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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“Those women are the true divas. They're amazing performers, whom I've listened to for years. These are the people who've inspired me to sing, so it's flattering that I'm being compared to them. But I have a lot of hard work to do first.”
Leona Lewis (born 1985) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Access Hollywood, March 2008
“No...Please don't go...No...Please don't leave yet You haven't heard my band yet You haven't seen my house You cannot understand yet What it means to be old River run River deep River come, So I can sing you to sleep.”
River Phoenix (1970–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can't get rid of evil. We can't, and I feel that so intensely. All the idiots that keep coming into the world and wrecking people's lives. And it is such an abundance of idiocy that you lose courage, okay? That you lose hope — I don't want to lose hope. I get through every day — I'm pretty good — I work. I sleep. I sing. I walk. But, I'm losing hope.”
Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O morning stars, together Proclaim the holy birth! And praises sing to God the King, And peace to men on earth.”
Phillips Brooks (1835–1893) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: O little Town of Bethlehem, 2nd stanza (1868).
“God heard the embattled nations sing and shout "Gott strafe England" and "God save the King!" God this, God that, and God the other thing – "Good God!" said God, "I've got my work cut out!”
J. C. Squire (1884–1958) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the outbreak of the First World War, from Epigrams (1916).
“Worschippe, ye that loveris bene this May, For of your blisse the kalendis are begonne, And sing with us, “away, winter, away! Cum, somer, cum, the suete sesoun and sonne!”
James I of Scotland (1394–1437) said by 1437 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is that actually my voice, singing in The Heavenly Body and My Favorite Spy? You bet it is! You'd be surprised how well you can sing when you're rich!”
Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sound, jocund strains; on pipe and viol sound, Young voices sing; Wreathe every door with snow-white garlands round, For lo! 'tis Spring! Winter has passed with its sad funeral train, And hope revives again.”
Lewis Morris (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One reason why we Christians argue so much about which hymn to sing, which liturgy to follow, which way to worship is that the commandments teach us to believe that bad liturgy eventually leads to bad ethics. You begin by singing some sappy, sentimental hymn, then you pray some pointless prayer, and the next thing you know you have murdered your best friend.”
Stanley Hauerwas (born 1940) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From The Truth About God: The Ten Commandments in Christian Life (1999, with William H. Willimon). Page: 89
“Why should Ossian sing of battles? For never more shall my steel shine in war. I remember the days of my youth with grief, when I feel the weakness of my arm. Happy are they who fell in their youth, in the midst of their renown! They have not beheld the tombs of their friends, or failed to bend the bow of their strength.”
James Macpherson (1736–1796) said by 1796 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was little, I saw the play Les Misérables on Broadway, I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. So I went to my manager and told him I wanted to be in it. He asked me if I could sing, and I said no. I took one lesson and landed the role of Cosette in a national tour of the musical”
Ashley Tisdale (born 1985) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tisdale about her early life. People Magazine."Ashley Tisdale's Biography". People. August 7 2004. Retrieved August 7 2008.
“How many women does one need to sing the scale of love all the way up and down?”
Georg Büchner (1813–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The saddest birds a season find to sing, The roughest storm a calm may soon allay; Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all, That men may hope to rise yet fear to fall.”
Robert Southwell (priest) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She was a great woman with the heart of a little child. Her works praise her; the millions of God's creatures whom she has saved from suffering sing her praise. Where she has gone the recognition of this world counts for little. She has gone where the merciful are blessed, where the pure in heart see God.”
Florence Earle Coates (1850–1927) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mrs. Coates on her Aunt (ca. September 1916), Mrs. Caroline Earle White—President and founder of The Women's Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the American Anti-Vivisection Society. Carol…
“I walk where once the grass was green And mourn the lark that sings no more What bird could sing whose eyes have seen Broken blossoms on the field of war?”
Tom Springfield (1934–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you are a piano, You will laugh on ev'ry string, And if you are a girl or boy, You'll sing.”
Malvina Reynolds (1900–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a robin can sing like that for a worm surely I can work like a father for my good wife and my four fine children!”
Smith Wigglesworth (1859–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I grow too old and dull to rock 'n roll Like to hold on tight to you darling And when my fires have all burned out I'd like to think I can still think about The things I used to sing about When I was spending all my time alone By myself and on my own Seldom seen and quite unknown.”
James Taylor (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the birds sing outside And you see the trees Changing into green The sun invites one To be out in the open air. When the sky is so blue, then, Oh! Then I wish for so much!.”
Mike Oldfield (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, when His wisdom can mistake, His might decay, His love forsake, Then may His children cease to sing, — "The Lord omnipotent is King!”
Josiah Conder (1789–1855) said by 1855 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 274.
“Money talks, But it don't sing and dance. And it don't walk. And long as I can have you Here with me, I'd much rather be Forever in blue jeans.”
Neil Diamond (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While some mothers sing lullabies to their children, my mother read me poetry. And to this day, I associate my strongest and most insistent feelings with words lyrically organized on a page.”
Masiela Lusha (born 1985) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All these riches, then, of her theology the Church has acquired, one might almost say, like the British Empire, in a fit of absence of mind. She was so busy scrapping with the heretics that she wasn't conscious of saying anything she hadn't always said; and yet, when she had time to sit down and look about her, she found it took ten minutes to sing the Credo instead of three.”
Ronald Knox (1888–1957) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Hidden Stream (1952). London: Burns Oates, p. 142.
