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 unhappy man who once has trail’d a pen Lives not to please himself, but other men; Is always drudging with his life and blood, Yet only eats and drinks what you think good.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) said by 1700 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To this fine spirit our earth owes her greatest: For the future is purchased by scorning the present, And life is redeemed from its clay soil by fame. * King, not a vestige remains of your palaces; Conqueror, forgotten the fame of your battles: But the Poet yet lives in the sweetness of music— He appeal'd to the heart, that never forgets.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) first seen 1829 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Three Brothers from The London Literary Gazette (20th June 1829) as Fame : An Apologue
“A day may be a destiny ; for life Lives in but little— but that little teems With some one chance, the balance of all time”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) first seen 1837 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1837 1) (Vol. 49) Three Extracts from the Diary of a Week.
“NAY, weep not, dearest, though the child be dead; He lives again in Heaven's unclouded life,”
John Godfrey Saxe (1816–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have looked upon all that the universe has to hold of horror, and even the skies of spring and the flowers of summer must ever afterward be poison to me. But I do not think my life will be long. As my uncle went, as poor Johansen went, so I shall go. I know too much, and the cult still lives.”
H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) said by 1937 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even as President, with the most fascinating possible vantage point, there were times when I was so busy managing progress and helping to lead change that I didn't always show the joy that was in my heart. But the biggest thing that has happened in the world in my life, in our lives, is this: By the grace of God, America won the cold war.”
George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The society in which each man lives is at once the basis for, and the nemesis of, that fulness of life which each man seeks.”
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I know what wages beauty gives, How hard a life her servant lives, Yet praise the winters gone: There is not a fool can call me friend, And I may dine at journey’s end With Landor and with Donne.”
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The electric things have their life too. Paltry as those lives are.”
Philip K. Dick (1928–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perhaps people throw themselves into heated polemics to give content to their lives, to warm their hearts. What Luther said of hatred is true of all quarreling. There is nothing like a feud to make life seem full and interesting.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Entry (1950)
“I am a big believer that you have to nourish any relationship. I am still very much a part of my friends' lives and they are very much a part of my life. A First Lady who does not have this source of strength and comfort can lose perspective and become isolated.”
Nancy Reagan (1921–2016) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Winning with People : Discover the People Principles That Work for You Every Time (2005) by John C. Maxwell, p. 186
“The lives of all are in the hands of Him who knows best whether to preserve it or no, and to His will do I resign myself. My character and good name are in my own keeping. Life with disgrace is dreadful. A glorious death is to be envied, and, if anything happens to me recollect death is a debt we must all pay, and whether now or in a few years hence can be but of little consequence.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1785 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter from Agamemnon at sea (10 March 1795), in Nelson's letters to his wife and other documents, 1785-1831 edited by Navy Records Society, p. 199
“The American child is a highly intelligent human being — characteristically sensitive, humorous, open-minded, eager to learn, and has a strong sense of excitement, energy, and healthy curiosity about the world in which he lives. Lucky indeed is the grown-up who manages to carry these same characteristics into adult life. It usually makes for a happy and successful individual.”
Walt Disney (1901–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The proletariat is that class in society which lives entirely from the sale of its labor and does not draw profit from any kind of capital; whose weal and woe, whose life and death, whose sole existence depends on the demand for labor – hence, on the changing state of business, on the vagaries of unbridled competition.”
Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we tried to rely entirely on reason, and pressed it hard, our lives and beliefs would collapse — a form of madness that may actually occur if the inertial force of taking the world and life for granted is somehow lost. If we lose our grip on that, reason will not give it back to us.”
Thomas Nagel (born 1937) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Absurd" (1971), p. 20.
“We don't admit it to ourselves, not until the very moment of death, but in that moment, we see all life before us and we understand how we chose, every day of our lives, the manner of our death.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life was cheap in the Middle Ages. It has become cheaper since. It is only in specific battles for specific lives that our culture is put to the test, and with it our humanity.”
Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life has a tendency to obfuscate and bewilder, Such as fating us to spend the first part of our lives being embarrassed by our parents and the last part being embarrassed by our childer.”
