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
Friendship
LoveFriendshipHappinessHopeFearCourageDeathLifeTimeWarPeaceFreedomTruthWisdomKnowledgeScienceArtMusicNatureMoneyWorkPowerGodBeautyLaughterFamilySuccess and failureChangeDreamsBooks and reading
“If on my theme I rightly think, There are five reasons why men drink,— Good wine, a friend, because I'm dry, Or lest I should be by and by, Or any other reason why.”
Jean Sirmond (1589–1649) said by 1649 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Causæ Bibendi, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). These lines are a poetic translation of a Latin epigram (erroneously ascribed to Henry Aldrich in the Biographia Britannica, second edition, vo…
Also quoted by: John Sirmond
“My dear friend Yevtushenko has, I claim, an ego that can crack crystal at a distance of twenty feet.”
Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933–2017) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: John Cheever, in George Plimpton (ed.) Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, Fifth Series (New York: Penguin, 1981) p. 121.
“What a childhood I had. My mother never breast-fed me. She said she liked me as a friend.”
Rodney Dangerfield (1921–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Generally speaking, I think it is fair to say that I am a friend to the creatures of the Earth when I am not busy eating them or wearing them.”
John Hodgman (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My spirit is old; and some black lot awaits me On my long road. Some dream accurst, inveterate, suffocates me Still with its load. So young – yet hosts of dreadful thoughts appal me, Sick and opprest. Come! and from shadowy phantoms disenthral me, Friend.”
Alexander Blok (1880–1921) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Spirit is Old" (1899); translation from Oliver Elton Verse from Pushkin and Others (London: E. Arnold, 1935) p. 175.
“My guitar is like my best friend. My guitar can get me through anything. If I can sit down and write an amazing song with my guitar about what's going on in life, then that's the greatest therapy for me.”
Miley Cyrus (born 1992) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mirror.co.uk (May 5, 2008)
“The last time I freaked out I just kept looking down. I st-st-stuttered when you asked me what I'm thinkin' 'bout. Felt like I couldn't breathe, you asked what's wrong with me. My best friend Lesley says "Oh, she's just being Miley.”
Miley Cyrus (born 1992) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Doom very evenly! Do not doom one doom to the rich; another to the poor! Nor doom one doom to your friend; another to your foe!”
Alfred the Great (849–899) said by 899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Just meeting Rubinstein was a thrill for any pianist. He was a real link to tradition in western piano music. He was a friend of Rachmaninoff and he knew Debussy. The man was an inspiration to three generations of pianists.”
Arthur Rubinstein (1887–1982) first seen 1982 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Emanuel Ax — reported in Joseph McLellan (December 21, 1982) "Concert Pianist Arthur Rubinstein Dies at 95", The Washington Post, p. A1.
“A novelist who ranks with Proust, Kafka, Musil and his friend James Joyce as one of the enduring pillars of Modernism.”
Italo Svevo (1861–1928) said by 1928 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Paul Bailey, The Independent, September 24, 1999. .
“'Cause girls are like donuts when I be bustin' Bo nuts I can make 'em cream-filled or give them a layer of glaze I'm like Doug's friend Skeeter whenever I meet her Because I skeet her so hard people call her Patty Mayonnaise”
Bo Burnham (born 1990) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These are roads to take when you think of your country and interested bring down the maps again, phoning the statistician, asking the dear friend, reading the papers with morning inquiry.”
Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s amazing to have people singing a song back to you on a stage. It’s great to finish recording a song and play it for your friend, and they love it. That feels good. But nothing feels better than when you’ve finished something and you know it’s good, and you know that those other responses will come in time.”
Ben Gibbard (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why do I hear what I can't see? Why do I fear what I can be? I feel the field of battle within my life!I hear the calvalry of light! I see the sound of endless sight! I feel the field of battle within my life!It was a life that had no end A time of love with you, my friend Begin the age of love you know about!”
