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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“Lord, on this feast day we ask you for this gift: that we too may be made new, so as to experience this eternal newness. Cleanse us, O God, from the sad dust of habit, tiredness and indifference; give us the joy of waking every morning with wonder, with eyes ready to see the new colours of this morning, unique and unlike any other.”
Pope Francis (1936–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My thought is always, ‘It’s only downhill from here’. That’s how I’ve always operated, ever since I began Family Guy. I had the crippling fear that I used up all the funny last week. That crippling insecurity really drives you to do your best. Your moments of pure joy are few and far between, but they do exist.”
Seth MacFarlane (born 1973) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Seth Macfarlane: Interview With a Demented Genius, at the annual media leadership conference TheGrill, quoted in Oscar host Seth MacFarlane: 'Crippling insecurity drives you to do your best', Inside Movies, 2 October 20…
“Spiritual inebriation is this: that a man receives more sensible joy and sweetness than his heart can either contain or desire.”
John Ruysbroeck (1293–1381) said by 1381 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is all this? Let him conceive it if he can, express it if he knows how, if he desires to; if one can it is licit, but it is better to shut up as one should; because it is here that our intuitive joy, respectively and mutually in us both, speaks, not of this nor anything like it, but something infinitely other than this, by its profundity, and perpetual and ineffable silence.”
John of St. Samson (1572–1636) said by 1636 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If children are a joy for the well-to-do, they are a torment for seven-eights of all civlizees, who cannot afford to maintain and educate them.”
Charles Fourier (1772–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My first thought at the great news was, "Victory!" My second was, "God be thanked, I'll never have to order another man out to die!" And my next was, "I am grateful for the honor of being in command of the Third Fleet on this day." Then plain joy took over. I yelled, "Yippee!" and pounded the shoulders of everybody within reach.”
William Halsey Jr. (1882–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[S]ervants of darkness had no lasting joy in their service. In all of them the will for darkness was a perversion of the will for the light. In all but a few maniacs the satisfaction of the will for darkness was at all times countered by a revulsion which the unhappy spirit either dared not confess even to itself, or else rejected as cowardly and evil.”
Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I can no more give Jamie away than I can give away my heart. But what I can do is let another share in the joy that she has always given me.”
Nicholas Sparks (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As your father used to say, we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life, and mine has been filled with joy because of you.”
Nicholas Sparks (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The kiss you take, is paid by that you give: The joy is mutual, and I'm still in debt.”
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) said by 1735 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our present joy is sweeter by past pain, To love and heav'n, by suff'ring we attain.”
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) said by 1735 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The 'taking love' leads to feelings of attachment, jealousy, anger, and childish self-absorption, while the 'giving love,' intrinsic in the tenets of Buddhism, encompasses the whole enjoyable realm of love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.”
Lama Ole Nydahl (1941–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If one is wild and doesn’t like anything angry, when meeting with Buddha’s teaching one experiences joy and natural totality, as if two rivers flow into each other. And if one is basically trusting, the Pure Land is near, and in death, perhaps one will enter something deeply known.”
Lama Ole Nydahl (1941–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My dear countrymen! In joy and in sorrow I will always be with you. It is together with you that I fought to free my country from foreign rule. Together with you I am fighting to strengthen our national independence. Together with you, I will fight to preserve the integrity and national unity of the Republic of the Congo.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 145. Lumumba in his last appeal to the people from a prison in Thysville.
“The craving for sympathy is the common boundary-line between joy and sorrow.”
Julius Hare (1795–1855) said by 1855 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of course, nothing can be said to argue that people are morally obliged to accept this ethic, for to do so would be inconsistent with the ideas that inspired it in the first place. It is an ethic that will be adopted – if at all – by those who find a certain stark beauty in kindness without reward, joy without purpose, and progress without lasting achievement.”
Steve Stewart-Williams (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]hat’s something Roth does extraordinarily well – explain the toughest parts of life. Love, loss, heartbreak, joy and faith.”
Veronica Roth (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Salvation lies in the soul experiencing its intrinsic joy.”
