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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“Get down, you fool!”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Assertion famously directed at then-President Abraham Lincoln when he came under enemy fire at Fort Stevens during the American Civil War, as quoted in Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005) by D…
“There's lots of law these days, but not much justice. Celebrities murder their wives and go free. A mother kills her children, and the news people on TV say she's the victim and want you to send money to her lawyers. When everything's upside down like this, what fool just sits back and thinks justice will prevail?”
Dean Koontz (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would die happy if I knew that on my tombstone could be written these words, "This man was an absolute fool. None of the disastrous things that he reluctantly predicted ever came to pass!”
Lewis Mumford (1895–1990) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the National Book Awards Committee, published in My Works and Days (1979)
“When anyone studies a little or pays a little attention to the rules of Islamic government, Islamic politics, Islamic society and Islamic economy he will realize that Islam is a very political religion. Anyone who will say that religion is separate from politics is a fool; he does not know Islam or politics.”
Ruhollah Khomeini (1900–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You wake up in the morning Find some things for the pot Wonder why the sun makes the rocks feel hot Draw on the walls, eat, get laid Back in the good old days Then some damn fool invents the wheel Listen to the white-walls squeal You spend all day looking for a parking spot Nothing for the heart, nothing for the pot”
Roger Waters (born 1943) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Me Or Him" on Radio KAOS (Roger Waters, 1987)
“And the Germans killed the Jews And the Jews killed the Arabs And the Arabs killed the hostages And that is the news And is it any wonder That the monkey's confused He said Mama Mama The President's a fool Why do I have to keep reading These technical manuals?”
Roger Waters (born 1943) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Perfect Sense (part I)" on Amused to Death (Roger Waters, 1992)
“Phillipsburg was the name of one of those badly drawn fortresses resembling a fool with his nose too close to the wall.”
Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831) said by 1831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The deceiver is really the fool.”
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) said by 1804 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kant, Immanuel (1996), page 101
“I did my best, it wasn't much I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you. And even though it all went wrong I'll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.”
Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have learned that any fool can write a bad ad, but that it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.”
Leo Burnett (1891–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every time I read the paper those old feelings come on. We are waist deep in the Big Muddy and the big fool says to push on.”
Pete Seeger (1919–2014) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" (1967)
“[W]e avenge intelligence when we deceive a fool, and the victory is worth the trouble[.]”
Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) said by 1798 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Story of My Life (trans. Sartarelli/Hawkes 2001), Preface, p. 3
“We avenge intellect when we dupe a fool, and it is a victory not to be despised[.]”
Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) said by 1798 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Memoirs (trans. Machen 1894), book 1, Preface (We avenge intellect when we dupe a fool, and it is a victory not to be despised [...])
“What I am doing is creating ephemera, and I believe that’s not only okay, that’s part of what makes it beautiful. I mean, I am aware it’s likely that in 30 years someone who is deeply interested in magic will dig up recordings of Fool Us and have things to learn, but that’s not what we’re really talking about. That’s excavating a piece of pottery.”
Penn Jillette (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For approximately 500 years [science's] argument for its pre-eminence was that it could create beautiful toys: aircraft, railroads, global economies, television, spacecraft. But that is a fool’s argument for truth! I mean, that’s after all how a medicine show operates, you know: the juggler is so good, the medicine must be even better! This is not an entirely rational way to proceed.”
Terence McKenna (1946–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is the coward and the fool who says, This is my fate – so says the Sanskrit proverb. But it is the strong man who stands up and says, I will make my own fate. It is people who are getting old who talk of fate. Young men generally do not come to astrology.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When undeniable crime had been committed, justification was the act of a coward. And it was cowardice that permitted such crimes in the first place. No tyrant could thrive where every subject said no. The tyrant thrives when the first fucking fool salutes.”
Steven Erikson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think that we're going to know after six to nine months whether this project has any chance of succeeding. In which case, I think the American people as a whole will want to play it out or whether it really is a fool's errand.”
Thomas Friedman (born 1953) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Oprah Winfrey Show, January 23, 2006
“My cousin came over to my house one day just to fool around and we said — he said, some day we should start a rock n' roll group. We could all get together. And I said, I know I guy named Al Jardine who plays bass and could probably sing good. You know. So we went from there.”
Brian Wilson (1942–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world, and exiles me from it.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Creatures on My Mind" in Unlocking the Air and Other Stories (1996), p. 65
“A man who doesn’t detest a bad government is a fool. And if there were such a thing as a good government on earth, it would be a great joy to serve it.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Genius or fool, you don't live in the world alone. You can hide underground or you can build a wall around yourself, but somebody's going to come along and screw up the works.”
