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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“Well, before you are always self—you’re always self-centered. Everything is for you. Your self is God. And we make lousy gods. Humans make lousy gods, I think. We need to let God be God and us be what we are. I think that’s what changes: the focus on who you’re serving. You’re not serving you. You’re serving Christ.”
Alice Cooper (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those changes that would make all the difference.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He wakes up in the morning Does his teeth, bite to eat and he's rolling Never changes a thing. The week ends the week begins She thinks, we look at each other Wondering what the other is thinking But we never say a thing These crimes between us grow deeper.”
Dave Matthews (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Business success is less a function of grandiose predictions than it is a result of being able to respond rapidly to real changes as they occur.”
Jack Welch (1935–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We know nothing accurately in reality, but [only] as it changes according to the bodily condition, and the constitution of those things that flow upon [the body] and impinge upon it.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Freeman (1948), p. 142
“In fact we do not know anything infallibly, but only that which changes according to the condition of our body and of the [influences] that reach and impinge upon it.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The threat of hunger cannot be eliminated without the assistance of the developed countries, and this requires significant changes in their foreign and domestic policies.”
Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The changes in the chief and the assistant chief surgeon were most noticeable. At first they felt that they were just fulfilling their duty to the injured worker but were very dubious about the result. But then, full of confidence they really began doing their best.”
Ba Jin (1904–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The scientific approach uncovers, that Communism does not eliminate the inequality between men, the social injustice, exploitation of man by man and other evils of society – communism merely changes their form and gives birth to new evils, which become eternal fellow-travelers of communism.”
Alexander Zinoviev (1922–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To successfully respond to the myriad of changes that shake the world, transformation into a new style of management is required. The route to take is what I call profound knowledge - knowledge for leadership of transformation.”
W. Edwards Deming (1900–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had determined to go as far as declaring in abstruse and puzzling utterances the future causes of the "common advent", even those truly cogent ones that I have foreseen. Yet lest whatever human changes may be to come should scandalise delicate ears, the whole thing is written in nebulous form, rather than as a clear prophecy of any kind.”
Nostradamus (1503–1566) first seen 1555 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter from Salon to his son Cesar (March 1555) as translated by Peter Lemesurier
“The perception of truth is an actual act which changes things; it’s not merely that it is the truth about something which is different.”
David Bohm (1917–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gambling is a kind of tax: a tax on stupidity. A tax on greed. Some money changes hands at random, but the net cash flow always goes one way - to the Government, to the casino operators, to the bookies, to the crime syndicates. If you ever do win, you won't have won against them. They'll still be getting their share. You'll have won against all the penniless losers, that's all.”
Greg Egan (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You do not notice changes in what is always before you.”
Colette (1873–1954) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mes Apprentissages (1936)
“We're going to see more changes in the next 10 years than we've seen in the last 50 years. … The questions we must answer today are not about how much we trade, but about how we build resilience, lift up working people, reduce carbon emissions, and set up our economies to succeed over the long run. How to deliver growth from the bottom up and the middle out so no one gets left behind.”
Joe Biden (born 1942) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at the APEC CEO Summit, San Francisco, California (16 November 2023)
“In recent years, hours of work have been reduced, holidays have been increased, the age of entry into employment has gone up, and above all, our general health and expectation of life as a people have markedly improved. It is a natural corollary of these changes that we should work longer and retire later.”
Hugh Gaitskell (1906–1963) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Budget speech in the House of Commons (10 April 1951)
“Your hands hold roses always in a way that says They are not only yours; the beautiful changes In such kind ways, Wishing ever to sunder Things and things' selves for a second finding, to lose For a moment all that it touches back to wonder.”
Richard Wilbur (1921–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Having a child changes every aspect of your life — for the better, of course. The sacrifices are large, but what you get in return is even bigger than the sacrifices you make. I feel, in a sense, ready to die because you are living on in your child. Not literally, not ready to die — but you know, that sort of feeling in a profound way.”