Madhvacharya (1238–1317) said by 1317 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Garden of peace for all communities, A sight that allures the connoisseurs, A garden where Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Parsis and the Jains (can grow together); The site where many kings like Janaka ruled; A haven for singers and musicians; The body of the children of Mother Kannada; The house where the Kannada Tongue plays in joy.”
Kuvempu (1904–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That she learned ballet not with the idea of becoming a full-fledged dancer. It was just to train my body and more for the sheer joy of learning something beautiful.”
Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whose luck is better far than ours? The other fellow's. Whose road seems always lined with flowers? The other fellow's. Who is the man who seems to get Most joy in life, with least regret, Who always seems to win his bet? The other fellow.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The joy of life is living it, or so it seems to me; In finding shackles on your wrists, then struggling till you're free; In seeing wrongs and righting them, in dreaming splendid dreams, Then toiling till the vision is as real as moving streams. The happiest mortal on the earth is he who ends his day By leaving better than he found to bloom along the way.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year; He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season's here; Then he's thinking more of others than he's thought the months before, And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for. He is less a selfish creature than at any other time; When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He brought me his report card from the teacher and he said He wasn't very proud of it and sadly bowed his head. He was excellent in reading, but arithmetic, was fair, And I noticed there were several "unsatisfactorys" there; But one little bit of credit which was given brought me joy — He was "excellent in effort," and I fairly hugged the boy.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Stick to it, boy, Through the thick and the thin of it! Work for the joy That is born of the din of it. Failures beset you, But don't let them fret you; Dangers are lurking, But just keep on working. If it's worthwhile and you're sure of the right of it, Stick to it, boy, and make a real fight of it!”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Joy is more infectious than leprosy.”
Baba Amte (1914–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He always gave new technical knowledge to the engineers and at that moment his face was lit with joy.”
Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...the joy of winning the World Cup cannot be compared with any amount of money”
“We had won many trophies before and after that like the team under MSD are winning now. But the joy of that day is something different. May be because it was the first time we had won the coveted World Cup. Each year for these 30 years, I start receiving phone calls and texts from the night of June 24 the way I receive the same for my birthday!”
“And one laughs out with an exultant joy. An athlete he - Maybe his young limbs strain In some remembered game, and not in vain To win his side the goal - Poor crippled boy, Who in the waking world will never run again.”
Eva Dobell (1876–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A warrior knows that he is waiting and knows also what he is waiting for, and while he waits he feasts his eyes on the world. The ultimate accomplishment of a warrior is joy.”
Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I had done nothing else in India I have written my name here, and the letters are a living joy.”
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1859–1925) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Mrs Curzon on his restoration of the Taj Mahal (4 April 1905), quoted in David Gilmour, ‘Curzon, George Nathaniel, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1859–1925)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Uni…
“Flood your mind with love. Look into the eyes of the other and embrace the person with whom you have quarreled. Words are not necessary. Both will have their eyes flooded, and the joy of tears will wash away all quarrels.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From me you fly! Ah! let me crave, By these poor tears, that hand you gave— Since, parting with my woman's pride, My madness leaves me nought beside— By that our wedlock, by the rite Which, but begun, could yet unite, If e'er my kindness held you bound, If e'er in me your joy you found, Look on this falling house, and still, If prayer can touch you, change your will.”
John Conington (1825–1869) said by 1869 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am young, yes, but what I have learned is that love, the beauty of it, the joy of it and yes, even the pain of it, is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.”
Elliot Page (born 1987) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That dark dweller in Btaj Is my only refuge. O, my companion, Worldly comfort is an illusion, As soon as you get it, it goes I have chosen the Indestructible for my refuge Whom the snake of death Will not devour. My Beloved dwells in my heart, I have actually seen that Abode of Joy. Mir’s Lord is Hari, the Indestructible My Lord, I have taken refuge with Thee Thy slave.”
Meera Bai (1498–1552) said by 1552 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O my companion, worldly comfort is illusion, As soon you get it, it goes. I have chosen the indestructible for my refuge, Him whom the snake of death will not devour. My beloved dwells in my heart all day, I have actually seen that abode of joy. Meera's lord is Hari, the indestructible. My lord, I have taken refuge with you, your maidservant.”