Ogden Nash (1902–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And whether there is a heaven or hell here, or hereafter, every good man has enough to do to make this world a little better than it is. Millions of lives are wasted in the vain effort to find the origin of things, and the destiny of man. This world has been neglected. We have been taught that life should be merely a preparation for death.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ninety percent of our lives is governed by emotion. Our brains merely register and act upon what is telegraphed to them by our bodily experience. Intellect is to emotion as our clothes are to our bodies; we could not very well have civilized life without clothes, but we would be in a poor way if we had only clothes without bodies.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) first seen 1943 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch. 29, June 10, 1943.
“As night the life-inclining stars best shows, So lives obscure the starriest souls disclose.”
George Chapman (1559–1634) said by 1634 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Peace within is vital for leading a life fulfilled. Prem Rawat brings a message of hope and peace. Such a message is very much needed in this world today. Each of us as individuals can benefit from it. His message can help us lead more fulfilled lives, whatever our circumstances might be.”
Prem Rawat (born 1957) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mahendra Swarup; CEO, Times Foundation and Times Internet. (2003)
“I would be considerably more impressed with your god, dy Cabon," said Ista through her teeth, "if He could have arranged one life's worth of simple protection in advance, rather than three hundred lives' worth of gaudy vengeance afterward.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Any enjoyment or profit we get from life, we get Now; to kill Now is to abridge our own lives.”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the crown of our life as it closes Is darkness, the fruit thereof dust; No thorns go as deep as a rose’s, And love is more cruel than lust. Time turns the old days to derision, Our loves into corpses or wives; And marriage and death and division Make barren our lives”
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our military is a national treasure. We entrust our commander-in-chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces. Decisions about war and peace. Life and death. A president should respect the men and women who risk their lives to serve our country.”
Hillary Clinton (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Progress is possible. I know because I've seen it in the lives of people across America who get knocked down and get right back up. And I know it from my own life.”
Hillary Clinton (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Teenage girls with no life experiences and boys who call themselves punk are on my radio singing about how much pain they've endured and how hard their lives are”
Damien Echols (born 1974) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Poem written on Death Row; from Arkansas Literary Forum, Volume 9 2007, as noted on the Free The West Memphis 3 web site. (url accessed on October 16, 2008).
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age.”
Sophia Loren (born 1934) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Hope Notes : 52 Meditations to Nudge Your World (2004) by Wayne Willis, p. 11.
“With Heaven’s aid I have conquered for you a huge empire. From the middle of it a man may ride for a year eastward or westward without reaching its limits. But my life was too short to achieve the conquest of the world. That task is left for you. Be of one mind and one faith, that you may conquer your enemies and lead long and happy lives.”
Genghis Khan (1162–1227) said by 1227 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy (1940) by Michael Prawdin, p. 224
“Coming to terms with the rhythms of women's lives means coming to terms with life itself, accepting the imperatives of the body rather than the imperatives of an artificial, man-made, perhaps transcendentally beautiful civilization. Emphasis on the male work-rhythm is an emphasis on infinite possibilities; emphasis on the female rhythms is an emphasis on a defined pattern, on limitation.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you associate enough with older people who do enjoy their lives, who are not stored away in any golden ghettos, you will gain a sense of continuity and of the possibility for a full life.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Margaret Mead, quoted in "Growing Old in America: An Introduction with Margaret Mead" by Grace Hechinger, Family Circle (26 July 1977), p. 27
Also quoted by: Tom Stoppard (misattributed)
“I have spent most of my life studying the lives of other peoples — faraway peoples — so that Americans might better understand themselves.”
