
“Envy destroys good deeds”
Ali al-Hadi (829–868) said by 868 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God revealed to the mountain, I will speak a prophet upon one of you; so the mountains raised themselves high is pride while Mount Sinai lowered itself humbly. Then God spoke to Moses on this mountain because of its humility.”
Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad (725–803) said by 803 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O, mistress of the mansion in Firk, And mistress of the Sultan and his kingdom For God's sake, spare to slay me For I am neither Daylam nor Turk.”
Harun al-Rashid (766–809) said by 809 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The book is silent as long as you need silence, eloquent whenever you want discourse. He never interrupts you if you are engaged but if you feel lonely he will be a good companion. He is a friend who never deceives or falters you, and he is a companion who does not grow tired of you.”
Al-Jahiz (775–869) said by 869 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Richard S. Lambert, trans. Hortulus, or, The Little Garden (Wembley, Middx: The Stanton Press, 1924)”
Walafrid Strabo (808–849) said by 849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing of that which was gained by fraud can go to the liberation of his soul. Let his wealth be divided among the workmen of this our building, and the poorer servants of our palace.”
Charlemagne (742–814) said by 814 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Notker's The Deeds of Charlemagne (translated 2008 by David Ganz)
“Aut lego vel scribo, doceo scrutorve sophiam, obsecro celsithronum nocte dieque meum, vescor, poto libens, rithmizans invoco Musas, dormisco stertens oro Deum vigilans. Conscia mens scelerum deflet peccamina vitae: parcite vos misero, Christe Maria, viro.”
Sedulius Scottus (801–875) said by 875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Translated by James Carney, in Robert McNally (ed.) Old Ireland (New York: Fordham University Press, 1965) p. 250. Other translations: Helen Waddell, Medieval Latin Lyrics (London: Constable & Co, 1929) p. 123 · George …
“報君黃金臺上意，提攜玉龍為君死。”
Li He (790–831) said by 831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: 李賀 (zh)
“Gnostic has an elevated spiritual rank. He eats less, sleeps less and repose less. He is like shinning moon who radiates others and bears the burden of everything on earth, shows right path like light and saturates the heart like water giving it new life.”
Sari al-Saqati (772–867) said by 867 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poured from the palm of a girl dressed as boy An intrigue for one of any orientation She lifts the carafe against the black night Her face lit with brilliant radiation Sending from the jug’s lip a stream so bright That eyes, in its glare, close as in sedation Wine so fine, so pure and delicate To add water would be contamination With light alone may it be mixed Giving off dazzling illumination”
Abu Nuwas (756–814) said by 814 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The one who conceals the (way of) prosperity and progress from you, has done enimity to you.”
Muhammad al-Taqi (811–835) said by 835 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I ask Him to receive me, Will He say me nay? Not till earth, and not till heaven Pass away.”
Stephen the Hymnographer (725–802) said by 802 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 153.
“The local officials invited Linji to preach. Linji went up to the teaching hall and said: “Today I have no alternative but to bend to human sentiment—thus I have ascended to this seat [to preach]. By the standards of the Zen school, when you attempt to extol the great matter [of enlightenment], you simply cannot open your mouth. There’s no place for you to get a foothold.”
Linji Yixuan (850–867) said by 867 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That fondness for science, … that affability and condescension which God shows to the learned, that promptitude with which he protects and supports them in the elucidation of obscurities and in the removal of difficulties, has encouraged me to compose a short work on calculating by al-jabr and al-muqabala , confining it to what is easiest and most useful in arithmetic.”
Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (780–850) said by 850 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in: Victor J. Katz (2009) A history of mathematics: an introduction. p. 271
“The first essential in chemistry is that you should perform practical work and conduct experiments, for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain to the least degree of mastery. But you, O my son, do experiment's so that you may acquire knowledge. Scientists delight not in abundance of material; they rejoice only in the excellence of their experimental methods.”
Jabir ibn Hayyan (721–815) said by 815 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by , Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists (2008) p. 163.
“I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to Allah. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of Allah.”
Rabia of Basra (710–801) said by 801 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in Farid al-Din Attar, Memorial of the Friends of God (c. 1230, 2009 Translation edited by Losensky).
“Nemo intrat in caelum nisi per philosophiam.”
John Scotus Eriugena (800–877) said by 877 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Annotationes in Marciam, no. 64; translation from John Joseph O’Meara Eriugena (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988) p. 30.
“The thing we tell of can never be found by seeking, yet only seekers find it.”
Bayazid Bastami (804–848) said by 848 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in James Fadiman and Robert Frager, eds., Essential Sufism (Castle Books, 1998, , p. 37.
“If you desire purification of the heart then shut your eye from the corporeal world. This is the hole through which heart is defiled.”
Shaqiq al-Balkhi (died 810) said by 810 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet said: The testimony of a nomad Arab against a townsman is not allowable.”
Sunan Abi Dawud (817–888) said by 888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The rank of the eldest brother is like that of father.”
Ali al-Rida (770–818) said by 818 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He said to the effect that no knowledge of Islam can be gained from books of Kalam, as kalam is not from knowledge and that "It is better for a man to spend his whole life doing whatever Allah has prohibited - besides shirk with Allah - rather than spending his whole life involved in kalam.”
Al-Shafi‘i (767–820) said by 820 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source