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

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Fear

Love Friendship Happiness Hope Fear Courage Death Life Time War Peace Freedom Truth Wisdom Knowledge Science Art Music Nature Money Work Power God Beauty Laughter Family Success and failure Change Dreams Books and reading

“They live and laugh who know the better part — Count length of pleasure not by dial or glass But by the heart; What are our fears When Time's slow footfall, fall, fall Falling Turns lovers' hours to years?”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She came naturally by her confused and groundless fears, for her own mother lived the latter years of her life in the horrible suspicion that electricity was dripping invisibly all over the house.”
James Thurber (1894–1961) first seen 1933 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Life and Hard Times (1933) page 33, Harper & Row, New York.
“I believe that we must not waste this moment. A responsible foreign policy must look outward from a stance of forward engagement, to our broadest hopes for the world — not just inward, to our narrowest fears. A responsible foreign policy must harness all our economic and military might — but it must also make use of our values and principles.”
Al Gore (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He that fears death, or mourns it, in the just, Shows of the resurrection little trust.”
Ben Jonson (1572–1637) said by 1637 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You find your eyes are growing moist. All the fears never voiced say you have to make your final choice.”
David Gilmour (born 1946) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Childhood's End", on Obscured by Clouds (1972)
“How I wish you were here, We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year. Running over the same old ground, What have we found? The same old fears, Wish you were here.”
Roger Waters (born 1943) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wish You Were Here" on Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd, 1975)
“The junior Senator from Wisconsin, by his reckless charges, has so preyed upon the fears and hatred of uninformed and credulous people that he has started a prairie fire, which neither he nor anyone else may be able to control.”
J. William Fulbright (1905–1995) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Joseph McCarthy (November 30, 1954), in Fulbright of Arkansas: The Public Positions of a Private Thinker (1963)
“Tears and fears and feeling proud, To say "I love you" right out loud, Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I’ve looked at life that way. But now old friends are acting strange They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed Well something’s lost, but something’s gained In living ev’ry day.”
Joni Mitchell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am going through with my barnstorming tour to the end. Bob Meusel and the other Yanks on my club agree with me that it will not hurt the game, as Landis fears. In fact, if anything, it will create more interest in next year's campaign for me to play out this tour. If Landis wants to put me out of organized baseball, let him do so. I will continue the tour.”
Babe Ruth (1895–1948) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Ruth Flaunts Landis Edict; May 'Get Gate'" by the United Press, in The Chicago Tribune (October 17, 1921), p. 19
“One cannot reduce terror by holding over the world the threat of what it most fears.”
Wendell Berry (1934–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If there is anyone worried the last four years are the best we can do, if there is anyone who fears that the American dream is fading away, if there is anyone who wonders whether better jobs and better paychecks are things of the past, I have a clear and unequivocal message: with the right leadership, America will come roaring back.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And finally, let’s remember that peace with justice depends on our ability to sustain both the security of our societies and the openness that defines them. Threats to freedom don’t merely come from the outside. They can emerge from within -- from our own fears, from the disengagement of our citizens.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You are a tongue of the debased, of the unreasonable, hating themselves even more than they hate other nations, a tongue of informers, a tongue of the confused, ill with their own innocence.But without you, who am I? Only a scholar in a distant country, a success, without fears and humiliations. Yes, who am I without you? Just a philosopher, like everyone else.”
Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Faithful Mother Tongue" (1968), trans. Czesŀaw Miŀosz and Robert Pinsky
“We've more important studies than your fantasies and fears You know that rock's been perched up there for a hundred thousand years.”
Harry Chapin (1942–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I'm a cruel satirist at least I'm not a hyprocrite: I never judge what other people do. Neither a politician nor a priest, I never censor what others do. Neither a philospher nor a psychiatrist, I never bother trying to analyze or resolve my fears and neuroses.”
Federico Fellini (1920–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So I will find my fears and face them or I will cower like a dog I will kick and scream or kneel and plead I'll fight like hell to hide that I've given up”
Conor Oberst (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the peoples of great nations can work, sacrifice, fight, and die together because they share common fears and common hatreds in war, why can we not find a way to tap the great spiritual reservoir that lies deep within each of us and get people and nations working, sacrificing, and building together in peacetime because they share common hopes and common aspirations.”
Walter Reuther (1907–1970) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address before the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, India, April 5, 1956, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 141
“So the euro is here to stay, and the arrangements that evolved in response to the crisis have become established as the new order governing the eurozone. This confirms my worst fears. It’s the nightmare I’ve been talking about. I’m hopeful that the Russian invasion of Crimea may serve as a wake-up call. Germany is the only country in a position to change the prevailing order.”
George Soros (born 1930) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 24 April 2014 nybooks.com
“In view of the fading animals the proliferation of sewers and fears the sea clogging, the air nearing extinction we should be kind, we should take warning, we should forgive each other Instead we are opposite, we touch as though attacking, the gifts we bring even in good faith maybe warp in our hands to implements, to manoeuvres”
Margaret Atwood (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you love someone so deeply they become your life, it's easy to succumb to overwhelming fears inside, blindly I imagined I could keep you under glass, now I understand to hold you I must open my hands, and watch you rise.”
Mariah Carey (born 1969) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Butterfly", Butterfly, 1997. Written from the perspective of Carey’s ex-husband, Tommy Mottola
“Literature that is not the breath of contemporary society, that dares not transmit the pains and fears of that society, that does not warn in time against threatening moral and social dangers — such literature does not deserve the name of literature; it is only a façade. Such literature loses the confidence of its own people, and its published works are used as wastepaper instead of being read.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Open letter to the Fourth Soviet Writers’ Congress (16 May 1967) “The Struggle Intensifies,” Solzhenitsyn: A Documentary Record, ed. Leopold Labedz (1970)
“Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion”