Meera Bai (1498–1552) said by 1552 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was 12.30 in the night when I got two congratulatory telegrams - Indira Gandhi's and Jagjivan Ram's. Who has ever sent congratulatory telegrams to me? I went and woke him (Uncle) up and he came and sat with me. What did we do? We cried till dawn. Because of music...all that we had gone through...The joy was real. But we thought of the past.”
Gangubai Hangal (1913–2009) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Her reaction after hearing the news of the first National Award of Padma Bhushan, in "Excerpts of an interview from C.S. Lakshmi's The Singer and the Song – Conversations with Women Musicians Vol 1 (2000)
“Don't look for mysteries. I give you pure joy.”
Constantin Brâncuși (1876–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Brâncuși cited in: Horst Woldemar Janson, Anthony F. Janson (2004) History of Art: The Western Tradition.
“To see Good Tennis! What divine joy Can fill our leisure, or our minds employ? Let other people play at other things; The King of Games is still the Game of Kings.”
James Kenneth Stephen (1859–1892) first seen 1891 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Parker's Piece" (19 May 1891)
“The joy of losing consists in this: Where there are no expectations, there is no disappointment.”
Charles Krauthammer (1950–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every morning, at the balcony, after establishing a conscious contact with each of those who are present, I identify myself with the Supreme Lord and merge myself completely in Him. Then my body, completely passive, is nothing but a channel through which the Lord passes freely His forces and pours on all His Light, His Consciousness and His Joy, according to each one's receptivity.”
Mirra Alfassa (1878–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In "The Formation Of The Ashram", and also in [The Mother: The Story of Her Life by Georges Van Vrekhem ( 2004), p. 134
“I belong to no nation, no civilization, no society, no race, but to the Divine. I obey no master, no ruler, no law, no social convention, but the Divine. To Him I have surrendered all, will, life and self; for Him I am ready to give all my blood, drop by drop, if such is His will, with complete joy, and nothing in His service can be sacrifice, for all is perfect delight.”
Mirra Alfassa (1878–1973) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement in Japan (February 1920), in Collected Works of The Mother, Volume 2, Words of Long Ago, p.166; also quoted in The Mother: The Story of Her Life (2000) by George Van Vrekhem, p. 193 ; this is sometimes publish…
“Life, when fully lived under a variety of cultural conditions, can be euphoric and optimistic; it can be a joy to experience and a wonder to behold”
Paul Kurtz (1925–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Work is a wonderful regulator of mind and body. I forget all sorrow, grief, bitterness, and I even ignore them altogether in the joy of working.”
Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) said by 1903 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter to his son, Lucien; as quoted in: Brother Thomas (O.S.B.), Rosemary Williams (1999) Creation Out of Clay: The Ceramic Art and Writings of Brother Thomas. p. 45
“Some poets still write about the hair and eyes and body of a beloved and depict scenes of joy when lovers meet to drink and dance and be merry. But that is not the kind of poetry that the Islamic movement, grown on the concept of jihad and martyrdom, wants.”
Amir Taheri (born 1942) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: When the Ayatollah Dictates Poetry, Ashraq Al-Awsat (Jul 11, 2015).
“The art of teaching is also to know when to stop. It is good when people want to be better, physically, morally, spiritually, intellectually. But a fashion? No! Yoga is a painful art. It’s not like dance or music, where the person watching gets pleasure. Only the person doing it finds joy. It has nothing to do with externals.”
B. K. S. Iyengar (1918–2014) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "BKS Iyengar – obituary", The Telegraph (20 August 2014)
“Yoga transformed my life from a parasitic one to a life of purpose. Later yoga inspired me to partake in the joy and nobility of life, which I carried to many thousands of people without consideration of religion, caste, gender, or nationality.”
B. K. S. Iyengar (1918–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What guides us is children's response, their joy in learning to dance, to sing, to live together. It should be a guide to the whole world.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Tessa Souter Anything I Can Do... You Can Do Better: How to unlock your creative dreams and change your life, Random House (31 July 2011), p. 156
“The joy of this quest is not in triumph over others, but in the search for the qualities we share with them and for our uniqueness, which raises us above all competition.”
Theodore Roszak (scholar) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in The Aquarian Conspiracy, by Marilyn Ferguson, (1980)