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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“Considering mankind's indifference to freedom, their easy gullibility and their facile response to conditioning, one might very plausibly argue that collectivism is the political mode best suited to their disposition and their capacities. Under its regime, the citizen, like the soldier, is relieved of the burden of initiative and is divested of all responsibility, save for doing as he is told.”
Albert Jay Nock (1870–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No free government was ever founded, or ever preserved its liberty, without uniting the characters of the citizen and soldier in those destined for the defense of the state...such are well-regulated militia, composed of the freeholders, citizen and husbandman, who take up arms to preserve their property, as individuals, and their rights as freemen.”
Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) first seen 1788 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: State Gazette (Charleston) (8 September 1788)
“Destiny’s Champion, Fate’s fool. Eternity’s Soldier, Time’s Tool.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And then there are unthinking, animal types who seem to be satisfied with a purely physical sense of power (the good combat soldier, who gets his sense of power by developing fighting skills that he is quite content to use in blind obedience to his superiors).”
Theodore Kaczynski (1942–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So the wise man will develop virtue, if he may, in the midst of wealth, or, if not, in poverty; if possible, in his own country—if not, in exile; if possible, as a commander—if not, as a common soldier; if possible, in sound health—if not, enfeebled. Whatever fortune he finds, he will accomplish therefrom something noteworthy.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O soldier and hero of God, where for thee is sorrow or shame or suffering? For thy life is a glory, thy deeds a consecration, victory thy apotheosis, defeat thy triumph.”
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With six meats and twelve wines or else without To walk another room...Monsieur and comrade, The soldier is poor without the poet’s lines.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since the banks and the big industrialists wished to rid themselves of the Socialists, with their wage demands and strikes, they contributed generously to this popular party. ...Hitler's speeches constantly promised the masses a renewal of the soldier-spirit, a new army and new victories.”
Emil Ludwig (1881–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Although too much of a soldier among sovereigns, no one could claim with better right to be a sovereign among soldiers.”
Walter Scott (1771–1832) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Life of Napoleon (1827).
Also quoted by: Sir Walter Scott
“What can they see in the longest kingly line in Europe, save that it runs back to a successful soldier?”
Walter Scott (1771–1832) first seen 1826 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Woodstock (1826), Ch. 37.
Also quoted by: Sir Walter Scott
“Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking; Dream of battled fields no more, Days of danger, nights of waking.”
Walter Scott (1771–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fortune may raise up or abase the ordinary mortal, but the sage and the soldier should have minds beyond her control.”
Walter Scott (1771–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The soldier and the army, not Parliamentary majorities and decisions, have welded the German Empire together. I put my trust in the army.”
Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941) first seen 1891 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (18 April 1891), quoted in Michael Balfour, The Kaiser and His Times (London: Penguin, 1975), p. 158
“A monk of La Trappe, a French soldier of the Imperial Guard, and a thriving mill-owner, supposing each a type, and no more than a type, of his class, are all interesting specimens of humanity, but narrow ones, — so narrow that even all the three together would not make up a perfect man.”
John Ruskin (1819–1900) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Volume V, part IX, chapter XI (1860)
“I am a person always full of contradictions... It was hard to choose whether to devote myself to revolution as a soldier or as a writer.”
Ba Jin (1904–2005) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Living legend : Ba Jin" in News Guangdong (26 November 2003)
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979 TV series)”
John le Carré (1931–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011 film)”
John le Carré (1931–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You ever been to a caucus? [audience member nods] No you haven't. You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier.”
“So mourn'd the dame of Ephesus her love, And thus the soldier arm'd with resolution Told his soft tale, and was a thriving wooer.”
Colley Cibber (1671–1757) said by 1757 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hardly one soldier in a hundred was inspired by religious feeling of even the crudest kind. It would have been difficult to remain religious in the trenches even if one had survived the irreligion of the training battalion at home.”
Robert Graves (1895–1985) said by 1985 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The history of a soldier's wound beguiles the pain of it.”
Laurence Sterne (1713–1768) said by 1768 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am nothing, neither a chief nor a soldier.”
Sitting Bull (1831–1890) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Recorded by a reporter after Sitting Bull's retreat to Canada after being defeated in the Black Hills War, originally published in the New York Herald on November 16, 1877. Published in Utley, Robert M. The Lance and th…
“Few, few shall part where many meet! The snow shall be their winding-sheet, And every turf beneath their feet Shall be a soldier's sepulchre.”
Thomas Campbell (poet) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hohenlinden, st. 8 (1802)
Also quoted by: Thomas Campbell
“How shall we rank thee upon glory's page, Thou more than soldier, and just less than sage?”
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) said by 1852 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Shall I ask the brave soldier who fights by my side In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree?”
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) said by 1852 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Irrespective of the conflict with America, it is a human duty to show sympathy with the American people and be with them at these horrifying and awesome events which are bound to awaken human conscience. When I was five, my brother was shot by an Israeli soldier, since then I have been dedicated to uniting the Arab countries throughout the Middle East and retain a trade flow with the west.”
