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
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Happiness
LoveFriendshipHappinessHopeFearCourageDeathLifeTimeWarPeaceFreedomTruthWisdomKnowledgeScienceArtMusicNatureMoneyWorkPowerGodBeautyLaughterFamilySuccess and failureChangeDreamsBooks and reading
“Happy man, happy dole.”
John Heywood (1497–1580) said by 1580 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Geoffrey Chaucer
“So if I die today, I'll be the happy phantom, And I'll go chasing the nuns out in the yard, ...And the atrocities of school I can forgive: The happy phantom has no right to bitch.”
“As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) said by 1519 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a day well spent procures a happy sleep, so a life well employed procures a happy death.”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) said by 1519 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Often sit alone happy happy Thoughts somewhat far gone gone Clouds circle mountain soft soft Wind through valley swish swish Ape in tree bounce bounce Bird in forest chirp chirp Time turns hair gray gray Winter is here sad sad”
“In all this world there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child," says good old Santa Claus; and if he had his way the children would all be beautiful, for all would be happy.”
L. Frank Baum (1856–1919) said by 1919 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't know why people who got what they need to be happy don't just go ahead and be happy.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But here's what they don't tell you. You can never make a woman happy, it's impossible. I've never met a happy woman in my life. They're always complaining about something. You can fuck a woman with a diamond dick and make her come ten times, and she'll still complain. "Why did you make me come so hard? This diamond dick is cloudy, why didn't you go to Tiffany's? You're so fucking cheap.”
Chris Rock (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Happy Easter to all including the Radical Left Maniacs who are trying everything to destroy our country May they not succeed, but let them, nevertheless, be happy, healthy, wealthy and well!”
Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The garden is a raging sea, The hurricane is snarling; Oh, happy you and happy me! Isn't the lightning darling?”
Ogden Nash (1902–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This all sounds very strenuous and serious. But now that I have wrestled with it, it's no longer so. I feel happy — deep down. May you be happy too. I'm going to Fontainebleau on Monday and I'll be back here Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. All is well.”
Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (14 October 1922), published in The Journal of Katherine Mansfield (1927); these are the final words of the journal
“If this dogma be true, then God will never release a soul from hell—the pardoning power will never be exercised. How happy God will be and how happy all the saved will be, knowing that billions and billions of his children, of their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, and children are convicts in the eternal dungeons, and that the words of pardon will never be spoken!”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Great goddess, to whose throne in Cynthian fires, This earthly altar endless fumes expires; Therefore, in fumes of sighs and fires of grief, To fearful chances thou send'st bold relief, Happy, thrice happy type, and nurse of death, Who, breathless, feeds on nothing but our breath, In whom must virtue and her issue live, Or die for ever.”
George Chapman (1559–1634) said by 1634 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be happy—if you’re not even happy, what’s so good about surviving?”
Tom Stoppard (1937–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Meditations for Living In Balance: Daily Solutions for People Who Do Too Much (2000) by Anne Wilson Schaef, p. 11.
“We must have friendship for all; we must be merciful toward those that are in misery; when people are happy, we ought to be happy; and to the wicked we must be indifferent. These attitudes will make the mind peaceful.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Call no day happy 'til it is done; call no man happy til he is dead.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thank you all for this great honor, and for all your great work. I hope it makes you happy, as you have made me happy for this five minutes of my life, which will last until I get to the edge of this stage and it hits me that this was all a bunch of nonsense.”
Jerry Seinfeld (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“. “I’ve realized that being happy is a choice. You never want to rub anybody the wrong way or not be fun to be around, but you have to be happy.”
Angelina Jolie (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That is the best government which desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy.”
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Thomas B. Macaulay
“I like happy things, I'm really calm and peaceful I like birds, bees, I like people I like funny things that make me happy and gleeful… Like when my teacher sucked my wee-wee in pre-school!”
“It was a very happy time, but like all happy times it had no landmarks.”
John Buchan (1875–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let us forget all that we are taught about how it is noble to give and humiliating to receive. Because for most people, generosity consists only in giving, but receiving is also an act of love. Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy too.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No wonder that my remembrance fails me, for I shall complete my 70 years next Sunday (the 22); — and during these 70 years I have had a happy life; which still remains happy because of hope and content.”
Michael Faraday (1791–1867) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter of Faraday to Christian Friedrich Schönbein (19 September 1861); see also The Letters of Faraday and Schoenbein 1836-1862 (1899), edited by Georg W. A. Kahlbaum and Francis V. Darbishire, p. 349
“Many beautiful women have been made happy by their own beauty, but no intelligent woman has ever been made happy by her own intelligence.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sir, if you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed.”
James Buchanan (1791–1868) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said to Abraham Lincoln on the ride back from Lincoln's inauguration as president (4 March 1861); as quoted in James Buchanan (2004) by Jean H. Baker, Pg 140; This or slightly paraphrased variants or abbreviated version…
“It's one and the same, one and the same What's the use between death and glory? Hard to choose between death and glory Happy endings they never bored me Happy endings, they still don't bore me They have a way, a way to make you pay And to make you toe the line Now I'm severing the ties because I'm so clever but clever ain't wise”
Pete Doherty (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You see, the last thing my daughter wants is to be happy. She’d hate it. No, what she wants is to be finally, definitively unhappy, and for it all to be my fault. It’d finally confirm all her dearest illusions about how her life has been ruined. People like that would far rather be right than happy.”
“The bourgeoisie loves so-called “positive” types and novels with happy endings since they lull one into thinking that it is fine to simultaneously acquire capital and maintain one’s innocence, to be a beast and still be happy.”
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to A.S. Suvorin (April 13, 1895)
“Is he happy? By most measurements, yes, he believes he is. However, he has not forgotten the last chorus of Oedipus: Call no man happy until he is dead.”
