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

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Success and failure

Love Friendship Happiness Hope Fear Courage Death Life Time War Peace Freedom Truth Wisdom Knowledge Science Art Music Nature Money Work Power God Beauty Laughter Family Success and failure Change Dreams Books and reading

“And yet in a way I would rather fail point blank. Things one can do have no value. I don't mind feeling small myself, but I dread finding the world is.”
Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The type of people who gravitate to the government system are doing this out of desperation and they don't really have the answers, and eventually... [will] fail.”
Ron Paul (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That the Jews are connected with God in a special way and that God does not allow that bond to fail is entirely obvious. We wait for the instant in which Israel will say yes to Christ, but we know that it has a special mission in history now … which is significant for the world.”
Pope Benedict XVI (1927–2022) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: God and the World, published October 2000, as reported by National Catholic Reporter.
“Wherever literature consoles sorrow, or assuages pain,—wherever it brings gladness to eyes which fail with wakefulness and tears, and ache for the dark house and the long sleep,—there is exhibited, in its noblest form, the immortal influence of Athens.”
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Thomas B. Macaulay
“It goes without saying that I understand the comforts and security of racial solidarity, defensive or otherwise. Only those who have not been set upon by hatred and repelled by rejection fail to understand its attraction. As I have suggested, I have been there.”
Clarence Thomas (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action. We must speculate no more on our duty, but simply do it. When we have done it, however blindly, perhaps Heaven will show us why.”
Dinah Craik (1826–1887) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Christian's Mistake (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1865), Ch. 2, p. 64
“If we go on as we are, we are protecting the mind of the American public from any real contact with the menacing world that squeezes in upon us. We are engaged in a great experiment to discover whether a free public opinion can devise and direct methods of managing the affairs of the nation. We may fail. But we are handicapping ourselves needlessly.”
Edward R. Murrow (1908–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We pay lip service to multiracialism but we fail to put it into practice because we continue to see most things and ourselves from our own ethnic perspective. So long as the personal attitude persists, we will not see us one people of Fiji and our future will not be secure.”
Epeli Ganilau (1951–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If this is neglected, any effort at development will fail, because factions will emerge with their own form of protest that would drive underground anyone seeking help. This will endanger whatever development has taken place.”
Epeli Ganilau (1951–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My girlfriend called me the other night / She said 'Boy, you lazy I don't mind / As long as there's a bed beneath the stars that shine / I'll be fine I can't get a life if my heart's not in it I lost my faith in the summertime / Coz it don't stop raining I begged my doctor for one more line / He said 'son, words fail me / There ain't no place to be killing time' / I guess I'm just lazy”
Noel Gallagher (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh my precocious one," she said. "You never fail to charm me. Bisexual is it, how Byronic and charming. Doesn't that double's one's chances for love? I'm so delighted.”
Anne Rice (1941–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many of us drive automobiles, which came with an owner’s manual in the glove compartment when we bought it. If we really want to get the best out of our vehicles, we have to follow certain guiding principles in the owner’s manual from the maker. Some of us use beauty products, which have instruction on the bottle. If we fail to pay attention to the instructions, we may lose our hair.”
Louis Farrakhan (born 1933) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The personality may grievously fail in attaining any real wholeness. One thing is certain, that the well-developed, well-integrated personality is the highest product of evolution, the fullest realization we know of in the universe.”
Julian Huxley (1887–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“we live in a time when change comes rapidly-a time when much of that change is, at least for long periods, irrevocable. This is what makes our own task so urgent. It is not often that a generation is challenged, as we today are challenged. For what we fail to do-what we let go by default, can perhaps never be done.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reform will come and only come through the building of mass movements and alternative centers of power that can overthrow—let me repeat that word for Homeland Security—overthrow the corporate state. If we fail to sever these chains, we will become like many who did not rise up in time to save their civil society’s human chattel. This means we too must defy the law and engage in civil disobedience”
Chris Hedges (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But as for me, Emperor, nature has not given me stature, age has marred my face, and my strength is impaired by ill health. Therefore, since these advantages fail me, I shall win your approval, as I hope, by the help of my knowledge and my writings.”
