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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Power

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“Without doubt, a truly mighty and powerful person is not one who can move a mountain from its place, not in the least. True courage is to muster the strength to reform one's morals.”
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) said by 1908 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“the awareness of how powerful the written word can be: how you can tap into that world that we are talking about and discover things that would have been impossible to know if you didn't have that connection to a collective knowledge that comes through the writing.”
Isabel Allende (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now that I knew fear, I also knew it was not permanent. As powerful as it was, its grip on me would loosen. It would pass. (p400)”
Louise Erdrich (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“English is a very powerful language, a colonizer’s language and a gift to a writer. English has destroyed and sucked up the languages of other cultures—its cruelty is its vitality.”
Louise Erdrich (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Animals are creatures of this Earth, they are our brothers and therefore it is not that we should consider ourselves objects at our disposal. They are living beings who have the ability to love and suffer and therefore we must treat them just like brothers, like younger brothers. We have a more powerful brain, but that doesn't mean we have to abuse them for it.”
Margherita Hack (1922–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nowhere had the decay of cities in Britain paralleled what had happened to some cities in North America, but the experience of New York should provide us with a salutary reminder of just how rapidly a city could slide into decline if powerful action is not taken.”
Peter Shore (1924–2001) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Manchester (17 September 1976), quoted in Christopher Warman, 'Mr Shore's new policy to bring back jobs to inner cities', The Times (18 September 1976), p. 1
“One signal virtue of teaching undergraduates, then, is that it serves as a powerful reminder that pedagogy should be understood as a means of dissemination rather than a means of reproduction, even — or especially — on those bad days when you are teaching only to the six.”
Michael Bérubé (born 1961) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Teaching to the Six", published in Rhetorical Occasions (2006)
“As you know, any plain person you chance to meet can prove to be a powerful immortal in disguise come to test you. (p119)”
Maxine Hong Kingston (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do believe that our lives and our art go together. Who I am and what I write are the same...I feel that the writing process doesn't just begin when you are putting words on paper. It begins in the living that you do before, and I feel powerful enough now so that I can set up my daily living circumstances in order to support me and support my art.”
Maxine Hong Kingston (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some of these things seem as if it’s a lot of hard work, and it is. But it’s to an end—toward a richer, deeper understanding of a phenomenon that I was seeking to bring to life…The term narrative comes from Greek for the word knowing. And I think that that’s a powerful message because it means you cannot tell a story until you know the story.”
Isabel Wilkerson (born 1961) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On how she hopes The Warmth of Other Suns led to a deeper understanding in “Isabel Wilkerson” in Humanities (Fall 2016)
“The most powerful poetry is birthed through cracks in history, through what is broken and unseen.”
Joy Harjo (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As an individual I’m attracted to strong female characters – my characters have always been people who own themselves. Even if they’re strongly doing something wrong, they’ve always been powerful people.”
Oyinkan Braithwaite (born 1988) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her character preferences in “Oyinkan Braithwaite’s serial-killer thriller: would you help your murderer sister?” in The Guardian (2019 Jan 15)
“For so long we’ve been defenseless against the havoc the maji wreak, but now the gods have blessed us as well. We’re powerful enough to annihilate them, Inan. The only way to achieve lasting peace is to cleanse the maggots from this land.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This rise of the Second Amendment is almost a time bomb that was planted in the Constitution. A mandate for the legality of settler violence and settler sovereignty. What's that right about? It's about taking all the property. They're a vestige, but they're very powerful. They have a voice in the presidency and in the Congress.”
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (born 1938) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her view of the Second Amendment in “Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: ‘The Second Amendment is Almost a Time Bomb That Was Planted in the Constitution’” in Willamette Week (2018 Feb 21)
“A Navajo woman said to me, “In our old mythologies and stories, they talked of monster slayers.” She says we need a new generation of monster slayers. I think that’s such a powerful analogy, and it’s so true. It’s a David and Goliath moment, and we’ve got to hang in there because they are weakening…”
Winona LaDuke (born 1959) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On employing “monster slayers to stop pipelining in “We Are the Seventh Generation: A Conversation with Winona LaDuke” in Edge Effects (2017 Nov 14)
“This means war. And who suffers most if powerful families go to war?” “Everyone else but them.”
Carol Berg (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wanted to create a character who didn’t routinely resort to violence and wasn’t courageous by virtue of wielding a gun. I wanted to show someone who was powerful and incisive who could face down the bad guys without becoming a bad guy himself. I wanted a hero who was ethical, thoughtful, and just.”
