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
Work
LoveFriendshipHappinessHopeFearCourageDeathLifeTimeWarPeaceFreedomTruthWisdomKnowledgeScienceArtMusicNatureMoneyWorkPowerGodBeautyLaughterFamilySuccess and failureChangeDreamsBooks and reading
“The Labour Party hate the concept of Englishness. They have done for a very long time. New Labour can't even stand the concept of patriotism. They think the flag somehow is unpleasant, backward-looking and nasty. People like Emily Thornberry would rather we had that blue flag with 12 stars on it that comes to us from Brussels.”
Nigel Farage (born 1964) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Miliband: Thornberry's 'white van, flag' tweet lacked respect BBC News (21 November 2014)
“We've got to reinterrogate our relationship with the EU on the movement of labour. The EU has gone from being a sort of pig farm subsidised bloc to the free movement of labour and capital. Britain is not an outpost of the UN. We have to put the people in this country first.”
Maurice Glasman, Baron Glasman (born 1961) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Telegraph, 18 July 2011
“On the face of it, these look like bad times for Labour and for Ed Miliband's leadership. There seems to be no strategy, no narrative and little energy. Old faces from the Brown era still dominate the shadow cabinet and they seem stuck in defending Labour's record in all the wrong ways: we didn't spend too much money, we'll cut less fast and less far, but we can't tell you how.”
Maurice Glasman, Baron Glasman (born 1961) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: New Statesman article: see Press Association story 5 January 2012
“The coup was timed to avoid Corbyn calling for Blair’s head next Wednesday from the . Indeed many would say that when Corbyn stated that he would be prepared to see a former Labour Prime Minister tried for then he sealed his fate as leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party.”
Alex Salmond (1954–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was democratically elected leader of our party for a new kind of politics by 60% of Labour members and supporters, and I will not betray them by resigning. Today's vote by MPs has no constitutional legitimacy. We are a democratic party, with a clear constitution. Our people need Labour Party members, trade unionists and MPs to unite behind my leadership at a critical time for our country.”
Jeremy Corbyn (born 1949) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Labour MPs pass no-confidence motion in Jeremy Corbyn", BBC News (28 June 2016).
“The reproduction of labour power thus reveals as its sine qua non not only the reproduction of its ‘skills’ but also the reproduction of its subjection to the ruling ideology. ... It is in the forms and under the forms of ideological subjection that provision is made for the reproduction of the skills of labour power.”
Louis Althusser (1918–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those things which the body necessarily requires, are easily to be procured by all men, without labour and molestation; but those things to the attainment of which labour and molestation are requisite, are objects of desire, not to the body, but to depraved opinion.”
Stobaeus (430–470) said by 470 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Labour should have an 'English Labour'. It should embrace a modern, radical Englishness, or else England and patriotism will simply be a right-wing politics of loss and sourness.”
Jon Cruddas (born 1962) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Matt Chorley, "Jon Cruddas: How Labour lost its heart – and heartland", The Independent, 26 June 2011.
“Unless 35 Labour MPs nominate Corbyn, this farce of a leadership contest will continue and the Labour party – and the country as a whole – will learn nothing from it.”
Owen Jones (born 1984) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jeremy Corbyn is in the Labour leadership race. The real debate starts here", The Guardian (4 June 2015)
“A snap election is entirely plausible, and – as things stands, thanks to the actions of all sides of the Labour party – Labour faces electoral oblivion.”
Owen Jones (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Labour is now permanently transformed. Its policy programme is unchallengeable. It is now the party's consensus. It cannot and will not be taken away. Those who claimed it could not win the support of millions were simply wrong. No, Labour didn't win, but from where it started, that was never going to happen.”
Owen Jones (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wealth owes its existence to labour, not labour to wealth”
Leon MacLaren (1910–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Further information came to light yesterday calling for decisive action, so I took decisive action. It is a huge thing to withdraw support for a Labour candidate during the course of a by-election. It's a tough decision, a necessary decision, but when I say the Labour Party has changed under my leadership I mean it.”
Keir Starmer (born 1962) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Comments in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire (13 February 2024), as cited in "Graham Jones: Labour suspends second candidate over Israel comments", The Times (13 February 2024)
“Are we going to celebrate a Labour version of Brexit? No. We must have the Labour Party this week saying no to Brexit and we must lead the campaign to remain.”
Emily Thornberry (born 1960) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jeremy Corbyn faces calls to resolve Labour Brexit divisions BBC News (22 September 2019)
“I had no expectations. I thought, “If I don’t make it, it’s my own fault.” In China I had to suffer and labour for the Communist Party – here I was given the opportunity to suffer and labour for myself and to build my own life. I chose to look at the glass half full – I think that’s a very immigrant attitude.”
Anchee Min (born 1957) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On choosing to immigrate to the United States in “Anchee Min: 'If I had stayed in China, I would be dead'” in The Telegraph (2013 Jul 4)
“I have said that increased production is essential to the very existence of Australia; and increased production cannot be assured without the hearty co-operation of labour and capital. Industrial peace is essential to increased production, and that in its turn cannot be assured unless labour is given its legitimate place as a full partner in production.”
