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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Dreams
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“I am no believer in visions or omens. After all, I would sooner fancy that I was dreaming – dreaming with my eyes open as I stood at the window – than that I beheld the shadows of the dead.”
Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835–1915) first seen 1871 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At Crichton Abbey", in Belgravia, vol. 14 (May 1871) p. 370
“I am glad that I am bringing hope to young women and young girls that anything is possible, and there’s no such thing as you are dreaming too big or dreaming too small. If you strive to get there one day, I just feel like anything is possible, so I am really glad that I could be a role model for the young girls and women.”
Byrhandré Dolf (born 2003) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most important thing is that we don’t stop dreaming, it’s very important for us as a nation to keep dreaming until one day we qualify for the World Cup. The World Cup qualifiers are gone, and we need to focus on the AFCON”
Fashion Sakala (born 1997) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Zambia star: Bafana have a very good team,13 November 2025
“This is where dreams—dreams, do you understand—come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams.”
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), Ch. 12: The Dark Island
“Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with the golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams beneath your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think he’s crude, I think he’s medieval, and I don’t want an elderly gentleman from Vienna with an umbrella inflicting his dreams upon me. I don’t have the dreams that he discusses in his books. I don’t see umbrellas in my dreams. Or balloons.”
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Sigmund Freud, as quoted in Sigmund Says: And Other Psychotherapists' Quotes (2006) edited by Bernard Nisenholz, p. 6
“We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by Thomas A. Bruno in Take your dreams and Run (South Plainfield: Bridge, 1984), p. 2-3. Source: Dr. Preston Williams (2002): By the Way - A Snapshot Diagnosis of the Inner-City Dilemma, p. 38-39. Xulun Press,…
“His dreams are like commercials But her dreams are picture perfect and Our dreams are so related though they're often underestimated”
Jack Johnson (musician) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you can't sleep, I'll be there in your dreams. I'll be there in your dreams if you can't sleep at all. And in your dreams, I'll touch your cheek And lay my head on your shoulder. Goodbye shadows”
Zooey Deschanel (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of dreams. Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people.”
Pope Francis (1936–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My dreams would be of nothing but sunlight. Sometimes I dreamt of fields of green. The green in my dreams was unnaturally alive. It made me weep to think of such a green. Sometimes I dreamt of rivers and streams, of running water. There was nothing as magical as the sun on my face in those dreams, or the feeling of water splashed on my body.”
“Your goals are your dreams and your dreams alone... If you do not bring your goals out of your dreams and into reality, no one else will.”
Dorothy A. Atabong (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dreams are as important as anything. I document my dreams, I write them, I draw them, I paint them and I have done an exhibition on dreams.”
Abba Makama first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abba T. Makama, Senses of Cinema, 2019.
“I can tell you one thing I have finally faced through — the Arthurian cycle and practically all lasting and deep-seated folklore is a mixture of profundity and childish nonsense. If you keep the profundity and throw out the nonsense, some essence is lost. These are dream stories, fixed and universal dreams, and they have the inconsistency of dreams.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Appendix, letter to Elizabeth Otis (June 1959)
“Talking about dreams is like talking about movies, since the cinema uses the language of dreams; years can pass in a second and you can hop from one place to another. It’s a language made of image. And in the real cinema, every object and every light means something, as in a dream.”
Federico Fellini (1920–1993) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Rolling Stone no. 421 (1984)
“All men dream. But I know dreams for dreams. This is reality.”
Robert Jordan (1948–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Suggestion can shape dreams, and the dreams themselves then operate as action. A strong dream can be a more significant psychic action than any physical experience, and it can change the course of the personality completely.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With cities, it is as with dreams: everything imaginable can be dreamed, but even the most unexpected dream is a rebus that conceals a desire or, its reverse, a fear. Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.”
Italo Calvino (1923–1985) said by 1985 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m a scientist, not a psychiatrist. I don’t believe dreams have a ‘real’ meaning. They’re a physical process, and any ‘reality’ they have lies in the physical. Freud made no attempt to understand the physical. He felt the key to understanding dream lay in content, and came up with an elaborate system of symbols to explain the images in dreams.”
Connie Willis (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My dream as a young man in Saudi Arabia, and the dreams of men in Saudi Arabia are so many, and I try to compete with them and their dreams, and they compete with mine, to create a better Saudi Arabia.”
Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2016-01-06, Interview with Muhammad bin Salman, The Economist
“This is a beautiful view of Los Angeles. The City of Dreams. Everyone has a dream, even those of us who've given up on them. I look up at all the glittering stars, wishing they could've made my dreams come true, but I'm the only one in this world who can give me what I want. I unzip my backpack and grab my gun.”
Adam Silvera (born 1990) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He began to dream the dreams that always seduce a tyrant: powers beyond powers, worlds at his feet, whole realms bowing to his whims.” “And the dreams occluded his faculties,” I said. “It was ever thus, we may be thankful, else tyrants would never fall.”
Matthew Hughes (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“they must not be afraid to dream big dreams and not focus on how the dreams will materialise.”
Mahmood Ahmadu (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I love my dreams so much that no matter what the problem, no matter what the test, I will do it. I love my dreams, I love my job, I love everything about this, so I feel like I will do anything to make my dream come true,”
Maris Racal (born 1997) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maris Racal says she nearly gave up on showbiz after past issue, John Patrick Magno Ranara 5 July 2025.
“Its important to have specific dreams. Dream Big. Dream without fear.”
Randy Pausch (1960–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream.”
Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Israel is a dream come true, and as a dream come true it is flawed, very flawed, and sometimes dangerously flawed or painfully flawed. But this is in the nature of dreams, not necessarily in the nature of Israel.”
Amos Oz (1939–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I still dream about Kurt. Every time I see him in a dream, I’ll be amazed and I get this feeling that everyone else thinks he’s dead. It always feels totally real, probably because I’m a very vivid dreamer. But, in my dreams, Kurt’s usually been hiding - we’ll get together and I’ll end up asking him, ‘God, where have you been?’”
Dave Grohl (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I chose to dream and act on my dreams, following the example that my father taught. To live with this dream may be crazy, it may be foolish, but to live without it would be a nightmare.”
Yolanda King (1955–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And oh my dreams It's never quite as it seems 'Cause you're a dream to me Dream to me.”
Dolores O'Riordan (1971–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(Do you have any advice for young people?) To dream big, to not hold back these dreams. Imagine yourself in places you never have been, to have a bigger idea, to not be afraid to make mistakes. If you make mistakes, make passionate mistakes. Move through narrow visions of who you will be. Have a dream bigger than your families.”
“When you have a dream you have to work hard to achieve that dream. Your dreams when you are young can be the force that keeps you going.”
Marie Guillard (born 1972) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2018/03/in-her-words-inspiring-quotes-from-australias-ground-breaking-women/
“My personal dream is to build a mud skyscraper right in Manhattan... [T]his dream isn't so crazy if you think of the mud city of in Yemen that was built in the 16th century, and has lasted now for 500 years. What was possible that long ago is possible today as well, and we can apply all our technical know-how to... these ancient materials, so that it meets our needs and our dreams.”
Anna Heringer (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was my dream to play for the Cheetahs, it was my dream to play for the Cheetahs with my brother, and it was one of my dreams to play for the Cheetahs a 100 times. So, I am a lucky boy.”
Robert Ebersohn (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”
Laozi (misattributed) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This is actually a quote from a 2004 book by Aileen Miga and Janice Hughes called Inspired Wealth: Financial Leadership for the 21st Century, page 44. The misattribution has been attested since at least 2006.
“Dreams grow holy put in action; work grows fair through starry dreaming, But where each flows on unmingling, both are fruitless and in vain.”
Adelaide Anne Procter (1825–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The years that are gone seem like dreams -if one might go on sleeping and dreaming- but to wake up and find -oh! well! perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all ones life.”
Kate Chopin (1850–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where do those golden rainbows end? Why is this song so sad? Dreaming the dreams I've dreamed my friend Loving the love I love To love is just a word I've heard when things are being said Stories my poor head has told me cannot stand the cold And in between what might have been and what has come to pass A misbegotten guess alas and bits of broken glass…”
James Taylor (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Most people are even less original in their dreaming than in their waking life; their dreams are more monotonous than their thoughts and oddly enough, more literary.”
W. H. Auden (1907–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I now spend a good part of my day dreaming of times past, present and future. As I try to survive on 15 hours sleep a day, I have plenty of time to enjoy vivid dreams. Being completely wheel-chaired doesn't stop my mind from roaming the universe — on the contrary!”
Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dreams – are well – but Waking's better, If One wake at Morn – If One wake at Midnight – better – Dreaming – of the Dawn –”
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Living in dreams of yesterday, we find ourselves still dreaming of impossible future conquest...”
Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Lindbergh (1998) by A. Scott Berg, p. 3
“Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge — and has to content oneself with dreaming.”
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) first seen 1903 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in Avant et Après, (1903); taken from Paul Gauguin's Intimate Journals, trans. (1923) Van Wyck Brooks [Dover, 1997, ], p. 2
“Howard had a great love for all that was lost and strange and faraway. One thinks of him sitting at his typewriter in Cross Plains, Texas, a young man dreaming great dreams of gods and heroes far beyond the narrow boundaries of his own space and time, roaming free across the wonderful landscapes he saw in his mind.”
Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Leigh Brackett, "Introduction", in Sword Woman, Berkeley Books, New York, 1977.
“he reference to psychoanalysis is crucial and very precise: in a radical revolution, people not only realize their old (emancipatory, etc.) dreams; rather, they have to reinvent their very modes of dreaming. It is here that the link between the October Revolution and the artistic vanguard acquires all its weight: what they shared was the idea of building a new man, of literally reconstructing it”
Slavoj Žižek (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dreaming is like—it’s like being a slave. Your dreams come out of all the parts of you that you don’t have any control over.”
Stephen R. Donaldson (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A dreamer he was, and ever would be. Yet dreaming need not injure us, if it do but take its turn with waking; and even dreams themselves may be turned to beauty, by favoured men to whom nature has given the powers of casting them into form.”
James Anthony Froude (1818–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My theory is that literature is essential to society in the way that dreams are essential to our lives. We can’t live without dreaming — as we can’t live without sleep. We are “conscious” beings for only a limited period of time, then we sink back into sleep — the “unconscious.” It is nourishing, in ways we can’t fully understand.”
Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The joy of life is living it, or so it seems to me; In finding shackles on your wrists, then struggling till you're free; In seeing wrongs and righting them, in dreaming splendid dreams, Then toiling till the vision is as real as moving streams. The happiest mortal on the earth is he who ends his day By leaving better than he found to bloom along the way.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you have the same vision in dreaming three times, pay extraordinary attention to it. When a dreamer dreams that he sees himself asleep he must avoid sudden jolts or surprises, and take everything with a grain of salt. The dreamer has to get involved in dispassionate experimentations. Rather than examining his sleeping body, the dreamer walks out of the room.”
Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source