Joe Ide (born 1958) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his protagonist in IQ in “THE RUMPUS INTERVIEW WITH JOE IDE” in The Rumpus (2017 Mar 15)
“Certainly, before colonization, some of the greatest and most powerful and wealthiest and most technologically and intellectually advanced empires in the world were in Africa, from Ghana, Mali and Songhai...We’re not taught about precolonial West Africa. We’re not even taught about Africa today!... And I don’t think we should focus on Europe because that is a demonstration to me of racism.”
Ibram X. Kendi (born 1982) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remembering Chadwick Boseman: Ibram X. Kendi on Legacy of "Black Panther" Actor, Cancer & Anti-Racism, Democracy Now, (31 August 2020)
“When I go to the Vishwanath Mandir in Benares and listen to the most powerful, magical aarti I hear from the priests that the knowledge of it will probably die because the temple is now controlled by secular bureaucrats”.”
Tavleen Singh (born 1950) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tavleen Singh, quoted in [This article is a major extract from the article "Sita Ram Goel, memories and ideas" by S. Talageri, written for the Sita Ram Goel Commemoration Volume, entitled "India's Only Communalist", edi…
“I didn’t think that I was powerless…But I didn’t think that I was powerful.”
Regina King (born 1971) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the pay disparities that she experienced in “It’s Good to be Regina King” in Vanity Fair (Feb 2019)
“Covergirl celebrates powerful, beautiful, and strong women of different races and ethnicities. It’s inspiring. I’m thrilled to be part of the diversity and expansion of beauty.”
Zendaya (born 1996) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Zendaya Just Announced That She's the New Face of Covergirl". Teen Vogue. (January 21, 2016).
“On India’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, Zelenskyy said, “I understand that it is difficult to keep a balance between relationships with Ukraine and Russia…We thank you for the humanitarian assistance, but I’d like Narendra Modi to think of being a security guarantor for Ukraine. Willing to have powerful relationship with India.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (born 1978) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ukraine In Ruins: History – OpEd, 2022
“Today is an important day, very important. For us. For our people. For our freedom. It was here, at the Mariyinsky Palace, that I held talks today with my friend, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. I am grateful to Justin for visiting our country. Exactly now, exactly on this day. A powerful sign of support and faith in the future of our people.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Until you’ve truly connected with that inner transforming force in your Self, fear is more powerful in your life than love.”
Aaravindha Himadra wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The order of fossils in the world’s rocks is powerful evidence of our connections to the rest of life.”
Neil Shubin (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life in all its forms is strife; the better matched the opponents, the harder the struggle. The most powerful of all weapons is intelligence; any intelligent form dominates by, and therefore survives by, its intelligence.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As examples from history show, when jokes start circulating about a powerful leader, cracks in political legitimacy begin to appear.”
Nissim Mannathukkaren wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To place the responsibility of violence on the illiterate, poor and unemployed mobs is to completely miss the pathologies amongst us, the privileged and the powerful, which are the greatest enablers of violence.”
Nissim Mannathukkaren first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About the 2020 Delhi riots
“This [showing his smartphone] is about a million time more powerful than the computer but the computer was developed on.”
Joe Armstrong (programmer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Manuscript predicts that we humans will voluntarily decrease our population so that we all may live in the most powerful and beautiful places on the Earth. But remarkably, many more of these areas will exist in the future, because we will intentionally let the forests go uncut so that they can mature and build energy.”
James Redfield (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is much evil in the world, but let us remember that the Immaculata is more powerful and 'she shall crush the head of the serpent' [cf. Gn 3:15].”
Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he majority of Americans are being duped into supplementing the incomes and extravagant lifestyles of the rich and powerful. ...[O]ur current tax system is manipulated for profit by the wealthy and well positioned.”
David Cay Johnston (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Donald has always been protected and continues to be protected from his inadequacies... incompetence... lack of knowledge, from his failures... [H]e's always had support from more powerful people... protecting him from his mistakes, or from people who would try to hold him to account; and he's always been amply financed.”
Mary L. Trump (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our freedom is completely intertwined with our Christian faith. And so as we lose the faith in our culture, we lose our freedom because they don’t have the same value as they did, and so we will squander them because they’re completely intertwined, and it’s a very powerful thing. People who have no faith have no concept of what that is, so they’ll squander it freely.”
Sam Sorbo (born 1964) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Take Back Your Kids! Interview with Sam Sorbo (February 1, 2020)
“O my God, so good and tender and kind, dear friend, wise counselor, powerful support, how heartless and rash is the man who rejects you, who casts from his heart so humble and gentle a guest!”
Guigo II (1114–1193) said by 1193 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Mass, mortification, and the Rosary are the most powerful tools we can use against the devil. It is with these three weapons that we can crush the head of the devil. We see the prophecy of Fatima revealing itself today. If the people do not turn towards Christ, darkness and error will consume the world. If we trust in God and turn towards him, we should have no fear.”
