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
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Courage
LoveFriendshipHappinessHopeFearCourageDeathLifeTimeWarPeaceFreedomTruthWisdomKnowledgeScienceArtMusicNatureMoneyWorkPowerGodBeautyLaughterFamilySuccess and failureChangeDreamsBooks and reading
“I think my life has been wonderful. I have done what I felt like. I was given courage and I was given adventure and that has carried me along. And then also a sense of humor and a little bit of common sense. It has been a very rich life.”
Ingrid Bergman (1915–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2007: Movie Icons, ISBN 9783822822081 , page 174 , Verlag Taschen GmbH
“My hope is that the description of God's love in my life will give you the freedom and the courage to discover . . . God's love in yours.”
Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Here and Now: Living in the Spirit (1994), pg. 175
“Courage! I have shown it for years; think you I shall lose it at the moment when my sufferings are to end?”
Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) said by 1793 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Responding to the priest who had accompanied her to the foot of the guillotine, who had whispered, "Courage, madame! Now is the time for courage." Quoted in Women of Beauty and Heroism (1859) by Frank B. Goodrich, p. 30…
“His gods were simple and understandable; Crom was their chief, and he lived on a great mountain, whence he sent forth dooms and death. It was useless to call on Crom, because he was a gloomy, savage god, and he hated weaklings. But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Cimmerian's mind, was all any god should be expected to do.”
Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release From little things: Knows not the livid loneliness of fear, Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear The sound of wings.”
Amelia Earhart (1897–1939) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Poetry written around the time of the breaking of her "tenuous engagement" to Samuel Chapman (c. 1928), published in Amelia, My Courageous Sister : Biography of Amelia Earhart (1987) by Muriel Earhart Morrissey and Caro…
“How can Life grant us boon of living, compensate For dull grey ugliness and pregnant hate Unless we dare The soul's dominion? Each time we make a choice, we pay With courage to behold the restless day, And count it fair.”
Amelia Earhart (1897–1939) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Poetry written around the time of breaking of her "tenuous engagement" to Samuel Chapman (c. 1928), published in Amelia, My Courageous Sister : Biography of Amelia Earhart (1987) by Muriel Earhart Morrissey and Carol L.…
“I can only stick my neck out and offer my humble beliefs. If I become an outsider by doing so, this won't be a great hardship as I've been that as far back as I can remember — something strange and unacceptable in the eyes of those who believe they see straight. At least it's given me courage of a kind, which I'd like every Australian to acquire.”
Patrick White (1912–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cette religion ôte le courage de penser aux choses inaccoutumées, et défend surtout lexamen personnel, comme le plus énorme des péchés; c'est un pas vers le protestantisme.”
Stendhal (1783–1842) said by 1842 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The great Carlyle has said that the best gift God ever gave to man was an eye that could really see; I venture to add that an equally rare and not less important gift is the courage to tell what one sees.”
James A. Garfield (1831–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pull down thy vanity, it is not man Made courage, or made order, or made grace, Pull down thy vanity, I say pull down. Learn of the green world what can be thy place”
Ezra Pound (1885–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why is it that so many men of small stature have more courage than men of size?”
John le Carré (1931–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Once he saw a youth blushing, and addressed him, "Courage, my boy! that is the complexion of virtue.”
Diogenes Laërtius wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Tertullian
“A Little Treasury of Modern Poetry is a standard Oscar Williams production... ...the book has the merit of containing a considerably larger selection of Oscar Williams’s poems than I have seen in any other anthology. There are nine of his poems — and five of Hardy’s. It takes a lot of courage to like your own poetry almost twice as well as Hardy’s.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She knew he was telling his soul what it needed to hear so that he could gather his courage to go and go what he must”
Alice Borchardt (1939–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So easily can we destroy those things we love. Had his moment of wounded pride, his stupid frenzy, snuffed out that fragile courage? Would the strong spirit that survived so much anguish be ended as easily as this?”
Alice Borchardt (1939–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's nothing noble or selfless about politicians and there never has been. Putting it charitably, Profiles in Courage is a compendium of Democratic mythology, ghostwritten for an ambitious young Massachusetts Senator who never did a thing for himself if he could pay to have it done by others.”
L. Neil Smith (1946–2021) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pursuing Invariably the Same Object" 18 April 2010.
“It was the call of all those fortuities... which gave her the courage to leave home and change her fate.”
Milan Kundera (1929–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A hallmark of sanity, Alex, is the courage to face even unpleasant points of view.”
David Brin (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A hero is someone who gets the job done, Albert,” Clara once said. “Bravely when necessary. Courage is an admirable last resort, for when intelligence fails.”
David Brin (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science is a great many things, and I have called them a great many names; but in the end they all return to this: science is the acceptance of what works and the rejection of what does not. That needs more courage than we might think.”
Jacob Bronowski (1908–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Qui se laisse outrager, mérite qu'on l'outrage Et l'audace impunie enfle trop un courage.”
Pierre Corneille (1606–1684) said by 1684 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is our dreams that point the way to freedom. Those dreams are made realizable through our poems that give us the strength and courage to see, to feel, to speak, and to dare.”
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I knew, as I had always known, that the only way you can head people off from using who you are against you is to be honest and open first, to talk about yourself before they talk about you. It wasn’t even courage. Speaking up was a protective mechanism for myself.”
