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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“For socialism is not merely the labour question, it is before all things the atheistic question, the question of the form taken by atheism to-day, the question of the tower of Babel built without God, not to mount to heaven from earth but to set up heaven on earth.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Platonists and their Christian successors held the peculiar notion that the Earth was tainted and somehow nasty, while the heavens were perfect and divine. The fundamental idea that the Earth is a planet, that we are citizens of the Universe, was rejected and forgotten.”
Carl Sagan (1934–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I regard it as almost inevitable that either a nuclear confrontation or environmental catastrophe will cripple the Earth at some point in the next 1,000 years which, as geological time goes, is the mere blink of an eye. By then I hope and believe that our ingenious race will have found a way to slip the surly bonds of Earth and will therefore survive the disaster.”
Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ere long intelligence—transmitted without wires—will throb through the earth like a pulse through a living organism. The wonder is that, with the present state of knowledge and the experiences gained, no attempt is being made to disturb the electrostatic or magnetic condition of the earth, and transmit, if nothing else, intelligence.”
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) first seen 1892 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Electrical Engineer, (24 Jun 1892), 11‎, 609.
“The end of the old civilization has come; the face of the earth will be renewed under a new son. Let the present generation perish, let the old prevaricators die in the desert! The holy earth will not cover their bones.”
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865) said by 1865 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Barefoot conducts his seminars on his houseboat in Sausalito. It costs a hundred dollars to find out why we are on this Earth. You also get a sandwich, but I wasn't hungry that day. John Lennon had just been killed and I think I know why we are on this Earth; it's to find out that what you love the most will be taken away from you, probably due to an error in high places rather than by design.”
Philip K. Dick (1928–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It behoveth the sovereigns of the world may God assist them or the ministers of the earth to take counsel together and to adopt one of the existing languages or a new one to be taught to children in schools throughout the world, and likewise one script. Thus the whole earth will come to be regarded as one country.”
Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; But there is neither East nor West, border, nor breed, nor birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) first seen 1889 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Ballad of East and West (1889).
“The thirsty earth soaks up the rain, And drinks, and gapes for drink again; The plants suck in the earth, and are With constant drinking fresh and fair.”
Abraham Cowley (1618–1667) said by 1667 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As the attraction power is increasing in Me... you are going to witness many astounding events in future... Even while I am speaking to you now, My feet are being pulled by the earth. If I lift one foot, the earth attracts the other foot. Whatever I touch with My hand, it also gets attracted. This magnetic power is present in every man... I try to lift My foot but it is very difficult.”
Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sanathana Sarathi (April 2003), p. 123
“Only a complete moral idiot can believe for an instant that we are fighting against the wretched of the earth. We are fighting, as I said before, against the scum of the earth”
Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A View from the Patriotic Left", Boston Globe (2002-09-09)]: On the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan
“Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters "U.S.", let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder, and bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on earth or under the earth which can deny that he has earned the right of citizenship in the United States.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Negroes and the National War Effort", speech in Philadelphia (6 July 1863)
“We are trying to create a nation that has never before existed, of all the races, tribes, cultures and creeds of Earth, where all are equal. In this utopian drive for the perfect society of our dreams we are killing the real country we inherited — the best and greatest country on earth.”
Pat Buchanan (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They thought the earth was flat—a little dishing if anything—that it was about five thousand years old, and that the stars were little sparkles made to beautify the night. The fact is that Christianity was in existence for fifteen hundred years before there was an astronomer in Christendom. No follower of Christ knew the shape of the earth.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can be a doctor and I’ll still help you. You can be an engineer and I can help you. You can be a scientist and I’ll help you, whoever you are because I am not helping anything else. I am helping you! Peace on this Earth doesn’t begin by great ideas. Peace on Earth begins with you.”
Prem Rawat (born 1957) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kissimmee, Florida, November 10, 1978
“In Greek mythology, Antaeus was a giant who was strong as long as he had contact with the earth. When he was lifted from the earth he lost strength. So it is with engineers. They must not become isolated from the real world...”
Hyman G. Rickover (1900–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The French system of conscription brings together a fair sample of all classes; ours is composed of the scum of the earth — the mere scum of the earth. It is only wonderful that we should be able to make so much out of them afterwards.”