Vitruvius (80–15 BC) said by 15 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You fail to understand, my friend. We do not control time. If anything, it controls us. We simply measure it.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All Empires fall, All ages die, All strife shall be in vain. All Kings go down, All hope must fail, But Tanelorn remains— Our Tanelorn remains...”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Religion, virtually without fail, provides the army at war with its blessings, and recruits from among its officials the chaplain, who in military costume counsels and consoles and stiffens the morale of men at war.”
C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every revolution has its counterrevolution — that is a sign the revolution is for real. And every revolution must defend itself against this counterrevolution, or the revolution will fail.”
C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Listen Yankee (1960), pp. 54.
“I have desired to go Where springs not fail, To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail And a few lilies blow. And I have asked to be Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing of the sea.”
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tis true, my form is something odd but blaming me, is blaming God, Could I create myself anew I would not fail in pleasing you.”
Joseph Merrick (1862–1890) first seen 1706 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This is a rhyme used in Merrick's sideshow pamphlet, and which he is said to have often repeated, and used to sign his letters, followed by a quotation from "False Greatness" by Isaac Watts, first published in Horae Lyr…
“... I fail to believe that Hitler's war – the most terrible in history – was merely due to economic causes, and not to something deeper and more sinister in human outlook and beliefs. ... It was an ideology and not merely materialism. It was an ideological obsession, a madness, which can operate as disastrously in nations as in individuals. ...”
Jan Smuts (1870–1950) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Addressing the Canada Club in Ottawa on 29 June 1945, after the United Nations Charter was finalized, as quoted by Louise W. Holborn (ed., 1948) in War and Peace Aims of the United Nations, p. 719
“Only the impossible is worth attempting. In everything else one is sure to fail.”
Celia Green (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What nationalist educators often fail to recognize is that merely being taught by teachers who are black has not and will not solve the problem if the teachers have been socialized to internalize racist thinking.”
Bell hooks (1952–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I speak of All That Is, you must understand my position within it. All That Is knows no other. This does not mean that there may not be more to know. It does not mean, and here words quite fail us, it does not mean that All That Is, in any terms we can conceive of, may not be limited. It knows of no other.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“… Any one of a million things could fail and cause our complex civilization to collapse for an hour, for a day, or however long. That's when you find out the extent to which you are reliant on technology and don't even know it. That's when you see that it's so interdependent, that if you take one thing away, the whole thing falls down and leaves you with nothing.”
James Burke (science historian) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am an unfortunate and deserted creature, I look around and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These amiable people to whom I go have never seen me and know little of me. I am full of fears, for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever.”
Mary Shelley (1797–1851) said by 1851 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many there are who fail to see that there can be but one lord, and that those who do not make GOD Lord of all do not make Him Lord at all.”
James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) said by 1905 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We believe that the time has come for doing more fully what He has commanded us; and by His grace we intend to do it. Not to try, for we see no Scriptural authority for trying. Try is a word constantly in the mouth of unbelievers, . . . far too often taken up by believers. In our experience, ‘to try’ has usually meant ‘to fail’. (The Lord’s) command is not ‘Do your best,’ but ‘DO IT’.”
James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) said by 1905 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Six: Assault on the Nine. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1988, 47).
“Wilt thou not save me? once in every year This rightful form of mine that thou dost see By favour of the Goddess have I here From sunrise unto sunset given me, That some brave man may end my misery. And thou — art thou not brave? can thy heart fail, Whose eyes e'en now are weeping at my tale?”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Morn shall meet noon While the flower-stems yet move, Though the wind dieth soon And the clouds fade above. Loved lips are thine As I tremble and hearken; Bright thine eyes shine, Though the leaves thy brow darken. O Love, kiss me into silence, lest no word avail me, Stay my head with thy bosom lest breath and life fail me! O sweet day, O rich day, made long for our love!”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Santo Tomas was based on emigration and was therefore bound to fail, Belgians do not emigrate.”
Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When liberals' presidential nominees consistently fail to carry Kansas, liberals do not rush to read a book titled "What's the Matter With Liberals' Nominees?" No, the book they turned into a bestseller is titled "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Notice a pattern here?”
George Will (born 1941) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Column, September 14, 2006, "Dems Vs. Wal-mart" at jewishworldreview.com.
“Do-gooders fail to realize that most good is not done in the name of good but done in the name of self-interest.”
Walter E. Williams (1936–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I managed to fail Arts I, a course that a moderately intelligent amoeba could have passed without special coaching.”
Robert Hughes (1938–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He could knock me down the stairs and I would have worked out the theology for forgiving him before I reached the bottom. But if he harmed you in the slightest way, I'm afraid theology would fail me.”
Marilynne Robinson (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The south also exists... the future of the north depends on the south. If we don't make that better world possible, if we fail, and through the rifles of the U.S. Marines, and through Mr. Bush's murderous bombs, if there is no coincidence and organization necessary in the south to resist the offensive of neo-imperialism, and the Bush doctrine is imposed upon the world, the world will be destroyed.”
Hugo Chávez (1954–2013) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hugo Chávez during his closing speech at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. January 31, 2005.
“They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.”
Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836–1907) said by 1907 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If all are born and live for the express purpose of learning to know God, and if the knowledge of God, in so far as it fails to produce this effect, is fleeting and vain, it is clear that all those who do not direct the whole thoughts and actions of their lives to this end fail to fulfil the law of their being.”
John Calvin (1509–1564) said by 1564 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the second marriage really succeeds, the first one didn't really fail.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The hardest thing is to forgive, but God does Even if you murdered or robbed, yeah it's wrong, but God loves Take one step toward him, he takes two toward you Even when all else fail, God support you.”
Nas (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the lexicon of youth, which fate reserves For a bright manhood, there is no such word As "fail".”
Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873) said by 1873 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Edward Bulwer Lytton
“Germany possesses an army commensurate with her needs, and if Great Britain has a navy corresponding to her requirements, Europe in general cannot fail to regard it as a most important factor for the maintenance of peace.”
Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king.”
Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Constitutional statutes … which embody the settled public opinion of the people who enacted them and whom they are to govern — can always be enforced. But if they embody only the sentiments of a bare majority, pronounced under the influence of a temporary excitement, they will, if strenuously opposed, always fail of their object; nay, they are likely to injure the cause they are framed to advance.”
Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) first seen 1882 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary (17 February 1882)
“And this is a prison for spies?” Liz persisted. “It is a prison for those who fail to recognize Socialist reality; for those who think they have the right to err; for those who slow down the march. Traitors,” she concluded briefly. “But what have they done?” “We cannot build communism without doing away with individualism. You cannot plan a great building if some swine builds his sty on your site.”
John le Carré (1931–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be not lifted up because of thy strength or beauty of body, for with only a slight sickness it will fail and wither away. Be not vain of thy skilfulness or ability, lest thou displease God, from whom cometh every good gift which we have.”
Thomas à Kempis (1379–1471) said by 1471 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The thing about the greased piglet is that he manages to slip through other people’s hands where mere mortals fail”
David Cameron (born 1966) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Greased piglet' Boris Johnson could pass deal says David Cameron Guardian (17 October 2019).
“I recommend to you, in my last, an innocent piece of art: that of flattering people behind their backs, in presence of those who, to make their own court, much more than for your sake, will not fail to repeat, and even amplify, the praise to the party concerned. This is of all flattery the most pleasing, and consequently the most effectual.”
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) first seen 1749 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 22 May 1749