Muammar Gaddafi (1942–2011) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reaction to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, quoted in CBSNews.com (12 September 2001) "Global Outrage At Terror Attacks
“Despite his concern, he was not so out of control as to forget that a frantic man is a careless man, a lesson every soldier learns soon or dies wishing he had learned sooner.”
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Longstreet, as far as Jackson was concerned, made a better politician than a soldier; he was full of the deviousness politics required.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Armstrong Grimes still had a lot to learn about being a soldier, but he understood shooting first and asking questions later.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Will be appointed. Will be accepted. Will be permitted. Abell didn’t say who would do any of those things. He probably didn’t even think about it. In his world, things just happened, without any particular agency. That made him a good bureaucrat. Whether it made him a good soldier was a different question.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Recall the dictum of Rousseau: "It matters little to me whether my pupil is intended for the army, the church, or law. Before his parents chose a calling for him, nature called him to be a man. ... When he leaves me, he will be neither a magistrate, a soldier, nor a priest; he will be a man.”
Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For if Iran remains exalted, we too shall be exalted. I am a lowly soldier of the Imam Khamenei. Hizbullah youths acted on behalf of the Imam Khomeini, with the aid of Imam Hussein, and sent their blessings to the Iranian people.”
Hassan Nasrallah (1960–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So now, for mercy and honor shown to my people, my lord is barbarous; a tyrant, because he punished his would-be murderers, the right of their meanest citizen; a mere vaunting soldier, though wherever he went he brought Greece with him, the Greece he honored, of which these liars are the unworthy heirs.”
Mary Renault (1905–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gertrude Stein, all courage and will, is a soldier of minimalism. Her work, unlike the resonating silences in the art of Samuel Beckett, embodies in its loquacity and verbosity the curious paradox of the minimalist form. This art of the nuance in repetition and placement she shares with the orchestral compositions of Philip Glass.”
Elizabeth Hardwick (1916–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He knew in his heart that there was a relief in not being listened to, sometimes. Power meant responsibility. Advice unacted upon almost always might have been right, and in the working out of whatever plan was followed, there was anyway always blood; better it was on their hands. The good soldier did as he was told, and if he had any sense at all volunteered for nothing, especially promotion.”
Iain Banks (1954–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The queen laughed, and I flushed in the privacy of my bedroom. I do hate horses. That was the first sign that I wasn't going to be the soldier my father hoped for.”
Megan Whalen Turner (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What makes me most proud to be Kurdish? Despite all the crimes committed against the people of Kurdistan, when the opportunity arose in 1991, the people acted with humanity and dignity. Two Iraqi army corps surrendered, yet not a single soldier was harmed. They were all released freely. That moment made me prouder than ever to belong to this nation.”
Massoud Barzani (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I remember those difficult days, I remember the fear, I remember the strength, I remember that hand of that fellow American soldier, reassuring me that I was going to be okay.”
Jessica Lynch (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I cannot imagine that someone could go to Tõnismägi and in the darkness of the night, put the Bronze Soldier on the hook of the crane, and drive it away somewhere. This is not a solution acceptable for a constitutional state.”
Andrus Ansip (born 1956) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At a press conference of the Estonian Government (2006-06-29).
“[His reply to the chairman's other stock question, which had previously never failed to embarrass the claimant: "Tell me, Mr. Strachey, what would you do if you saw a German soldier trying to violate your sister?" With an air of noble virtue:] "I would try to get between them.”
Lytton Strachey (1880–1932) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Robert Graves Good-bye to All That (1929), ch. 23.
“The Negro soldier was an utter and dismal failure in combat in Europe. When I make that statement, it is not from prejudice. I am not prejudiced against the Negro.”
James Eastland (1904–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I state that the conduct of the Negro soldier in Normandy, as well as all over Europe, was disgraceful and that Negro soldiers have disgraced the flag of their country. They constitute roughly one-twelfth of the Ameri-can Army, yet they are guilty of more than half the crime in the Army.”
James Eastland (1904–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There will be no FEPC when the soldier gets back home, and I make that statement as one who has visited many of our armies and talked to literally hundreds of American soldiers.”
James Eastland (1904–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are dealing with an inferior people, and yet we are discriminating against the white soldier, in favor of the inferior person, and under this measure, we are giving the inferior person a preference in securing employment.”
James Eastland (1904–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Courage is the highest quality for a soldier, but technology is a fine substitute.”
David Mitchell (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Deep into his sixties (he never made it to his seventies), he would tap his fag hard against his brass Zippo like a soldier, toss it in his mouth, strike the flame on his thigh, spark it and exhale through his nose, then keep it clamped in his teeth as he typed, in line with the heavily marketed notion of the smoker as writer.”
Giles Coren (born 1969) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his father's smoking habit, from "Big Tobacco is still coming for your family", The Times (16 December 2023)
“When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.”
George Washington (1732–1799) first seen 1775 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: George Washington to New York Legislature (26 June 1775)
“The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.”
George Washington (1732–1799) first seen 1741 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: General Order (9 July 1776) George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799: Series 3g Varick Transcripts
“What can a soldier do who charges when out of breath?”
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (400–450) said by 450 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not going to talk about patriotism, duty, liberty, and the defense of freedom — because that's all dung to a soldier.”
David Gemmell (1948–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source