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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“Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.”
Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Achtung! Vorurteile (2003); original German: "Der Terrorismus, der im furchtbaren 11. September kulminierte, ist ein Krieg der Armen gegen die Reichen. Der Krieg ist ein Terrorismus der Reichen gegen die Armen." typical…
“If you want to take my guns away from me, and you're all for murdering fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other, and want to give them kitchen appliances at their showers, and you're for the poor, you're a liberal. If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you're a conservative. What could be simpler?”
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We go to battle against the plutocratic and reactionary democracies of the west... This gigantic struggle is nothing other than a phase in the logical development of our revolution; it is the struggle of peoples that are poor but rich in workers against the exploiters who hold on ferociously to the monopoly off all the riches and all the gold of the earth...”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Declaration of War on France and England,” Mussolini Speech on June 10, 1940
“She's a rich girl, She don't try to hide it, Diamonds on the soles of her shoes, He's a poor boy, Empty as a pocket, Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose, Sing ta-na-na, ta-na-na-na, She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes.”
Paul Simon (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]here must be no concessions to the enemy. When a man is allowed to speak because he is rich and powerful, it aggravates the crime of denying the right to the poor and humble.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world? Is it because we're so rich and the rest of the world's so poor and we just don't care if they are? I've heard rumors; the world is starving, but we're well fed. Is it true, the world works hard and we play? Is that why we're hated so much?”
Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your thought advocates Judaism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. In my thought there is only one universal religion, whose varied paths are but the fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being. In your thought there are the rich, the poor, and the beggared. My thought holds that there are no riches but life; that we are all beggars, and no benefactor exists save life herself.”
Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) said by 1931 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well I failed to bring Roger to Flint. As we neared the end of the twentieth century, the rich were richer, the poor, poorer. And people everywhere now had a lot less lint, thanks to the lint rollers made in my hometown. It was truly the dawn of a new era.”
Michael Moore (born 1954) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Roger & Me (1989)
“[H]ere are three sentences for you to paste in your hat and learn by heart. First: Credit is the life blood of industry, and the control of credit is the control of all society. Second: The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery. And Third: The American banking system is the most perfect contrivance yet devised by the human brain for making the rich richer and the poor poorer.”
Upton Sinclair (1878–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He that holds fast the golden mean, And lives contentedly between The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We now in the United States have more security guards for the rich than we have police services for the poor districts. If you're looking for personal security, far better to move to the suburbs than to pay taxes in New York.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Guardian [UK] (23 May 1992)
“Before God, there is neither Greek nor barbarian, neither rich nor poor; and the slave is as good as his master, for by birth all men are free; they are citizens of that universal commonwealth which embraces all the world, brethren of one family, and children of God.”
John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe there is no one Principle, which predominates in human Nature so much in every Stage of Life, from the Cradle to the Grave, in Males and females, old and young, black and white, rich and poor, high and low, as this Passion for Superiority.”
John Adams (1735–1826) first seen 1777 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Abigail Adams (22 May 1777), as quoted in And the War Came: The Slavery Quarrel and the American Civil War, by Donald J. Meyers
“This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and powerful, and to despise or, at least, neglect persons of poor and mean conditions, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.”
Adam Smith (1723–1790) said by 1790 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“the competition of the poor takes away from the reward of the rich.”
Adam Smith (1723–1790) said by 1790 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.”
Adam Smith (1723–1790) said by 1790 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“America needs to be a place where all of us can feel a part of the American dream. But it will not happen by dividing us into racial groups. It will not happen by trying to turn the poor against the rich. It will not happen by asking Americans to accept what is immoral and wrong in the name of tolerance.”
J. C. Watts (born 1957) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Delivering the Republican Party response to President Bill Clinton's "State of the Union" Address (1997-02-04)
“In his private dealings he was just. He treated friends and strangers, the rich and poor, the powerful and weak, with equity, and was beloved by the common people for the affability with which he received them, and listened to their complaints.[...]”
Washington Irving (1783–1859) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mahomet and his successors, George P. Putnam, 1850, p. 330
“It is the state that is robbing all classes, rich and poor, black and white alike; it is the state that is ripping us all off; it is the state that is the common enemy of mankind.”
Murray Rothbard (1926–1995) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: , “The Noblest Cause of All,” Address to the Libertarian Party Convention (1977), Lewrockwell.com
“You can say that I've grown bitter but of this you can be sure. The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor. And there's a mighty Judgement coming but I may be wrong…”
Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The superfluities of the rich are the necessaries of the poor. They who possess superfluities, possess the goods of others.”
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) said by 430 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Patrologia Latina, vol. 37, p. 1922
“I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich — they're doing just fine.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address on Latin American Policy before the Southern Commercial Congress Mobile, Alabama (27 October 1913)
“The community of nations has not yet accepted the principle that the rich should help the poor.”
Mahathir Mohamad (born 1925) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one — no matter where he lives or what he does — can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.”
Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is only through multilateral institutions that States can hold each other to account. And that makes it very important to organize those institutions in a fair and democratic way, giving the poor and the weak some influence over the actions of the rich and the strong.”
