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. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Beauty
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“This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty — this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.”
Thomas Mann (1875–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I must tell you that we artists cannot tread the path of Beauty without Eros keeping company with us and appointing himself as our guide.”
Thomas Mann (1875–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Look up, laugh loud, talk big, keep the colour in your cheek and the fire in your eye, adorn your person, maintain your health, your beauty, and your animal spirits, and you will pass for a fine man.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1822 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On The Conduct of Life" (1822)
“Grace in women has more effect than beauty.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance, for our consideration and application of these things, and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process.”
Henry James (1843–1916) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to H.G. Wells (10 July 1915)
“In art economy is always beauty.”
Henry James (1843–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art's the biggest vanity: the assumption that one's view of peace or fright or beauty is permanently communicable.”
Ned Rorem (1923–2022) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Being Alone, The Ontario Review (Spring/Summer 1980)
“San Francisco is a mad city—inhabited for the most part by perfectly insane people, whose women are of a remarkable beauty.”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) first seen 1891 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: American Notes—At the Golden Gate (1891).
“That's the secret. 'Tisn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just It. Some women'll stay in a man's memory if they once walk down a street.”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mrs. Bathurst (1904).
“Beauty, thou wild fantastic ape Who dost in every country change thy shape!”
Abraham Cowley (1618–1667) said by 1667 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We do not wish to penalise the machine for its inability to shine in beauty competitions, nor to penalise a man for losing in a race against an aeroplane. The conditions of our game make these disabilities irrelevant.”
Alan Turing (1912–1954) said by 1954 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rumfoord had known that Constant would try to debase the picture by using it in commerce. Constant's father had done a similar thing when he found he could not buy Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" at any price. The old man had punished Mona Lisa by having her used in an advertising campaign for suppositories. It was the free-enterprise way of handling beauty that threatened to get the upper hand.”
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I look at things for the art sake and the beauty sake and for the deal sake.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: New York (July 11, 1988), p. 24
“[On "You're fired!":] There's a beauty in those two words. When you utter those words, there's very little that can be said. There's a succinctness to those words.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She’s actually always been very voluptuous. She’s tall, she’s almost six feet tall and she’s been, she’s an amazing beauty.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: October 2006 interview with Howard Stern about Ivanka Trump reported 2016 by CNN
“Part of the beauty of me is that I am very rich.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Ashleigh Banfield on ABC's Good Morning America (17 March 2011); also in
“You [Hillary Clinton] look at the Middle East, you started the Iran deal, that's another beauty where you have a country that was ready to fall, I mean, they were doing so badly. They were choking on the sanctions. And now they're going to be actually probably a major power at some point pretty soon, the way they're going.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time, with a scheduled Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a Facility before.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Announcement of closure of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1 February 2026), referred to by Trump as "The Trump Kennedy Center" without authorization of such a renaming by the US Congress.
“If there is no meditation, then you are like a blind man in a world of great beauty, light and colour.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Talks in Europe 1968
“There's a great and unutterable beauty in all this.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Lord is the refuge of all who seek refuge, the saviour of all who have to be saved. He is the Embodiment of Being-Awareness-Bliss (Sat-chit-ananda). He is now at Puttaparthi as the Effulgent Emperor over the region of Truth, Goodness and Beauty.”
Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How like humans,” he said drily. “The universe is vast, majestic, intricate, patterned with inexhaustible beauty, vivid with infinitely varied life—and there’s only one thing in it that really interests you. The same thing that makes you buy books, build families, create atomic theories (I imagine) or, once upon a time, write poetry. Sex.”
Fritz Leiber (1910–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman.”
Chanakya (375–283 BC) said by 283 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no such thing as society. There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate.”