Billy Hughes (1862–1952) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech during the 1919 federal election campaign (30 October 1919)
“Labour has many critics and the workers are too much given to the catch cries of different political parties, and by doing so weakens the power of the Labour Party, whose policy is that every man is entitled to a living wage in his own country.”
Timothy Quill (1901–1960) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Southern Star (1924)
“It is now quite clear that only those in the traditional labour movement who opposed its undemocratic organisations and their tactics can properly be called socialists. The labour leaders of yesterday and today did not and do not represent a workers' movement but only a capitalistic movement of workers.”
Paul Mattick (1904–1981) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anti-Bolshevik Communism, Merlin Press, Ltd., Monmouth, Wales (1978) p. 87, written in 1945.
“There was a feeling of tremendous dedication in the air, a feeling that we didn't care what happened, this is the way we were going to vote, we were going to put our names on the line... I think it was the beginning of the ultimate split in the Labour Party into an SDP and a Labour Party, and that was, when I look back on it, really where it all began.”
Shirley Williams (1930–2021) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Labour MPs who voted in favour of entry into the EEC in the House of Commons on 28 October 1971, quoted in Phillip Whitehead, The Writing on the Wall: Britain in the Seventies (1985), p. 341
“Bill and I were much more of the Labour ethos than probably David or Roy were... It seemed much more a whole life that was going and I guess that we were more reluctant to face the fact that probably the Labour Party was by that time irrecoverable.”
Shirley Williams (1930–2021) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Phillip Whitehead, The Writing on the Wall: Britain in the Seventies (1985), p. 360
“Remarkable correlation between Labour MPs who attacked Corbyn in EDM wanting no investigation into Salisbury before firmly attributing blame, and parliamentary Labour friends of Israel, I wonder why?”
Craig Murray (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the Labour Party, the exclusion of the revolutionary trend in the movement paved the way for the unchallenged domination of the right wing and locked the party ever more firmly into class collaboration and reformism. [...] In that sense, the decision to reject communist affiliation paved the way for the whole miserable litany of Labour-led disasters from 1931 to 1979.”
Andrew Murray (trade unionist) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Communist Party of Great Britain: A Historical Analysis to 1941 (1995), as cited in "Andrew Murray, Jeremy Corbyn’s aide, dreams of Soviet Britain" The Sunday Times (23 September 2018)
“If a week is a long time in politics, a century can seem surprisingly short. With uncanny timing, the centenary of the death of Keir Hardie, Labour’s first leader and arguably its most towering figure, falls at the end of this month, on the very weekend that Labour delegates will gather in Brighton for this year’s annual conference, the first under the party’s new leader.”
Melissa Benn (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So, apart from the fact that it is unconstitutional, it is against ILO, things that we have signed up to, it is against the Labour Act as it stands and amending the Labour Act to suit this particular Bill for a commission seems like, how is that aligning the Constitution”
Nicola Watson (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think he needs to pipe down a little bit because if the unthinkable happens and next year, we do get a Labour government and Richard Tice is on his media platforms saying what a disaster 'Starmergeddon' and what a disaster the Labour Party are, I shall be reminding Mr Tice it was him that helped them get elected.”
Lee Anderson (born 1967) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a GB News interview, as cited in "Lee Anderson brands Reform UK leader a 'pound shop Nigel Farage'", The Telegraph (4 January 2024)
“A year into Mr. Corbyn's tenure, there is no trust and precious little dialogue between the Labour leader and Britain’s Jews. The country’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, has spoken of Labour’s "severe" problem of anti-Semitism — a problem that Jonathan Arkush, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the community’s leading representative body, says Mr. Corbyn is loath to tackle.”
“Within the Labour Party, we now have a culture which sadly has become embedded, which was allowed to drift from the fringes of the Labour Party into the heart of the party, which enables people to express anti-Semitism. Probably my talking to you this morning will fill my Twitter with abusive tweets which are basically anti-Semitic.”
Margaret Hodge (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rather than a Tory wipeout and Labour landslide, Starmer's floundering could lead us to another Theresa May 2017 situation, with himself as the emperor without clothes. Everyone laughed when Sunak first suggested a hung parliament. But the momentum building behind "no overall majority" shows the Tories are having a much better campaign than Labour.”
Camilla Tominey (born 1978) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Whisper it, but Rishi Sunak is making an extraordinary comeback", The Telegraph (31 May 2024)
“Labour rights are not just legal formalities, they are rooted in Nigeria’s constitutional order and global labour standards.”
Femi Falana (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Doesn’t structure in political party parlance mean the people? The Labour Party has that in abundance. It is only the Labour Party that has this army of supporters both young and old, who have sustained self-financing political processions in support of the party and our presidential candidate.”