Michael Jordan (born 1963) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hall of Fame induction address, 2009
“The loneliness of the man is slowly being borne in upon me. There is not a man aboard but hates or fears him, nor is there a man whom he does not despise.”
Jack London (1876–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I trust you will bear in mind the deeply-held fears and insecurities Fijian have as an ethnic community. This is a subject I dwell on repeatedly because, while I do not share them, I am sufficiently Fijian to appreciate the depths of these emotions.”
Joni Madraiwiwi (1957–2016) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Lautoka Rotary Club (Centenary Dinner), 12 March 2005.
“These fears (held by indigenous Fijians) must not be ridiculed but understood and addressed. In the final analysis it will be counterproductive to impose democracy on people who have yet to fully understand how it will sit against everything they believe in.”
Graeme Leung first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nadi, 8 September 2005
“At last the computer had superseded the automobile as the focus for mankind’s hopes and fears.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You’ve got to look at life clearly. No rose-colored glasses. The human race is not very admirable. It was a big mistake of God’s . . . The more I see of people, the more bitter I become. I think I appeal to readers because there’s nothing false or hypocritical in what I write. And they recognize themselves, and recognize their fears. And they know what bastards they are.”
Taylor Caldwell (1900–1985) said by 1985 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.”
Gillian Anderson (born 1968) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Excerpt from the foreword in Girl Boss: Running the Show Like the Big Chicks, by Stacy Kravetz (1999)
“Besides, he who is feared, fears also; no one has been able to arouse terror and live in peace of mind.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In no nation are the institutions of progress more advanced. In no nation are the fruits of accomplishment more secure. In no nation is the government more worthy of respect. No country is more loved by its people. I have an abiding faith in their capacity, integrity and high purpose. I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freud says, “Man fears that his strength will be taken from him by woman, dreads becoming infected with her femininity and then proving himself a weakling.” Masculinity must fight off effeminacy day by day. Woman and nature stand ever ready to reduce the male to boy and infant.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To some extent the human race today seems to react as a single organism to great events. After all, we live in a wired world. Memes—information, ideas, fears, and hopes—spread around the media and online information channels literally at light speed. It may be that this mass reaction is the greatest single danger facing us.”
Stephen Baxter (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am an unfortunate and deserted creature, I look around and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These amiable people to whom I go have never seen me and know little of me. I am full of fears, for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever.”
Mary Shelley (1797–1851) said by 1851 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I busied myself to think of a story, — a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror—one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish these things, my ghost story would be unworthy of its name.”
Mary Shelley (1797–1851) said by 1851 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, friends, content you! this is much indeed, And we are paid, thus garnering for our need Your blessings only, bringing in their train God's blessings as the south wind brings the rain. And for the rest, no little thing shall be (Since ye through all yet keep your memory) The gentle music of the bygone years, Long past to us with all their hopes and fears.”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of Heaven or Hell I have no power to sing, I cannot ease the burden of your fears, Or make quick-coming death a little thing, Or bring again the pleasure of past years, Nor for my words shall ye forget your tears, Or hope again for aught that I can say, The idle singer of an empty day.”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you don't know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he's just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It's one world, pal. We're all neighbors.”
Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”
Rod Serling (1924–1975) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First introduction to The Twilight Zone television series; first episode (2 October 1959).
“I have to find my peace 'cause no-one seems to let me be, False prophets cry of doom, what are the possibilities? I told my brothers 'There'll be problem times and tears for fears, We must live each day like it's the last, Go with it, go with it, jam!”
Michael Jackson (1958–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not a foreigner, because I haven’t been praying to return safely home. I haven’t wasted my time imagining my house, my desk, my side of the bed. I am not a foreigner, because we are all traveling, we are all full of the same questions, the same tiredness, the same fears, the same selfishness, and the same generosity. I am not a foreigner, because, when I asked, I received.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Defeat is for those who, despite their fears, live with enthusiasm and faith. Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honour of losing and the joy of winning.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears. The rose is sweetest wash'd with morning dew, And love is loveliest when embalm'd in tears.”
Walter Scott (1771–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Sir Walter Scott
“(…) Devotion to your goal makes you live a clean and orderly life, given to search for truth and to helping people, and realization makes noble virtue easy and spontaneous, by removing for good the obstacles in the shape of desires and fears and wrong ideas.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everything is subjective, but the real is objective. (…) It does not depend on memories and expectations, desires and fears, likes and dislikes. All is seen as it is. (…) It is solid, steady, changeless, beginningless and endless, ever new, ever fresh. (…) Desirelessness and fearlessness will take you there.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where hopes are unrealistic, fears often become exaggerated; where dreams alone are blueprints, nightmares result.”
Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Dystopian Imagination (Autumn 2001).
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life and the procedure. The process is its own reward.”
Amelia Earhart (1897–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do not myself find it agreeable to be 90, and I cannot imagine why it should seem so to other people. It is not that you have any fears about your own death, it is that your upholstery is already dead around you.”
Rebecca West (1892–1983) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "There is nothing like a dame: Dame Rebecca West at ninety," Vogue (February 1983)
“All our anxieties relate to time. … The major problems of psychiatry revolve around an analysis of the despair, pessimism, melancholy, and complexes that are the inheritances of what has been or with the fears, anxieties, worries, that are the imaginings of what will be.”
Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sanctifying the Moment" in Lift Up Your Heart (1950)
“As we learn to bear the intimacy of scrutiny and to flourish within it, as we learn to use the products of that scrutiny for power within our living, those fears which rule our lives and form our silences begin to lose their control over us.”
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.”
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source