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She watched with an expression—quizzical, unhuman. Mario wondered, how can beauty be refined to such to such reckless heights, and still be so cold and friendless? If she were wounded, would she bleed?”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mardien sat glaring on the floor and Travec caught a glimpse of a wild, primordial beast. It was the swiftest of visions and he thought what marvelous disguises were beauty and civilization.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is an evil man? The man is evil who coerces obedience to his private ends, destroys beauty, produces pain, extinguishes life.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beauty comes in often to drink. A spaceman, he claims himself, but as to this I can’t be certain. I have often declared myself a great lover. All of us lie, as much or more than necessary. ‘What is truth?’ asks Pons Pilatus, in the fable, and I answer: ‘A commodity as cheap as air which we hide as if it were as precious as yewl stone.’”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My great pleasure is creation—of this I never tire. Some of my guests have complained of a gentle melancholy which hangs in the air; I agree that the mood exists. The explanation, I believe, arises from the fugacity of beauty, the tragic pavanne to which all of us step.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There’s ample human achievement in the universe, but not nearly enough beauty.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beauty compelled admiration and erotic yearning; such was its organic function. But never by itself could it command love.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I felt that killing wrench men feel when beauty passes and will not pass again. You want to cry out: Stay. I love you. But you do not speak. And the summer walks away in her flesh, never to return.”
Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, you should've seen me this morning before I got ready to see youǃ But I'm serious, though. I'm not, like, a natural beauty. But I can enhance it. Whatever it takes, I do. I try to make the most of everything.”
Dolly Parton (1946–2026) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dolly Parton: Making the most of everything CBS News (September 1, 2019).
“If you sing of beauty though alone in the heart of the desert you will have an audience.”
Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) said by 1931 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.”
Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) said by 1931 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My views are near those of Spinoza: admiration for the beauty of and belief in the logical simplicity of the order which we can grasp humbly and only imperfectly. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem—the most important of all human problems.”
Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) said by 1677 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Albert Einstein, Princeton, 26 April 1947
“All mathematical laws which we find in Nature are always suspect to me, in spite of their beauty. They give me no pleasure. They are merely auxiliaries. At close range it is all not true.”
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) said by 1799 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Lichtenberg : A Doctrine of Scattered Occasions (1959) by Joseph Peter Stern, p. 84
“The esthete stands in the same relation to beauty as the pornographer stands to love, and the politician stands to life.”
Karl Kraus (writer) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Die Fackel no. 406/12 (5 October 1915)
“To see the heaven in your eyes is not so far, 'Cause I'm not afraid to try and go it, To know the love and beauty never known before, I'll leave it up to you to show it.”
Stevie Wonder (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Zits are beauty marks.”
Kurt Cobain (1967–1994) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Sassy (1992-04).
“We have already found a high degree of personal liberty, and we are now struggling to enhance equality of opportunity. Our commitment to human rights must be absolute, our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved; the powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced.”
Jimmy Carter (1924–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Having finished his argument Stephen walked on in silence. He felt Cranly's hostility and he accused himself of having cheapened the eternal images of beauty. For the first time, too, he felt slightly awkward in his friend's company and to restore a mood of flippant familiarity he glanced up at the clock of the Ballast Office and smiled: — It has not epiphanised yet, he said.”
James Joyce (1882–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Faith goes out of the window when beauty comes in at the door.”
George Moore (novelist) first seen 1905 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Lake (1905) [Appleton, 2005, digitized edition], ch. IX (p. 169).
“A general definition of civilization: a civilized society is exhibiting the five qualities of truth, beauty, adventure, art, peace.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For a while the cloister of Mariabronn was renowned for its exorcists and devil-chasers; for a while for the beauty of its plain chaunt; then for a saintly father who healed and wrought miracles; then for its pike broth and stag’s liver pasty - each in its time.”
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beauty has no obvious use; nor is there any clear cultural necessity for it. Yet civilization could not do without it.”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Exceeding fair she was not; and yet fair In that she never studied to be fairer Than Nature made her; beauty cost her nothing, Her virtues were so rare.”
George Chapman (1559–1634) said by 1634 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The New York Times Magazine (9 October 1960)
“I missed my slipstick. Dad says that anyone who can't use a slide rule is a cultural illiterate and should not be allowed to vote. Mine is a beauty — a K&E 20-inch Log-log Duplex Decitrig. Dad surprised me with it after I mastered a ten-inch polyphase. We ate potato soup that week — but Dad says you should always budget luxuries first. I knew where it was. Home on my desk.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What we think of as ‘Physical beauty’ is almost certainly a tag for a complex of useful survival characteristics. Smartness—intelligence—among them.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source