Becky Stark (born 1976) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: You Broke My Heart, One Day Like Rain video (2007) - live performance Siren Festival (2007)
“How oft in schoolboy-days, from the school's sway Have I run forth to Nature as to a friend, — With some pretext of o'erwrought sight, to spend My school-time in green meadows far away! Careless of summoning bell, or clocks that strike, I marked with flowers the minutes of my day.”
Frederick Goddard Tuckerman (1821–1873) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: How oft in schoolboy-days" lines 1–6, Poems, 1860
“We are never less alone than when we are in the society of a single, faithful friend; never less deserted than when we are carried in the arms of the All-Powerful.”
François Fénelon (1651–1715) said by 1715 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One reason why we Christians argue so much about which hymn to sing, which liturgy to follow, which way to worship is that the commandments teach us to believe that bad liturgy eventually leads to bad ethics. You begin by singing some sappy, sentimental hymn, then you pray some pointless prayer, and the next thing you know you have murdered your best friend.”
Stanley Hauerwas (born 1940) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From The Truth About God: The Ten Commandments in Christian Life (1999, with William H. Willimon). Page: 89
“Death did not come to my mother Like an old friend. She was a mother, and she must Conceive him. Up and down the bed she fought crying Help me, but death Was a slow child Heavy.”
Josephine Miles (1911–1985) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conception" (1974) st. 1–2; Collected Poems, University of Illinois Press, 1983
“Communism has established centres of infection... No area in the world is as vital to American security as the Caribbean...We need a massive injection of money to reset the country on its feet, and this injection can come only from our great, capable friend and neighbor the United States.”
François Duvalier (1907–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Elizabeth Abbott, Haiti: An insider's history of the rise and fall of the Duvaliers (Simon & Schuster, 1988, ), p. 101.
“I once had a friend call me (Harry) by accident. If there's another person in the room called Harry and somebody shouts their name I do respond slightly, which is embarrassing. But no one has ever said it in the throws of passion. That would be the end of that session. Go now!”
Daniel Radcliffe (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The boss is never your friend, even if you're sleeping with him.”
Jacob M. Appel (born 1973) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Arborophilia (2005)
“We see a friend’s eye as one and indivisible. A stranger’s eye we take in part by part: the white, the iris, and the pupil.”
Malcolm de Chazal (1902–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be sure that Christ is not behind you, but before, calling and drawing you on. This is the liberty, the beautiful liberty of Christ. Claim your glorious privilege in the name of a disciple; be no more a servant, when Christ will own you as a friend.”
Horace Bushnell (1802–1876) said by 1876 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is no small comfort that God hath written some Scriptures to you which He hath not to others. Read these, and think God is like a friend who sendeth a letter to a whole house and family, but who speaketh in His letter to some by name that are dearest to Him in the house.”
Samuel Rutherford (1600–1661) said by 1661 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you're in a Gay Mafia and you get whacked, is that good or bad? [high-pitched voice] Say hello to my little friend.”
Larry the Cable Guy (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Love your fellow creature, though vicious. Hate vice in the friend you love the most.”
James Burgh (1714–1775) said by 1775 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you have a friend that will reprove your faults and foibles, consider you enjoy a blessing which the king upon the throne cannot have.”
James Burgh (1714–1775) said by 1775 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Centuries of research have produced drugs that can simulate any mental condition in the user. Like to be paranoid for a day? Take a pill. You too can go around the bend, friend. It is a matter of record that people have actually tried these concoctions for kicks, but that bored with life I don’t want to be.”
Harry Harrison (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give us a man, young or old, high or low, on whom we know we can thoroughly depend — who will stand firm when others fail — the friend faithful and true, the adviser honest and fearless, the adversary just and chivalrous; in such an one there is a fragment of the Rock of Ages — a sign that there has been a prophet amongst us.”
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These days I sit on cornerstones And count the time in quarter-tones to ten, my friend Don't confront me with my failures I had not forgotten them.”