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) first seen 1813 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking about soldiers in the British Army, 4 November 1813
“The whole Earth is the Sepulchre of famous men; and their story is not graven only on Stone over their native earth, but lives on far away, without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men's lives.”
Pericles (494–429 BC) said by 429 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A Brief and True Report concerning Williamsburg in Virginia by Rutherford Goodwin (1941), p. 125
“Men started to geoform the earth in the middle of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, a lot of the early work was done by people who failed to see the earth as a closed set of mutually interrelated systems.”
Joe Haldeman (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a quarrel for earth, turn not to earth.”
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) said by 430 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First Homily, as translated by John Burnaby (1955), p. 267
“The fundamental principle of faith of Judeo Christian (belief) is there is a God, who is our heavenly Father and all the people on this earth and every speck of humanity on this earth is a creation of God … And every creation of humanity is a child of God.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A slave's soul has no worth, my brothers; it lacks strength to tread on this great earth with gallantry and freedom. I pity the poor slaves, they're nought but airy mist, a light breeze scatters them, a fragrance knocks them down; it's only just they crawl on the earth on hands and knees. Today I'll write a hymn to God and pray for this great grace.”
Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hence I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon, and the center of the earth, traverse this grand circle amid the rest of the planets in an annual revolution around the sun. Near the sun is the center of the universe. Moreover, since the sun remains stationary, whatever appears as a motion of the sun is really due rather to the motion of the earth.”
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) said by 1543 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our roots are in the dark; the earth is our country. Why did we look up for blessing — instead of around, and down? What hope we have lies there. Not in the sky full of orbiting spy-eyes and weaponry, but in the earth we have looked down upon. Not from above, but from below. Not in the light that blinds, but in the dark that nourishes, where human beings grow human souls.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Left-Handed Commencement Address", Mills College (1983)
“A Man that is of Copernicus’s Opinion, that this Earth of ours is a Planet, carry’d round and enlighten’d by the Sun, like the rest of the Planets, cannot but sometimes think, that it’s not improbable that the rest of the Planets have their Dress and Furniture, and perhaps their Inhabitants too as well as this Earth of ours...”
Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) said by 1695 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“L.G. said that when the earth passed through the tail of a comet it came in contact with a gas which, when it came into the atmosphere of the earth, made everybody doubly happy and feel more kindly and more well disposed. "Upon my oath," said L.G., "I am not at all sure if Hitler has not been that comet in Germany.”
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 (12 September 1936), quoted in Colin Cross (ed.), Life with Lloyd George. The Diary of A. J. Sylvester 1931-45 (1975), p. 153
“Environmentalists are much too concerned with planet Earth. Their geocentric attitude prevents them from seeing the greater picture – lots of planets are much worse off than Earth is.”
Erik Naggum (1965–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The earth is not a mechanism but an organism, a being with its own life and its own reasons, where the support and sustenance of the human animal is incidental. If man in his newfound power and vanity persists in the attempt to remake the planet in his own image, he will succeed only in destroying himself — not the planet. The earth will survive our most ingenious folly.”
Edward Abbey (1927–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The moon is not kept in her orbit round the earth, nor the earth in her orbit round the sun, by a force that varies merely in the inverse ratio of the squares of the distances.”
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) said by 1834 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is clear that God is saying, 'I gave man dominion over the earth, but he lost it. Now I desire mature sons and daughters who will in My name exercise dominion over the earth and subdue Satan, the unruly, the rebellious. Take back My world from those who would loot it and abuse it. Rule as I would rule.'" — The Secret Kingdom”
Pat Robertson (1930–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside, is available, we shall, in an emotional sense, acquire an additional dimension... Once let the sheer isolation of the Earth become plain to every man, whatever his nationality or creed, and a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose. (1948)”
Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I like to define biology as the history of the earth and all its life — past, present, and future. To understand biology is to understand that all life is linked to the earth from which it came; it is to understand that the stream of life, flowing out of the dim past into the uncertain future, is in reality a unified force, though composed of an infinite number and variety of separate lives.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Preface to Humane Biology Projects (1961) by the Animal Welfare Institute
“Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Whatever the vexations or concerns of their personal lives, their thoughts can find paths that lead to inner contentment and to renewed excitement in living. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We're replacing the wild with the tame. Half of the fertile land on earth is now farmland. 70% of the mass of birds on this planet are domestic birds. The vast majority, chickens. We account for over one-third of the weight of mammals on earth. A further 60% are the animals we raise to eat. The rest, from mice to whales, make up just 4%.”