Kofi Annan (1938–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These are white workers, neither rich nor poor, but angry over economic insecurity, unhappy with their work, worried about their neighborhoods, hostile to government-combining elements of racism with elements of class consciousness, contempt for the lower classes along with distrust for the elite, and thus open to solutions from any direction, right or left.”
Howard Zinn (1922–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The even larger difference between rich and poor makes the latter even worse off, and this violates the principle of mutual advantage.”
John Rawls (1921–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Great civilizations create great cathedrals, and the cathedrals of this generation should be in outer space. Cathedrals inspire rich and poor people alike to believe great things are possible. The Mars Polar Lander cost the average American the price of half a cheeseburger. A human lander would cost the average American more — perhaps even ten cheeseburgers! So be it. That is no great sacrifice.”
Jonah Goldberg (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Brazilification: The widening gulf between the rich and the poor and the accompanying disappearance of the middle classes.”
Douglas Coupland (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“American aggression had already created incalculable levels of “misery for the world”; that “the poor of the planet made poorer, dominated and exploited by the foreign policies of the U.S. and its rich allies;” that “the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a war of aggression, an offense called ‘the supreme international crime’ in the Nuremberg Judgment.”
Ramsey Clark (1927–2021) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking in 2004 in Iraq, quoted in Ramsey Clark Described His Government As Humanity’s Ever More Threatening and Treacherous Enemy in Life/Philosophy, by Jay Janson, CounterCurrents (21 April 2021)
“Like all the rich he could not bring himself to believe that the poor (look at their houses, look at their clothes!) could really suffer. Like all the cultivated he believed that only the widely read could be said to know that they were unhappy.”
Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rich and great people can take care of themselves; but the poor and defenceless—the men with small cottages and large families—the men who must work six days every week if they are to live in anything like comfort for a week,—these men want defenders; they want men to maintain their position in Parliament; they want men who will protest against any infringement of their rights.”
John Bright (1811–1889) first seen 1843 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at his Durham election (July 1843), quoted in G. M. Trevelyan, The Life of John Bright (1913), p. 100
“Yet she's only as rich as the poorest of the poor Only as free as a padlocked prison door Only as strong as our love for this land Only as tall as we stand!”
Phil Ochs (1940–1976) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Power and the Glory" from All the News That's Fit to Sing (1964)
“AIDS respects no national boundaries; spares no race or religion; devastates men and women, rich and poor. No country can ignore this crisis. Fighting AIDS is an urgent calling — because every life, in every land, has value and dignity.”
Laura Bush (born 1946) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS (June 2, 2006)
“We are not rich people. We are poor people. But with the word that we have been taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as espoused by Minister Alim, that miraculous result was brought about and so the city council should be commended for recognizing that effort.”
Louis Farrakhan (born 1933) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Usually this desire [for family limitation] has been laid to economic pressure... It has asserted itself among the rich and among the poor, among the intelligent and the unintelligent. It has been manifested in such horrors as infanticide, child abandonment and abortion.”
Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or a conservative value. It’s an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on.”
Jerry Falwell (1933–2007) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Situation with Tucker Carlson" on MSNBC (August 5, 2005)
“Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time rich and cash poor.”
Cory Doctorow (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I saw rich beggars and poor beggars, proud beggars and humble beggars, fat beggars and thin beggars, healthy beggars and sick beggars, whole beggars and crippled beggars, wise beggars and stupid beggars. I saw amateur beggars and professional beggars. A professional beggar is a beggar who begs for a living.”
William Saroyan (1908–1981) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Beggars" in The William Saroyan Reader (1958)
“But even the steady state, our best-hope future, may not be achievable without space. Without power and materials from space we are doomed to shuffle a known—in fact diminishing—stockpile of resources around the planet. Some players get rich; others get poor. But it’s not even a zero-sum game; in the long term we are all losers.”
Stephen Baxter (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remember, it's as easy to marry a rich woman as a poor woman.”
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) said by 1863 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fifteen years ago, when the Cold War ended, many of us hoped for a new world order to emerge. A world order rooted in human solidarity — a world order that would be equitable, inclusive and effective. But today we are nowhere near that goal. We may have torn down the walls between East and West, but we have yet to build the bridges between North and South — the rich and the poor.”
Mohamed ElBaradei (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The poor yield to the rich, the common people to the upper ten, the servants to their masters, the ignorant to the scholars; but there is nobody who does not imagine that he is really better than others.”
John Calvin (1509–1564) said by 1564 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is surely almost self-evident that the strongest political emotions are negative: for example, the rich are hated much more than the poor are loved.”
Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Unseemliness of Incontinent Emotions", Quadrant, January-February 2022, p. 8.
“...all the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.”
William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) first seen 1840 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech given on October 1, 1840
“The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people.”
Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Andrew Johnson, Plebeian and Patriot (1928) by Robert Watson Winston
“The English! The rich have eaten your future and your poor have given them the food—that’s what’s happened to the English.”
John le Carré (1931–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Respectable means rich, and decent means poor. I should die if I heard my family called decent.”
Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) first seen 1832 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Crotchet Castle, chapter III (1832).
“A man once asked Diogenes what was the proper time for supper, and he made answer, "If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if you are a poor man, whenever you can.”
Diogenes Laërtius wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Tertullian