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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“Let me be dressed fine as I will, Flies, worms, and flowers, exceed me still.”
Isaac Watts (1674–1748) said by 1748 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You cannot endow even the best machine with initiative; the jolliest steam-roller will not plant flowers.”
Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are flowers everywhere for those who want to see them”
Henri Matisse (1869–1954) said by 1954 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Call the roller of big cigars, The muscular one, and bid him whip In kitchen cups concupiscent curds. Let the wenches dawdle in such dress As they are used to wear, and let the boys Bring flowers in last month's newspapers. Let be be finale of seem. The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A dead shepherd brought tremendous chords from hellAnd bad the sheep carouse. Or so they said. Children in love with them brought early flowers And scattered them about, no two alike.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Better than mortal flowers, Thy moon-kissed roses seem.”
Ernest Dowson (1867–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah, Lalage! while life is ours, Hoard not thy beauty rose and white, But pluck the pretty, fleeting flowers That deck our little path of light: For all too soon we twain shall tread The bitter pastures of the dead: Estranged, sad spectres of the night.”
Ernest Dowson (1867–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It seems that scientists are often attracted to beautiful theories in the way that insects are attracted to flowers — not by logical deduction, but by something like a sense of smell.”
Steven Weinberg (1933–2021) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Physics Today (November 2005) page 35
“What troubles me about the “hostile workplace” category of sexual harassment policy is that women are being returned to their old status of delicate flowers who must be protected from assault by male lechers. It is anti-feminist to ask for special treatment for women.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The vine . . . is not the root merely, but all - root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit: and Jesus is not only that: He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we ever dreamed, wished for, or needed.”
James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) said by 1905 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had time after time watched the progression across the plain of the giraffe, in their queer, inimitable, vegetative gracefulness as if it were not a herd of animals but a family of rare, long stemmed spackled gigantic flowers slowly advancing. It was, in giant size, the border of a very old, infinitely precious Persian carpet in the dyes of green, yellow and black-brown”
Karen Blixen (1885–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We see flowers of good blooming in foul places.”
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) said by 1863 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She told him she made a rule of never marrying bankers. The next day he sent flowers, and a note saying that he’d relinquished his profession.”
Clive Barker (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O surely this morning all sorrow is hidden, All battle is hushed for this even at least; And no one this noontide may hunger, unbidden To the flowers and the singing and the joy of your feast Where silent ye sit midst the world's tale increased.”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And what do ye say then? — That Spring long departed Has brought forth no child to the softness and showers; — That we slept and we dreamed through the Summer of flowers; We dreamed of the Winter, and waking dead-hearted Found Winter upon us and waste of dull hours.”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dawn talks to Day Over dew-gleaming flowers, Night flies away Till the resting of hours: Fresh are thy feet And with dreams thine eyes glistening, Thy still lips are sweet Though the world is a-listening. O Love, set a word in my mouth for our meeting, Cast thine arms round about me to stay my heart's beating! O fresh day, O fair day, O long day made ours!”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote. And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat. We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest. No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle, No flowers no wedding dress.That night we went down to the river. And into the river we'd dive. Oh down to the river we did ride.”
Bruce Springsteen (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The flowers bloomed, the schools of thought contended, and Mao's executioners went to work. The slogan had the same function as the Constitution of the Soviet Union, which Aleksandr Zinoviev tellingly defined as a document published in order to find out who agreed with it, so that they could be dealt with.”
Clive James (1939–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of the character, though few can decypher even fragments of their meaning.”
Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A human heart can never grow old if it takes a lively interest in the pairing of birds, the reproduction of flowers, and the changing tints of autumn leaves. letters from ny wqadd”
Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880) first seen 1843 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter 37 (March 1843)
“So hurting here is where I belong dreaming a song Blood on my hands to stay strong The flowers in the graveyard are all gone I don't belong There is no right to heal the wrong Soup's on hot feelin' like a do or die I can't throw up don't think i evan want to try”
Katy Rose (born 1987) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A peculiar anthologic maze, an amusing literary chaos, a farrago of quotations, a mere olla podrida of quaintness, a pot pourri of pleasant delites, a florilegium of elegant extracts, a tangled fardel of old-world flowers of thought, a faggot of odd fancies, quips, facetiae, loosely tied.”
Robert Burton (1577–1640) said by 1640 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Holbrook Jackson, The Anatomy of Bibliomania (1930)
“The Spiral Dance is a seed planted twenty years ago. Over the last two decades, the goddess movement has grown from many seeds like a garden of long-life flowers and healing herbs. It's a big garden — I've tended only one corner of it.”
Starhawk (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Love is the Heaven Toward which the flowers, rivers, nations, atoms, creatures — you and I Are rushing by the straight path of action right, Or winding laboriously on error’s path, All to reach haven there at last.”