Haruki Murakami (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“John Brown deserves to be hung for being a hopeless fool! He attempted to capture Virginia with seventeen men when he ought to know that it would require at least twenty-five.”
Thaddeus Stevens (1792–1868) said by 1868 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ideas are somewhat like babies--they are born small, immature, and shapeless. They are promise rather than fulfillment. In the innovative company executives do not say, "This is a damn-fool idea." Instead they ask, "What would be needed to make this embryonic, half-baked, foolish idea into something that makes sense, that is an opportunity for us?”
Peter Drucker (1909–2005) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Frontiers of Management (1986)
“Quit yo Jibber-jabber! You ain't hurt, yo pathetic!, Argh! If I ever catch you acting like a crazy fool again, you're gonna meet my friend pain! Snickers, get some nuts!”
“SPEEDWALKING?! I pity you fool! You a disgrace to the man race! It's time to run like a real man! Take that speedwalker! Do it again sucker, and there's going to be trouble! With a capital Mr.T! Snickers, get some nuts! (Get the new Snickers with the Lot sucker!)”
“Yo makin' me mad sucker, cold water never hurt nobody! It's time to get in da pool, 'cause you're goin' swimmin', fool! TAKE THAT, TOEDIPPER! Argh! Argh! I hate flying, so this had better be the last time I see yo cryin'! Snickers, get some nuts!”
“Shut up, fool!”
“Mr. T has the greatest hair in the world. You can't deny it, it's been proven by science, fool!”
“Shut up Murdock, crazy fool!”
“I pity the fool, thug, or soul who tries to take over the world.”
“It's a crack baby....FOOL”
“Hey fool, this ain't no football game! (A-Team)”
“Life's tough, but I'm tougher! (I pity the fool)”
“The jibba jabba stops here! (I pity the fool)”
“Consider that we shouldn’t call our brother a fool, since we don’t know ourselves what we are.”
Paracelsus (1493–1541) said by 1541 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everyone said he was a fool. Everyone said she was a clever woman. They used the word ensnare.”
Margaret Atwood (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“After I wrote Handmaid’s Tale, people came up to me and asked why weren’t there any protests. And I said, “You don’t understand totalitarianism.” A real totalitarianism doesn’t fool around with protests in the streets.”
Margaret Atwood (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You're a fool if you don't realize this is going to be the reactionary's century, perhaps their thousand-year reign. It's the one thing Hitler said which wasn't completely hysterical.”
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was a fool — a brilliant man and I loved his beard, and there was the mountain ax in his brain, and all the blood poured out, and he could not see the Mexican sun. Your people raised the ax, and the last blood of revolutionary mankind, his poor blood, ran into the carpet.”
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!”
Arthur Miller (1915–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War is wretched beyond description, and only a fool or a fraud could sentimentalize its cruel reality.”
John McCain (1936–2018) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the American Red Cross "Promise of Humanity" conference (6 May 1999).
“Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war.”
John McCain (1936–2018) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Campaign ad, quoted in Newsweek (23 June 2008), p. 21
“Russia can play the fool and survive because no Government can destroy her natural resources, but if you have the anarchy which Bolshevism and revolution brings in this country, we shall be inevitably ruined.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Stockport Town Hall (11 September 1925), quoted in The Times (14 September 1925), p. 14
“[Lloyd George] told me he did not see how we could get successfully through this war..."It is clear that that damn fool Neville [Chamberlain] never gave a thought to that question - whether we would win - when he declared war. I am not against war, but I am against war when we have no chance of winning.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to A. J. Sylvester, as recorded in Sylvester's diary (24 January 1941), quoted in Colin Cross (ed.), Life with Lloyd George. The Diary of A. J. Sylvester 1931-45 (1975), p. 287
“Muslims are hardly welcome to pick up the trash on Europe's playgrounds. Don't let Europe's current round of playing pacifist dress up fool you: This is the continent that perfected genocide and ethnic cleansing, the happy-go-lucky slice of humanity that brought us such recent hits as the Holocaust and Srebenica.”
Ralph Peters (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hierarchical institutions are like giant bulldozers — obedient to the whim of any fool who takes the controls.”
Edward Abbey (1927–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now will I show myself to have more of the serpent than the dove; that is, more knave than fool.”
Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) said by 1593 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.”
Plutarch (40–120) said by 120 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source