David Attenborough (born 1926) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a small area of land in Asia Minor that is called Armenia, but it is not so. It is not Armenia. It is a place. There are only Armenians, and they inhabit the earth, not Armenia, since there is no Armenia. There is no America and there is no England, and no France, and no Italy. There is only the earth.”
William Saroyan (1908–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They’d lived all their life on Earth; they knew nothing but the Earth. They had never really touched an alien concept, and that was all this concept was. It was not really as slimy as it seemed. It was only alien. There were a lot of alien things that could make one’s hair stand up on end while in their proper alien context they were fairly ordinary.”
Clifford D. Simak (1904–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Neither of you have a need for children in your present personalities. You are almost finished with incarnations on the earth, so much so that the physical bodies will return completely and unfragmented upon your physical death. This is always the case in the final earth life. The physical property is left behind, no portion of it being carried on that plane through children.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The inner world of each man and woman is connected with the inner world of the earth. The spirit becomes flesh. Part of each individual soul, then, is intimately connected with what we will call the world's soul, or the soul of the earth.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Earth grates on my nerves. It gives me a big pain these days. That’s why I live out here. Earth is overcrowded, bureaucratic, unhealthy, and suffering from too many mass-psychoses to bother classifying.”
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Time's corrosive dewdrop eats The giant warrior to a crust Of earth in earth and rust in rust.”
Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897) said by 1897 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When she opened her eyes, Veronika did not think "this must be heaven". Heaven would never use a fluorescent tube to light a room, and the pain — which started a fraction of a second later — was typical of the Earth. Ah, that Earth pain — unique, unmistakable.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he course of ages has fulfilled the prophecy and promise, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." That which in substance was possessed by the Nicene Hierarchy, that the Pope claims now.”
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What shall we know of our death? Either the soul is immortal and we shall not die, or it perishes with the flesh and we shall not know that we are dead. Live, then, as if you were eternal, and do not believe that your life has changed merely because it seems proved that the Earth is empty. You do not live in the Earth, you live in yourself.”
André Maurois (1885–1967) first seen 1933 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Will Durant, On the Meaning of Life (London: Williams & Norgate, 1933) p. 53
“Earth, earth riding your merry-go-round toward extinction, right to the roots thickening the oceans like gravy, festering in your caves, you are becoming a latrine.”
Anne Sexton (1928–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To a wise man, the whole earth is open; for the native land of a good soul is the whole earth.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Freeman (1948), p. 166
“There is seldom a line of glory written upon the earth's face, but a line of suffering runs parallel with it; and they that read the lustrous syllables of the one, and stoop not to decipher the spotted and worn inscription of the other, get the.least half of the lesson earth has to give.”
Frederick William Faber (1814–1863) first seen 1842 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sights and Thoughts in Foreign Churches and among Foreign Peoples (London: J.G.F. and J. Rivington, 1842), p. 288.
“...We believe we can continue to live and thrive only if we care for one another. This is the age of the Reaper, when we inherit five thousand years of postponed results, the fruits of our callousness toward the earth and toward other human beings. But at last we have come to understand that we are part of the earth, part of the air, the fire, and the water, as we are part of one another.” (p17)”
Starhawk (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The floating of the planets in the weightless air is due to the inner constitution of the globes, and the modernized drilling of the earth to exploit oil from within is a sort of disturbance by the modern demons and can result in a greatly harmful reaction to the floating condition of the earth.”
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1999. Canto 2, Chapter 7, verse 1, purport. Vedabase
“I'll follow him to the ends of the earth," she sobbed. Yes, darling. But the earth doesn't have any ends. Columbus fixed that.”
Tom Robbins (1932–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All of Earth’s systems are complex, which means they do not respond to change in linear and steady ways. They absorb stress up to a certain point, then suddenly collapse. If one goes down, it can trigger the collapse of others: during previous mass extinctions, collapse seems to have cascaded from one ecosystem and Earth system to the next.”
George Monbiot (born 1963) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Earth is under threat, yet you would scarcely know it", The Guardian (28 September 2022)