Ernest Simoni (born 1928) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes, I visibly propelled Michael Murphy into the air to catch that ball. My ability to deliver an All-Ireland to the highest bidder! I am a powerful man and people should be afraid.”
Joe Brolly (born 1969) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Brolly admits he provided assistance to Donegal in their defeat of Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, though RTÉ's television cameras did not manage to capture either his dash onto the fiel…
“Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever, ever, who wasn't an incel. That cucked little woman has been fed, spoon-fed, oppression, day after day after day after day. We need powerful, strong amazing women who make great points for themselves. We don’t need this sort of feminist 4.0. They're pathetic and embarrassing. Who'd want to shag that?”
Laurence Fox (born 1978) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Comments broadcast during Dan Wootton Tonight (GB News, 26 September 2023), as cited in "Laurence Fox widely condemned for 'disgusting, misogynistic' GB News rant about journalist Ava Evans", The Independent (27 Septemb…
“[T]he woman's right to decide for herself... is now subject to regulation, and possibly even prohibition, by our elected representatives. ...Even as the public agenda is stretched to address... questions as the , no issue threatens to divide us politically in... as powerful a way as the abortion issue...”
Laurence Tribe (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never thought that fighting to release the Epstein files, defending women who were victims of rape, and fighting to expose the web of rich powerful elites would have caused this, but here we are. And it truly speaks for itself. There needs to be a new way forward.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene (born 1974) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a post on X, as cited in "Marjorie Taylor Greene says she's received threats over Trump feud", Sky News (November 16, 2025).
“Standing up for American women who were raped at 14, trafficked and used by rich powerful men, should not result in me being called a traitor and threatened by the President of the United States, whom I fought for.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The first thing my mom taught me as a young girl was not to even wisper, because the birds and mice could hear me. [...] My mom said that 'The most powerful weapon you have in your body is your tounge. Watch out what you say!' Even subconsciously you know how not to think bad things about the regime.”
Park Yeon-mi (born 1993) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yeon-mi Park - Follow The Leader - 'YOUR WELCOME' Episode #141" (at 16m15s), Michael Malice on YouTube, 10 February 2021.
“Love is so powerful, it's like unseen flowers under your feet as you walk.”
Bessie Head (1937–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To let go means to give up coercing, resisting, or struggling, in exchange for something more powerful and wholesome which comes out of allowing things to be as they are without getting caught up in your attraction to or rejection of them, in the intrinsic stickiness of wanting, of liking and disliking.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is sometimes enough that one places one's voice on the silence... [S]ilence too is powerful. It is the dimension in which ordinary and extraordinary events take their proper places. In the Indian world, a word is spoken or a song is sung not against, but within the silence. ...[S]ilence is the sanctuary of sound.”
N. Scott Momaday (1934–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Red Guards and other revolutionary organizations of the young people in the colleges and middle schools are the shook force fighting in the van in the great cultural revolution, and a powerful reserve force of the People’s Liberation Army.”
Lin Biao (1907–1971) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quotation from Vice-Chairman Lin Piao", in Huazhong Normal University Revolutionary Committee, "五.七" 汉英词语汇编 The May 7 Collection of Terms & Expressions (Chinese-English) (Wuhan, 1968), pp. 203-230
“I really love that slogan “Empowerment through Entertainment”. Literature is really the only art form that lets readers access the deepest thoughts and emotions of a character. It's so powerful to be able to understand and empathize with a character who on the surface may seem completely different from you.”
Kirstin Chen (born 1981) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "#KOLLABSFGETSLIT With Kirstin Chen, Author of Bury What We Cannot Take" in Kollaboration San Francisco (6 November 2018)
“The consistency of my body has changed and I quite like that. Everything has gone softer and gentler, and my ease with how I look is powerful—what I consider beautiful really helps me to grow old.”
Tan Kheng Hua (born 1963) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tan Kheng Hua opens up about romance, sexuality and Asian representation in Hollywood" in Vogue (27 September 2020)
“The doctrine of Tawhid is; "God is One, Alone, Single, Eternal, Everlasting, Knowing, Powerful, Living, Hearing, Seeing, Strong, Mighty, Majestic, Great, Generous. He is qualified with attributes wherewith he has named Himself. There is no Eternal but He, and no god beside Him; that He is neither body nor shape nor form nor person, nor element, nor accident.”
Abu Bakr al-Kalabadhi (950–990) said by 990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I guess that, living in a sanitized world, you’ve forgotten this basic lesson: if you want to stay free or stay alive, never play by your opponent’s rules. Particularly when your opponent is more powerful than you are. Do the unexpected. Turn on your pursuer. Attack the attacker.”
Charles E. Gannon (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source