Oyibo Chukwu (died 2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We live in a world where, as a result of innovation, cognitive labour (which progressively replaced physical labour from the mid-19th century) is now being replaced itself by artificial intelligence”
Heather McGregor (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would say that it’s been a labour of love, except that it’s felt like more love than labour.”
Alexandra Gage, Viscountess Gage (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The only way we can actually change things is to have a Labour government that is bold and ambitious. … I think it's really important to take inspiration from previous governments, especially the Attlee government of '45. We saw a country that was completely destroyed by war and the answers of that Labour government weren't to tinker around the edges.”
Zarah Sultana (born 1993) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: An interview with Zarah Sultana MP: strikes, power, and the cost-of-living crisis" (by Zac Attewell), The Boar (1 April 2023).
“So he with difficulty and labour hard Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour he.”
John Milton (1608–1674) said by 1674 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“We don't get weapons contracts, nigga / We don't get cheap labor for our company, nigga / We ARE cheap labour, nigga / Turn off the news and read, nigga / read...”
Immortal Technique (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Labour in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor.”
Daniel Webster (1782–1852) said by 1852 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Both sides have a bad incentive. The people you tax, who do work, they are going to stop working. The people who learn to live getting income without working, they are going to work less too.”
Arthur Laffer (born 1940) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reagan will come back: Interview with Arthur Laffer” (24 December 2012), Interview conducted by Economiaendostardes in Spain (16 December 2012)
“No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well. There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination.”
Paul Graham (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For example, when we leave [The Documenta in] Kassel, a working group or maybe two working groups will work on things here at Kassel. We want to cause a snow-ball effect. We want to build a network throughout Europe that will work on these things, right? I can only say: we can only do it as well as possible.”
Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These days a very melancholic mood has taken hold of me. There is nothing else but my work. My dear ones, I have been well and I have been working and my way of working is changing. For this reason I always feel extremely anxious. I am not content and perhaps I will not (ever) be satisfied with my work, not even for one day. I want to attain works which are more personal and clean.”
Arshile Gorky (1904–1948) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 125: Gorky's quote, in a letter to his sister Vartush Mooradian, 28 February 1938
“I’ve done work on glioblastoma. When I was in industry, I worked primarily on HIV. Right now I’m working on vaccines and drugs for neglected pathogens, working on different diseases like leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. Occasionally I collaborate with people in industry to work on cancer. I also have some collaborations for infectious diseases like malaria.”
Oluwatoyin Asojo (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m disciplined. I begin work early in the morning and I work until early afternoon. Whatever I am working on takes priority. Sometimes I get nervous as I approach my desk but once I start, I keep on going. If I’m not working on anything, I read or daydream. Afterwards, I like to run to get out of my head and sometimes I bake chocolate cake.”
Órfhlaith Foyle wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
L. P. Jacks (1860–1955) first seen 1932 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Misattributed to Chateaubriand on the internet and even some recently published books, this statement actually originated with L. P. Jacks in Education through Recreation (1932)
Also quoted by: François-René de Chateaubriand (misattributed)
“We need not only open trading systems, but systems that work for people around the world — taking into account not only the bottom line, but the well-being of working men and women, the protection of children against sweatshop labor, and the protection of the environment.”
“The GOP is working overtime to dismantle labor unions, which are exceedingly popular with the American public. Unions secure higher wages and better work conditions. We should support them, even if we’re not in one. (Or look into unionization in your industry!)”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born 1989) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter Post, (2 June 2019)
“Just as the philosopher or scientist must once in a while occupy himself with manual labor, so it is necessary for working girls to have some brain work to relieve their physical fatigue. If we come home with no other thought but the grind that awaits us again tomorrow, the best thing for us to do is to find forgetfulness in sleep.”
Theresa Malkiel (1874–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Government as Substitute Husband did for women what labor unions still have not accomplished for men. And men pay dues for labor unions; the taxpayer pays the dues for feminism. Feminism and government soon become taxpayer-supported women’s unions.”
Warren Farrell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life without labor is crime, and labor without art is brutality.”
John Wesley Hardrick (1891–1968) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said in 1914 during an exhibit at Allen Chapel in Indianapolis; cited in William Edward Taylor, Harriet Garcia Warkel and Margaret Taylor Burroughs, A Shared Heritage, Indianapolis Museum of Art
“The Soviet scheme of compulsory labor is being applied on such a broad scale and is so boldly presented as a ‘proletarian’ scheme that it constitutes the gravest danger that has confronted labor for centuries.”
Samuel Gompers (1850–1924) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Out of Their Own Mouths: A Revelation and an Indictment of Sovietism, New York: NY, E.P Dutton and Company (1921) p. 79, co-authored with William English Walling.
“Costs of manufactured articles importantly depend on the cost of raw materials as well as labor, and the prices of many raw materials do not fluctuate directly with the labor cost of producing them.”
Charles Erwin Wilson (1890–1961) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charles E. Wilson cited in: Ernest Dale (1950), Sources of economic information for collective bargaining. p. 36