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The people of Ukraine continue to inspire the world with their courage and resolve as they fight bravely to defend their country and their democracy against Russian aggression.”
Joe Biden (born 1942) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement by President Joe Biden on Additional Security Assistance to Ukraine (June 1, 2022)
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
E. F. Schumacher (1911–1977) first seen 1102 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Actually written by E. F. Schumacher in a 1973 essay titled "Small is Beautiful" which appeared in The Radical Humanist: volume 37, p. 22. Earliest published source found on Google Books attributing this to Einstein is …
Also quoted by: Albert Einstein (misattributed)
“God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”
Chester W. Nimitz (1885–1966) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Appended to a variant of the Serenity Prayer in The Armed Forces Prayer Book (1951)
“Take courage, lover! Could you endure such pain At any hand but hers?”
Robert Graves (1895–1985) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Symptoms of Love" from More Poems (1961)
“Courage is poorly housed that dwells in numbers; the lion never counts the herd that are about him, nor weighs how many flocks he has to scatter.”
Aaron Hill (writer) first seen 1873 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Golden Treasury of Thought: A gathering of quotations from the best ancient and modern authors (1873) edited by John Camden Hotten.
“Man was formed for society and is neither capable of living alone, nor has the courage to do it.”
William Blackstone (1723–1780) said by 1780 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tisn't life that matters! 'Tis the courage you bring to it.”
Hugh Walpole (1884–1941) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fortitude (1913) First lines
“I'm neither giving up nor giving in. I believe I'm still the fighter that Dr. King and JFK and Ronald Reagan knew. But it's a fight I must someday call a draw. I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let who will boast their courage in the field, I find but little safety from my shield. Nature's, not honour's, law we must obey: This made me cast my useless shield away, And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life, which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain; But who can get another life again?”
Archilochus (688–645 BC) said by 645 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have simply been too fearful to go into that place.” “You? Fearful?” I doubted this. “Do not mistake my arrogance for courage, my son. It is true that I am renowned for what I can do. But I am afraid of the unknown, as are most men, Gamesmen or pawns alike.”
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Encouraging the weak and the faint; giving strength and courage to those who have faltered. (Many Mansions Chapter 20 - A Philosophy of Vocational Choice)”
Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The qualities which produce the dogged, unbeatable courage of the British, personified at the time by Winston Churchill, can appear in other settings as stubbornness bordering on stupidity.”
Dean Acheson (1893–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As to the American [Civil] War it has manifestly ceased to have any attainable object as far as the Northerns are concerned, except to get rid of some more thousand troublesome Irish and Germans. It must be owned, however, that the Anglo-Saxon race on both sides have shown courage and endurance highly honourable to their stock.”
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (20 October 1862), quoted in Jasper Ridley, Lord Palmerston (1970), p. 559
“Vanity and narcissism — the compulsive need to be admired and praised — undermine one's courage, for one then fights on someone else's conviction rather than one's own.”
Rollo May (1909–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Courage is the capacity to meet the anxiety which arises as one achieves freedom. It is the willingness to differentiate, to move from the protecting realms of parental dependence to new levels of freedom and integration.”
Rollo May (1909–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Physical courage in whatever scene … seems to hinge on whether the individual can feel he is fighting for others as well as himself.”
Rollo May (1909–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is highly significant, and indeed almost a rule, that moral courage has its source in identification through one's own sensitivity with the suffering of one's fellow human beings.”
Rollo May (1909–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whatever sphere we may be in, there is a profound joy in the realization that we are helping to form the structure of the new world. This is creative courage, however minor or fortuitous our creations may be. We can then say, with Joyce, Welcome, O life! We go for the millionth time to forge in the smithy of our souls the uncreated conscience of the race.”
Rollo May (1909–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the prize for courage will surely be awarded most justly to those who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger.”
Thucydides (461–395 BC) said by 395 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.”
Thucydides (461–395 BC) said by 395 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In truth, I am nothing but a plodding mediocrity — please observe, a plodding mediocrity — for a mere mediocrity does not go very far, but a plodding one gets quite a distance. There is joy in that success, and a distinction can come from courage, fidelity and industry.”
Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870–1938) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Nine Old Men (1936) by Drew Pearson and Robert Sharon Allen, p. 221.
“Courage and the goodness of one’s cause, unfortunately, do not always go hand in hand.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand; and then they were joined together as if a sword grew out of my arm; and when the blood ran through my fingers, then I fought with most courage.”
John Bunyan (1628–1688) said by 1688 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That is my dream. But frankly, I do not know if Western feminists have the courage or clarity of vision to help me realize it.”
Ayaan Hirsi Ali (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am in favour of courage—who is ever not in the abstract?—but not of treating it as a substitute for wisdom, as I fear we are currently in danger of doing.”
Roy Jenkins (1920–2003) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Lords (24 September 2002) shortly before the Iraq War
“I am asking this movement to exert itself as it has never done before, to show the qualities which we have, the socialist imagination that exists in our movement, the readiness to reforge the alliance, stronger than ever, between the government and the trade unions, and above all to show the supreme quality in politics, the red flame of socialist courage.”
Michael Foot (1913–2010) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Labour Party Conference in Blackpool (29 September 1975), quoted in Kenneth O. Morgan, Michael Foot (2007), p. 319
“It was the old New York way of taking life "without effusion of blood": the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than "scenes," except the behaviour of those who gave rise to them.”
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) said by 1937 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source