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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“The Renaissance was a time of mercenary soldiers, ours is a time of mercenary labor.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[One of my friends] was in labor for 36 hours. (I don't even want to do anything that feels good for 36 hours.)”
Rita Rudner (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The life of God — the life which the mind apprehends and enjoys as it rises to the absolute unity of all things — may be described as a play of love with itself; but this idea sinks to an edifying truism, or even to a platitude, when it does not embrace in it the earnestness, the pain, the patience, and labor, involved in the negative aspect of things.”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) said by 1831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Serious occupation is labor that has reference to some want.”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) said by 1831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art begins with resistance — at the point where resistance is overcome. No human masterpiece has ever been created without great labor.”
André Gide (1869–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The class of the wholly propertyless, who are obliged to sell their labor to the bourgeoisie in order to get, in exchange, the means of subsistence for their support. This is called the class of proletarians, or the proletariat.”
Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mild success can be explainable by skills and labor. Wild success is attributable to variance.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I declare that henceforth capital and labor shall have equal rights and duties as brothers in the fascist family.”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Fate of Trade Unions Under Fascism, by Gaetano Salvemini, Chap. 3: “Italian Trade Unions under Fascism”, New York, NY, published by the Anti-Fascist Literature Committee, (1937), p. 35, Mussolini’s stat…
“The Harris/Biden administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating job statistics to hide the true extent of the economic ruin that they’ve inflicted on America, Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the administration padded the numbers with an extra, listen to this one, 818,000 jobs that don’t exist.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Donald Trump falsely claimed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris manipulated job data", Poynter (August 27, 2024)
“If they want to come in and build the plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that’s great. I love that. Let China come in, let Japan come in. They are and they’ll be building plants, but they’re using our labor.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: ‘The only thing that terrifies me is BYD’: Politicians quake at Chinese EVs" Politico (May 13, 2026)
“If the dictators and militarists who used to start wars had to earn by manual labor what their wars cost, there would have been very few wars.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Events of the past two years have virtually decreed that I shall wrestle with the literary muse for the rest of my days. And so, having tasted the poverty of one end of the scale, I have no choice but to direct my energies toward the acquisition of fame and fortune. Frankly, I have no taste for either poverty or honest labor, so writing is the only recourse left me.”
Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Arch Gerhart (29 January 1958), p. 106
“The motivation for war is simple. The U.S. government started the war with Iraq in order to make it easy for U.S. corporations to do business in other countries. They intend to use cheap labor in those countries, which will make Americans rich.”
Michael Moore (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In times of peace, the capitalists used to guarantee their interests by means of the "peaceful" robbery of hired labor. During the war they served those same interests by means of the destruction of countless human lives.”
Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They think we should be more “spiritual;” that is to say, willing to live upon the labor of others; willing to ask alms, saying, in the meantime, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” If this is so, why not give the money back?”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The great dialectic in our time is not, as anciently and by some still supposed, between capital and labor; it is between economic enterprise and the state.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A History of Economics (1991), ch. 21
“I never enjoyed writing a book more; indeed, it is the only one I remember in no sense as a labor but as a joy.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Economic theory is the most prestigious subject of instruction and study. Agricultural economics, labor economics and marketing are lower caste fields of study.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While taking the "best of early Chinese and Cuban socialism" -- which one assumes would exclude the forced abortions, imprisonment for homosexuals and forced labor”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'd build a wall. In fact, I'd hire illegal immigrants to build the wall. And throw out the illegals who are here. … It's cheap labor.”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Labor omnia vicit improbus et duris urgens in rebus egestas.”
Virgil (70–19 BC) said by 19 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aevi Prima fugit; subeunt morbi tristisque senectus Et labor, et durae rapit inclementia mortis.”
Virgil (70–19 BC) said by 19 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Facilis descensus Averno Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis; Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras, Hoc opus, hic labor est.”
Virgil (70–19 BC) said by 19 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We may need simple and heroic legends for that peculiar genre of literature known as the textbook. But historians must also labor to rescue human beings from their legends in science—if only so that we may understand the process of scientific thought aright.”
Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A person must take care to exercise moderate discipline over the body and subject it to the Spirit by means of fasting, vigils, and labor. The goal is to have the body obey and conform — and not hinder — the inner person and faith. Unless it is held in check, we know it is the nature of the body to undermine faith and the inner person.”
Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Success is brought by continued labor and continued watchfulness. We must struggle on, not for one moment hesitate, nor take one backward step.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1881 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Illinois College Valedictory (1881)
“All those whom for style is not a game but a labor.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Genius begins great works, labor alone finishes them.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Abba Antony said: “He who is hammering a piece of iron first takes note in his logismos what he is going to make: a scythe, a sword, or an axe. So ought we to consider what kind of virtue we are seeking, so that we do not labor in vain.”
Anthony the Great (251–357) said by 357 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By his very success in inventing labor-saving devices, modern man has manufactured an abyss of boredom that only the privileged classes in earlier civilizations have ever fathomed.”