J. M. Coetzee (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is the Imus in the Morning program, We're not happy 'till you're not happy.”
Don Imus (1940–2019) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Imus in the Morning, (15 June 2006)
“I don't know. I don't know. I want to be happy because I have never hit three home runs in one game. But how can I be happy when we lose?”
Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Bob Says 'They Try': Feeble Pitching Takes Joy From Clemente's Night" by Charley Feeney, in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Wednesday, May 17, 1967), p. 26
“Can you be happy with the movies, and the ads, and the clothes in the stores, and the doctors, and the eyes as you walk down the street all telling you there is something wrong with you? No. You cannot be happy. Because, you poor darling baby, you believe them.”
Katherine Dunn (1945–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One thing I am convinced more and more is true and that is this: the only way to be truly happy is to make others happy. When you realize that and take advantage of the fact, everything is made perfect.”
William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his mother, written from the University of Pennsylvania (February 12, 1904), published in The Selected Letters of William Carlos Williams (1957) edited by John C. Thirlwall, p. 5
“The Happy Eater! They're miserable as fuck! You go in the Happy Eater, you'll see a woman behind the counter at the deep fat frier like this [sobs] "DON'T ASK FOR CHIPS! [sobs louder] I FUCKIN' HATE CHIPS!" "Chips with this, chips with that... chips with me an' all." I'll stick me head in the deep fat frier in a minute: "Chips with this, chips with that...”
Lee Evans (comedian) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Happy in the time of Jesus were those who wept! Happy, now, are those who can laugh, because laughter is the attribute of man, as the great prophet of the Renaissance, Rabelais, said. Laughter is forbearance; laughter is philosophy. The heavens clear when they laugh, and the great secret of divine omnipotence resides in an eternal smile!”
Eliphas Levi (1810–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When she’d been with us a month or so, Lisa Cody got a diagnosis. She was a sociopath too. She was happy, because she wanted to be like Lisa in all things. Lisa was not so happy, because she had been the only sociopath among us. “We are very rare,” she told me once, “and mostly we are men.”
Susanna Kaysen (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was born without muscles in my mouth, so I can't smile. But, I'm real happy. I'm super happy right now. I'm ecstatic.”
Joe Trohman (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.”
Helen Rowland (1876–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The compliments you are about to pay could only sadden me, because what you love in our dear peninsula is exactly the object of our hatreds. Indeed, you crisscross Italy only to meticulously sniff out the traces of our oppressive past, and you are happy, insanely happy, if you have the good fortune to carry home some miserable stone on which our ancestors have trodden.”
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in: Anthony L. Geist, Jose B. Monle-N, Modernism and Its Margins: Reinscribing Cultural Modernity from Spain and Latin America. Taylor & Francis, 1999, p. 57.
“Happy, thrice happy shall they be pronounced hereafter, who have contributed any thing, who have performed the meanest office in erecting this stupendous fabrick of Freedom and Empire on the broad basis of Independency; who have assisted in protecting the rights of humane nature and establishing an Asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions.”
George Washington (1732–1799) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: General Orders (18 April 1783)
“Hunting, fishing, drawing, and music occupied my every moment; cares I knew not, and cared naught about them. I purchased excellent and beautiful horses, visited all such neighbors as I found congenial spirits, and was as happy as happy could be.”
John James Audubon (1785–1851) said by 1851 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his life at Mill Grove, in Pennsylvania in "Audubon's Story of His Youth" edited by Maria R. Audubon, in Scribner's Magazine Vol. XIII, No. 3, (March 1893), p. 278
“You’ve got to do something!” insisted Fani. “I saw Father talking to them! He looked happy, and he never looks happy unless he’s planning some skulduggery!”
Murray Leinster (1896–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If happy is her I'm happy for you”
Demi Lovato (born 1992) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Trotter its all wrong. Nothing turned out the way it was supposed to." "How do you mean supposed to? Life ain't supposed to be nothing, 'cept maybe tough." [..] "If life is so bad, how come you're so happy?" "Did I say bad? I said it was tough. Nothing to make you happy like doing good on a tough job, now is there?”
Katherine Paterson (born 1932) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Last, but not least -- in fact, this is most important -- you need a happy ending. However, if you can create tragic situations and jerk a few tears before the happy ending, it will work much better.”
Satyajit Ray (1921–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sing boldly, O spouses of a Bridegroom such as mine! you, I say, whom are my companions in this fate and enjoyment so happy as ours! Sing at my happy insistence as I will sing by yours, a new song containing endless praises of the infinitely excessive grandeur and love of our Bridegroom, coming to so admirably espouse us, to deiformly deify us of him and in him, and to make us oneself of oneself.”
John of St. Samson (1572–1636) said by 1636 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Are we happy that 99% of all new income is going to the top 1%? Are we happy that one family in this country owns more than the bottom 130 million people?”
Bernie Sanders (born 1941) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Late Night with Seth Meyers, (2 June 2015)
“The Maharaja of Mysore (then Governor of Mysore), ayachamarajendra Wodeyar, visited Berkeley for a day. I took him around. He was really impressed when he saw the accelerators in the Radiation Laboratory on the hill. He was happy to speak to me in Kannada and even more happy that I knew a little Sanskrit.”
C. N. Ramachandra Rao (born 1934) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like children, they’re bored by complicated things. More than bored: they feel threatened. Give a child mashed potatoes and butter, and he’s happy. He doesn’t want to try the rich sauce with capers, in fact he’ll cry if he’s forced to taste it. You see what I mean? But, listen, Joseph. A child is easy to control. Keep him happy, and he’ll believe what he’s told to believe.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source