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in: Justin Wintle (2002) Makers of Modern Culture. Vol. 1, p. 350
“What was once Sinclair Lewis is buried in no ground. Even in life he was fully alive only in his writing. He lives in public libraries from Maine to California, in worn copies in the bookshelves of women from small towns who, in their girlhood, imagined themselves as Carol Kennicotts, and of medical men who, as youths, were inspired by Martin Arrowsmith.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her former husband Sinclair Lewis. "The Boy From Sauk Center", The Atlantic (November 1960)
“Strength is the sign of vigor, the sign of life, the sign of hope, the sign of health, and the sign of everything that is good. As long as the body lives, there must be strength in the body, strength in the mind, strength in the hand.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Through the gamut of life we struggled for control, for a means to fashion the world around us, an eternal, hopeless hunt for the privilege of being able to predict the shape of our lives.”
Steven Erikson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But who can say what's best? That's why you need to grab whatever chance you have of happiness where you find it, and not worry about other people too much. My experience tells me that we get no more than two or three such chances in a life time, and if we let them go, we regret it for the rest of our lives.”
Haruki Murakami (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields, See how these names are fêted in the waving grass And by the streamers of the white cloud And whispers of the wind in the listening sky. The names of those who in their lives fought for life, Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre. Born of the sun, they travelled a short while toward the sun And left the vivid air signed with their honour.”
Stephen Spender (1909–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We've got an agreeable, comfortable life here as Americans. But under it there's a huge, free-floating anxiety. Our inner lives, our inner landscape is just like that sky out there — it's full of smog. We really don't know what we believe anymore, we're nervous about everything.”
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why do most of us make such boring choices for the stories of our lives? How hard can it be to change gears and say, "You know what? Instead of inventing and telling stories, I’m going to make my life a more interesting story." (p. 177)”
Douglas Coupland (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Faith, Quinn mused, was a strange power. They had committed their lives to the sect, never questioning its gospels. Yet in all of that time, they had the reassurance of routine… The bedrock of every religion, that your God is a promise, never to be encountered in this life, this universe.”
Peter F. Hamilton (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was Domna's frailty, as a young and egoistic person, to experience in a heightened way a common subjective illusion, which was that her own life was free, determined only by voluntary choices, while the lives of other people around her were subject to harsh necessity.”
Mary McCarthy (1912–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do not belong to any church, but I do consider myself a religious man...part of the creative and intelligence behind life. Therefore, if we are part of God than our lives are not brief meaningless things, but rather have a great importance and significance.”
Gene Roddenberry (1921–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ibdb p.61. as quoted in Alexander, 1994:423
“To many of us, this sudden silencing of the song of birds, this obliteration of the color and beauty and interest of bird life, is sufficient cause for sharp regret. To those who have never known such rewarding enjoyment of nature, there should yet remain a nagging and insistent question: If this "rain of death" has produced so disastrous an effect on birds, what of other lives, including our own?”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Washington Post, April 10, 1959 (In Rachel Carson: Silent Spring & Other Writings on the Environment)
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
Jackie Robinson (1919–1972) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I Never Had It Made (1972) by Robinson, as told to Alfred Duckett; excerpted in "Why 'I Never Had It Made': Jackie Robinson's Own Story," Newsday (November 5, 1972)
“The tiny fish enjoy themselves in the sea. Quick little splinters of life, their little lives are fun to them in the sea.”
D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Little Fish (1929)
“Men are run ragged by female sexuality all their lives. From the beginning of his life to the end, no man ever fully commands any woman. It's an illusion. Men are pussy-whipped. And they know it. That's what the strip clubs are about; not woman as victim, not woman as slave, but woman as goddess.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Sexuality and Gender (2002) by Christine R. Williams and Arlene Stein, p. 213
“If love lives through all life; and survives through all sorrow; and remains steadfast with us through all changes; and in all darkness of spirit burns brightly; and if we die deplores us forever and loves still equally; and exists with the very last gasp and throb of the faithful bosom—whence it passes with the pure soul beyond death; surely it shall be immortal!”
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) said by 1863 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whenever I refused to follow my fate, something very hard to bear would happen in my life. Tragedy always brings about radical change in our lives, a change that is associated with the same principle: loss. When faced by any loss, there’s no point in trying to recover what has been; it’s best to take advantage of the large space that opens up before us and fill it with something new.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ways we miss our lives are life.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source