Lewis Mumford (1895–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fact is, Burke is smarter than two thirds of the Western Australian Labor Party rolled together”
Paul Keating (born 1944) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Referring to disgraced former Western Australia Premier Brian Burke, ABC Radio interview, 5 March 2007.
“The Labor Party is not going to profit from having these proven unsuccessful people around who are frightened of their own shadow and won't get out of bed in the morning unless they've had a focus group report to tell them which side of bed to get out.”
Paul Keating (born 1944) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the modern ALP, Lateline interview, 7 June 2007.
“I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.”
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) said by 430 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is to usurp the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his own body—to the products of his own labor—to the protection of law—and to the common advantages of society. It is piracy to buy or steal a native African, and subject him to servitude. Surely, the sin is as great to enslave an American as an African.”
William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Convention," speech in Philadelphia, (6 December 1833)
“This revolution of music is paralleled by the increasing proliferation of machinery sharing in human labor. In the pounding atmosphere of great cities as well as in the formerly silent countryside, machines create today such a large number of varied noises that pure sound, with its littleness and its monotony, now fails to arouse any emotion.”
Luigi Russolo (1885–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The political bourgeoisie is about to leave the stage of history. In its place advance the oppressed producers of the head and hand, the forces of Labor (Arbeitertum), to being their historical mission.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Warum sind wir Sozialisten,” Der Angriff editorial, July 16, 1928, reprinted in Der Angriff, Munich 1935, p. 223. David Schoenbaum, Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939, W.W. Norton & …
“The firmer the republic takes its subjects in tax forced labor and tribute duty, the louder it talks about the rights of the republicans. National Socialism puts an end to that: for it, each state citizen must assume duties toward the state corresponding to his abilities, but every assumed duty conditions a right. The more duties, the more rights.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Folk Comradeship,” Der Angriff (The Attack) (11 February 1929) as quoted in English translation Attack: Essays from the Time of Struggle, RJG Enterprises (2010) p. 214
“We call ourselves a workers’ party because we want to free labor from the chains of capitalism and Marxism. In battling for Germany’s future, we freely admit to it, and accept the odium from the liberal bourgeoisie that results. We know that we will succeed in bringing new blessings out of their curses.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He who creates value works, and is a worker. A movement that wants to free labor is a workers’ party.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let us labor to add all needful guarantees for the more perfect security of free thought, free speech, and free press, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and of equal rights and privileges to all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On eroding, ecologically degraded, increasingly toxic landscapes, worked by failing or subsidy-dependent farmers and by the cheap labor of migrants, we have erected the tottering tower of "agribusiness," which prospers and "feeds the world" (incompletely and temporarily) by undermining its own foundations.”
Wendell Berry (1934–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No, the reward comes in knowing that our entire way of life in America depends on the rule of law; that the maintenance of that law is a hard and daily labor; that in this country, we don’t have soldiers in the streets or militias setting the rules. Instead, we have public servants -- police officers -- like the men who were taken away from us.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Millions of human beings have labored to create this civilization on which we pride ourselves today. Other millions, scattered through the globe, labor to maintain it. Without them nothing would be left in fifty years but ruins.”
Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921) said by 1921 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is evident, as Proudhon has already pointed our, that the smallest attack upon property will bring in its train the complete disorganization of the system based upon private enterprise and wage labor. Society itself will be forced to take production in hand, in its entirety, and to reorganize it to meet the needs of the whole people.”
Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921) said by 1921 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But these are the problems which America faces. They are problems which can only be solved by an informed citizenship. This requirement calls all of us to give them attention. This recurrent sounding of the call to battle is one of the most valuable contributions that can be made by the labor press in the United States.”
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I called him because it made me so damned angry to think of that bastard sentencing a citizen for four months of hard labor for a minor traffic offense and screwing up my brother's campaign and making our country look ridiculous before the world.”
Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On calling Judge Oscar Mitchell for sentencing Martin Luther King, Jr., as quoted in Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector (2000), p. 173
“Workmen's compensation, hours and conditions of labor are cold consolations, if there be no employment.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From the speech "Plymouth, Labor Day" (1 September 1919), as printed in Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches and Messages (2nd Ed.), Houghton Mifflin, pp. 200-201 : see link above.
“Another matter before the Congress is legislation affecting the labor sections of the transportation act. Much criticism has been directed at the workings of this section and experience has shown that some useful amendment could be made to these provisions.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is gratifying to report that the progress of industry, the enormous increase in individual productivity through labor-saving devices, and the high rate of wages have all combined to furnish our people in general with such an abundance not only of the necessaries but of the conveniences of life that we are by a natural evolution solving our problems of economic and social justice.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There has never been a free people, a civilized nation, a real republic on this earth. Human society has always consisted of masters and slaves, and the slaves have always been and are today, the foundation stones of the social fabric. Wage-labor is but a name; wage-slavery is the fact.”
Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source