“I love standing on the stage and singing. The feeling you have in your body when you sing.”
Cher (born 1946) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On what motivates Cher to perform in "Cher at 74: 'There are 20-year-old girls who can’t do what I do’" in The Guardian (2020 Dec 14)
“Simply: the practice makes the master. Practice every day, or at least try to sing, as much as you can. And I don´t stop, if I´m not on tour, I´m on a studio, and if I don´t, I do it for pleasure, I do it every day, is something that is part of my life.”
Luis Miguel (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The time has passed for our sensations in painting to be whispered. We wish them in the future to sing and re-echo upon our canvasses in deafening and triumphant flourishes.”
Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Futurism, ed. Didier Ottinger; Centre Pompidou / 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2008, p. 132.
“..that dizzy seething of forms and acoustic lights, rowdy and smelly [visible in the paintings at the Futurist exhibition, February 1912 in Paris].. ..to obtain this total painting which calls for the active cooperation of all the senses: painting of the plastic mood of the universal, you have to paint the way drunkards sing and vomit, sounds, noises and smells.”
Carlo Carrà (1881–1966) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in The painting of Sounds, Noises and Smells Carrà, in 'Lacerba' vol. 1. no. 17, 1,Florence, 1 September 1913, pp. 186-187
“There is such a thing as the freedom of exhaustion. Some people are so worn down by the yoke of oppression that they give up. A few years ago in the slum areas of Atlanta, a Negro guitarist used to sing almost daily: "Been down so long that down don't bother me." This is the type of negative freedom and resignation that often engulfs the life of the oppressed.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, philosophers may sing Of the troubles of a King, But of pleasures there are many and of worries there are none; And the culminating pleasure That we treasure beyond measure Is the gratifying feeling that our duty has been done.”
W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) said by 1911 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's nothing you can do that can't be done Nothing you can sing that can't be sung Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game It's easy.All you need is love.”
John Lennon (1940–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The celebrated Mr. K. Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishops Gate The Hendersons will dance and sing As Mr. Kite flies through the ring don't be late Messrs. K and H. assure the public Their production will be second to none And of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz!”
John Lennon (1940–1980) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" (1967)
“When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind.”
John Lennon (1940–1980) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Julia" (1968); these lines were adapted from lines of Sand and Foam (1926) by Khalil Gibran: "When life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind.
“You can shine your shoes and wear a suitYou can comb your hair and look quite cute...You can go to church and sing a hymnYou can judge me by the color of my skinYou can live a lie until you dieOne thing you can't hideIs when you're crippled inside”
John Lennon (1940–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tap into your creativity – even if it isn’t a part of your job. It’s one of the things that our culture has suppressed. Every child is creative; they sing, they draw. But then at some point if we can’t make a living out of our ‘creative love’, we drop it. But in fact it’s great to maintain in some way”
Arianna Huffington (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you Till China and Africa meet And the river jumps over the mountain And the salmon sing in the street.I’ll love you till the ocean Is folded and hung up to dry And the seven stars go squawking Like geese about the sky.”
W. H. Auden (1907–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.”
W. H. Auden (1907–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The career of Marian Anderson, the world-class contralto who was denied permission to sing in Constitution Hall because of her race, symbolizes the achievements of so many black American musicians. Performing instead at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, she drew an audience of 75,000 and inspired the world not only with her rich musical gifts, but also with her determination and courage.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wish that the people who sing about the deeds of heroes would think about the people who have to clear up after them.”
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It just happened. I like to sing, and well, I just started singing and folks just started listening. I can't tell folks that I worked and learned and studied, and overcame disappointments, because I didn't.”
Elvis Presley (1935–1977) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pop Chronicles, Show 7 – The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the rock-a-billies. Part 1; C. Robert Jennings, "Elvis Lives!", 1968-Feb-18, L.A. Times Magazine, p. M28.
“I grow old ... I grow old ... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.”
T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair — The bees are stirring — birds are on the wing — And Winter slumbering in the open air, Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring! And I the while, the sole unbusy thing, Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) said by 1834 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present; the words which express what they understand not; the trumpets which sing to battle, and feel not what they inspire; the influence which is moved not, but moves. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) said by 1822 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance”
E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you”
E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm saddest when I sing.”
Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797–1839) said by 1839 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: You think I have a merry heart, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "I can’t sing. As a singist I am not a success. I am saddest when I sing. So are those who hear me. They are sadder e…
“Sing, riding's a joy! For me I ride.”
Robert Browning (1812–1889) first seen 1855 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Men and Women (1855), The last Ride together, vii.
“All in this mottie, misty clime, I backward mus'd on wasted time, How I had spent my youthfu' prime An' done nae-thing, But stringing blethers up to rhyme For fools to sing.”
Robert Burns (1759–1796) first seen 1785 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Vision (1785)
“This is the month, and this the happy morn, Wherein the Son of Heav'n's eternal King, Of wedded maid and virgin mother born, Our great redemption from above did bring; For so the holy sages once did sing, That He our deadly forfeit should release, And with His Father work us a perpetual peace.”
John Milton (1608–1674) said by 1674 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But, O sad Virgin, that thy power Might raise Musaeus from his bower, Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing Such notes as warbled to the string, Drew Iron tears down Pluto's cheek, And made Hell grant what Love did seek.”
John Milton (1608–1674) said by 1674 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source