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) said by 1952 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Songs are like flowers / they come up spontaneously / they are like dreams / and we only have to / write them quickly / because then they fade away / and we will not remember them"'”
Vasco Rossi (born 1952) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (from Una canzone per te, 1983)
“He was, she thought, as beautiful as a young god, lying on his side among the grass and flowers”
Alice Borchardt (1939–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran … in one shot on his website he appears to be dressed only in flowers. Oh - here's the page, you'll see what I mean.”
Eddie Mair (born 1965) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: Headlines at bbc.co.uk, 22 August 2006.
“By means of an image we are often able to hold on to our lost belongings. But it is the desperateness of losing which picks the flowers of memory, binds the bouquet.”
Colette (1873–1954) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mes Apprentissages (1936)
“Call for the robin redbreast and the wren, Since o'er shady groves they hover, And with leaves and flowers do cover The friendless bodies of unburied men.”
John Webster (1578–1634) said by 1634 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Ben Jonson
“The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.”
Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have seen flowers come in stony places And kind things done by men with ugly faces, And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races, So I trust, too.”
John Masefield (1878–1967) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: An Epiloque", often anthologised, including by Sir Christopher Ricks in The Oxford Book of English Verse (1999). Cp. Alfred Tennyson, "Flower in the Crannied Wall" (1863)
“Life is a waste of wearisome hours Which seldom the rose of enjoyment adorns; And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers, Is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns.”
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) said by 1852 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers Is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns.”
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) said by 1852 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Eternity has no gray hairs! The flowers fade, the heart withers, man grows old and dies, the world lies down in the sepulchre of ages, but time writes no wrinkles on the brow of Eternity.”
Reginald Heber (1783–1826) said by 1826 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. 213
“When Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.”
Reginald Heber (1783–1826) said by 1826 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hymn for Seventh Sunday after Trinity"; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 746
“Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north-wind’s breath, And stars to set; but all, Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death!”
Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) first seen 1824 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Hour of Death (1824).
Also quoted by: Felicia D. Hemans
“No sun—no moon—no morn—no noon, No dawn—no dusk—no proper time of day, No warmth—no cheerfulness—no healthful ease, No road, no street, no t' other side the way, No comfortable feel in any member— No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, November!”
Thomas Hood (1799–1845) said by 1845 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Still as the holy of holies breathes the vast Within its crystal depths the stars grow dim; Fire on the altar of the hills at last Burns on the shadowy rim. Moments that holds all moments; white upon The verge it trembles; then like mists of flowers Break from the fairy fountain of the dawn The hues of many hours.”
George William Russell (1867–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Can give ourselves flowers and roses at any time. The affirmation is embrace your journey. Your body is evolving with you.”
Alicia Keys (born 1981) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.”
Edvard Munch (1863–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building Outdoors (2007) by William Thompson and Kim Sorvig, p. 30
“I have loved flowers that fade, Within whose magic tents Rich hues have marriage made With sweet unmemoried scents: A honeymoon delight, A joy of love at sight, That ages in an hour My song be like a flower!”
Robert Bridges (1844–1930) first seen 1879 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bk. II, No. 13, I Have Loved Flowers That Fade, st. 1 (1879).
“People tell me all kinds of things.” Dowling said. “Some of them are true. Some of them help make the flowers grow.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Down rain the tears from skies enwrapt in gloom Without this wine the tulips could not bloom. As now these flowerets yield delight to me So shall my dust yield flowers, God knows for whom.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those of us who love the country and country things feel in our bones the urbanisation of our land and the need that something should be done to preserve our birds and our flowers.”
Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the unveiling of the Hudson Memorial in Hyde Park (19 May 1925), quoted in On England, and Other Addresses (1926), p. 129
“But lifting his dry hand He lightly touched the flowers: "Tell me how men kiss you, Tell me how you kiss men.”
Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Spring is in the air. In some places, that means longer days, blooming flowers and Opening Day. Here in New Jersey, the coming of spring means it’s the time of year when Trenton politicians ask us for more money. Not surprisingly, this year is no different.”
Thomas Kean Jr. (born 1968) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Jon Corzine's Budget (April 6, 2006); "The Corzine Budget: Same Old Tax and Spend ", Tom's Blog" (April 6, 2006).
“Flowers are immortal. You cut them in autumn and they grow again in spring—somewhere.”
Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from Science, along with behavior control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers.”
Lewis Thomas (1913–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“6126. April-showers Bring May-flowers.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lift your flowers on bitter stems chickory! Lift them up out of the scorched ground! Bear no foliage but give yourself wholly to that! Strain under them you bitter stems that no beast eats — and scorn greyness!”
William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source