Heath Ledger (1979–2008) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: November 2007 interview remarks quoted by Susan Chenery, "Who Is That Man?", In Touch Weekly, January 23, 2008.
“As the quality of water changes with the nature of the soil; So will a man’s reason vary with the quality of his friends.”
Thiruvalluvar wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My hope is that wiki becomes a totem for a way of interacting with people. Tradition in the work world has been more top down, while wiki, standing for the Internet, is becoming a model for a new way of work. Largely driven by reduced communication costs, it changes what needs to be done and how it’s going to get done. I hope that the wiki nature, if not the wiki code, makes some contribution.”
Ward Cunningham (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“New terms and changes of terms, which are not needed in order to express truth, are to be avoided.”
William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We want to get a better relationship with the EU - there are changes we want in that relationship”
William Hague (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Strong case' for EU referendum, says Hague" BBC News (20 January 2013).
“We also need to see how changes in the eurozone are affecting the EU and how that affects this country and the relationship of the countries together. But when we have done that there is a strong case for fresh consent in this country and the people of this country having their say.”
William Hague (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Strong case' for EU referendum, says Hague" BBC News (20 January 2013).
“It was no doubt the common opinion of thoughtful men that society was approaching a critical period which might result in great changes. The labor troubles, their causes, course, and cure, took lead of all other topics in the public prints, and in serious conversation.”
Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For myth changes while custom remains constant; men continue to do what their did before them, though the reasons on which their fathers acted have been long forgotten.The history of religion is a long attempt to reconcile old custom with new reason, to find a sound theory for an absurd practice.”
James Frazer (1854–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you get older, everybody sort of changes and moves away. I think that stands the test of time, when you have a friendship from youth that's still in your life today.”
Michelle Gomez (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.”
Shunryu Suzuki (1904–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in a newspaper. In the end, it does nothing. Nothing changes. The world goes on and you're gone. The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself.”
Eddie Vedder (born 1964) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This quote was taken from the Synergy's Echoes page (December, 1991 Houston, Texas, KLOL FM Echoes of Exposure with David Sadoff).
“Mr. Greenwood, when moving the Amendment yesterday, told us that the war would shake many strongly held views. I fear that this war will do very much more than that. The war will bring about changes which may be fundamental and revolutionary in the economic and social life of this country. On that we are all agreed.”
Anthony Eden (1897–1977) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the House of Commons (6 December 1939)
“Further, economic systems … have never arranged themselves by themselves. It is men who do the ordering according to their attitudes, desires and understanding of things. Changes take place, not independent of man's will, but on account of man's wills. Civilization has progressed by man's interference with material conditions.”
Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (1902–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our party can't be united unless it remains what it always has been till now: a broad coalition of men and women from all sections of our society, supporting many different approaches to democratic socialism, who tolerate their disagreements with one another, and defend the right of minorities to fight for changes in the policies they disagree with.”
Denis Healey (1917–2015) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to a fringe meeting at the Trades Union Congress conference in Blackpool during the Labour Party deputy leadership election (10 September 1981)
“The past is therefore a permanent dimension of the human consciousness, an inevitable component of the institutions, values and other patterns of human society. The problem for historians is to analyse the nature of this 'sense of the past' in society and to trace its changes and transformations.”
Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since the form is only an expression of the content and the content is different with different artists, it is then clear that there can be many different forms at the same time which are equally good. Necessity creates the form. Fish which live at great depths have no eyes. The elephant has a trunk. The chameleon changes its color, and so forth.”
Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the next ten years we will have to continue to make changes which will make the whole of this country a genuinely classless society.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Today newspaper, 24 November 1990.
“Professional opinion is almost inevitably against changes. It has been the operation of these and similar influences which has brought about, as I fear, a return to the old conception of what is called power diplomacy. To these conceptions, it is not too much to say, the idea of the complete opposition of war and peace was really foreign.”
Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood (1864–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Information wants to be free. (Excerpted from: "On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other."{{cite web”
Stewart Brand (born 1938) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Whole Earth Review, May 1985, p. 49.
“We may have two years before the Rapture. Can I be blunt with you? I don't know if we have two years left. I'm going to prove to you from the Word tonight, that we have less than two years, unless the Lord changes his mind.”
Benny Hinn (born 1952) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: November 9, 1990 Praise-a-Thon Trinity Broadcasting
“The accompanying pages contain two columns: aushuddho – impurity, or error – and shuddho. One has just to glance through the changes to see the objective the progressives are trying to achieve through their ‘objective’, ‘rational’ approach to the writing of history.”
Arun Shourie (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The technology at the leading edge changes so rapidly that you have to keep current after you get out of school. I think probably the most important thing is having good fundamentals.”
Gordon Moore (1929–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As the peoples always move,—as Life, which is greater than the peoples, always moves. And the business of the revolutionist, the Seeker for the Changes of Old Forms, the dreamer of Liberty and Plenty, is to be with them in their struggle, in their victory, in their defeat, whenever, wherever, the people rise.”
Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912) said by 1912 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I write a lot, but it's not all fantastic. There's plenty of terrible crap. We work on a few things at a time, let some things fall away, make changes. We certainly have enough for the next album, which could take at least another year to come out.”
Amanda Palmer (born 1976) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Only Angels Have Wings (April 2004)
“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life - the air and the light which vary continually. For me, it is only the, surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Claude Monet, 1891; as cited in: National Gallery of Australia, ‎Michael Lloyd, ‎Michael Desmond (1992), European and American paintings and sculptures 1870-1970 in the Australian National Gallery, p. 75
“When we are bored, when we are out of tune, when we have little worries, it clears our feelings and changes our mood if we can get in touch with the beauty of the natural world.”
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[The PlayStation 2 is a] historic, a mass-market appliance that fundamentally changes society in the way the printing press did.”
Trip Hawkins (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Make something, a kind of object, which as it changes or falls apart (dies as it were) or increases in its parts (grows as it were) offers no clue as to what its state or form or nature was at any previous time. Physical and Metaphysical. Obstinacy. Could this be a useful object?”
Jasper Johns (born 1930) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book A (sketchbook), p 9, c 1960: as quoted in Jasper Johns, Writings, sketchbook Notes, Interviews, ed. Kirk Varnedoe, Moma New York, 1996, p. 50
“Recently I have felt just what the mood of colors means to me: it means that everything in this picture changes its local color according to the same principle and that thereby all muted tones blend in a unified relationship, one to the other.”
Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: excerpt of her Journal, Worpswede, 24 July 1898; as quoted in Voicing our visions, – Writings by women artists; ed. Mara R. Witzling, Universe New York, 1991, p. 197
“Devotion as an expression of gratitude to God can turn into a social force and bring about transformative changes in all aspects of human life and at all levels of society. - Acceptance speech while receiving the 1997 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, from HRH Prince Philip at a public ceremony held in Westminster Abbey, May 6, 1997.”
Pandurang Shastri Athavale (1920–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The rout of fascism, in which the Soviet Union played the decisive role, generated a mighty tide of socio-political changes which swept across the globe.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Selected Speeches and Writings (1980) edited by Mikhail Andreevich Suslov
“It's midnight Cinderella time that you should know, There's gonna be some changes in the way this story goes. It's midnight Cinderella but don't you worry none, 'Cause I'm Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater And the party's just begun.”
Garth Brooks (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you look at a tree and think of it as a design assignment, it would be like asking you to make something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, provides habitat for hundreds of species, accrues solar energy's fuel, makes complex sugars and food, changes colors with the seasons, creates microclimates, and self-replicates.”
William McDonough (born 1951) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: William McDonough: Godfather of Green", WNYC Studio 360 (18 March 2008).