Jackson Browne (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well I'm running down the road Tryin' to loosen my load, I've got seven women on my mind, Four that wanna own me, Two that wanna stone me, One says she's a friend of mine.”
Jackson Browne (born 1948) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Take It Easy", co-written with Glenn Frey, 1971-1972, from For Everyman; previously recorded on The Eagles' album Eagles (1972)
“Though Adam was a friend of mine, I did not know him well. He was alone into his distance, he was deep into his well. I could guess what he was laughing at, but I couldn't really tell. Now the stories told that Adam jumped, but I'm thinking that he fell.”
Jackson Browne (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She was a friend to me when I needed one. Wasn't for her I don't know what I'd done. She gave me back something that was missing in me. She could of turned out to be almost anyone, Almost anyone-- With the possible exception Of who I wanted her to be.”
Jackson Browne (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don’t know how to explain it, but prizes are outside of literature—by the way, “literature” is a hateful word—yes, they’re outside the act of writing. You receive it the way you receive a hug from a friend, with a certain pleasure. But it has nothing to do with—(It’s circumstantial?) CL: Yes.”
Clarice Lispector (1920–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...life is lonely, life is empty. Love isn't everything. A dear true friend is more than love--the serge outlasts the silk.”
Clifford Odets (1906–1963) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mr. Prince, in Rocket To The Moon" (1938), Act III
“I deny that I exhorted, agitated, and made any inflammatory appeals to the passions and prejudices of the white population to foster, stimulate, inspire, create and intensify a state of acute and aggravated tension between the white and Negro races in the state of Mississippi... I want to say right here off the record that the Negroes of Mississippi have never had a better friend.”
Theodore G. Bilbo (1877–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I haven’t faith in people any longer, old friend,” Nohadon said. “Put two men together, and they will find something to argue about. Gather them into groups, and one group will find reason to oppress or attack another.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man who sells his conscience for his interest will sell it for his pleasure. A man who will betray his country will betray his friend.”
Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is my creation Is my best friend Imagination Is my defense And I'll keep walking When skies are grey Whatever happens was meant that way.”
“My best friend once gave me a framed 19th century book called What Katy Did Next. I’ve never read it, but the title has always stuck with me. That’s the point - it’s about continuing to move forward, and dream.”
Katy Perry (born 1984) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Katy Perry admits she's been 'beloved, tested and tried' amid Orlando Bloom split Hello Magazine (September 24, 2025).
“Verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." My friend, that is worth more than all the feeling you can have in a life-time.”
Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“RINGGENBERG: How do you feel about your friend Lyle publishing a book for bomb-makers?”
William Powell (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: William Gaines
“Do whatcha gotta do I fucked your friend this afternoon”
Eamon (singer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You're my flesh and blood, I'm part Of you Yeah When I'm harming me I'm harming you I'm your baby boy, and you're My best friend I won't let you down again”
Eamon (singer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For a space he faltered, when Goltan fell with a spear through him. “Now I am one friend poorer,” he said, “and that is a wealth not gained back.”
Poul Anderson (1926–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As you watch her story tonight, I know you will see the friend I know - a person of strength, intellect, capacity and truly remarkable courage.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abbott introduces transgender friend Cate McGregor on Australian Story, ABC TV, 24 Feb 2014.
“Sometimes the cost of integrity is the loss of a friend.”
Jack McDevitt (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fame and fortune is a magnet. It can pull you far away from home With a dream in your heart you're never alone. Dreams turn into dust and blow away And there you are without a friend”
Hal David (1921–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God doesn't want us to pile up impressive phrases. He doesn't want us to use words without thinking about their meaning. He wants us to talk to him as to a friend or father - authentically, reverently, personally, earnestly.”
Bill Hybels (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you're tolerating sin in your life, my friend, don't waste your breath praying unless it's a prayer of confession.”
Bill Hybels (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source