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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“Learn while you're young," he often said, "There is much to enjoy, down here below; Life for the living, and rest for the dead!" Said the jolly old pedagogue, long ago.”
George Arnold (1834–1865) said by 1865 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing could be sure it was itself the original. So the only intelligent course lay in enjoying whatever life a being felt—living like a mortal, in the moment.”
Gregory Benford (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The organized workers of America, free in their industrial life, conscious partners in production, secure in their homes and enjoying a decent standard of living, will prove the finest bulwark against the intrusion of alien doctrines of government.”
John L. Lewis (1880–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Just so is the case of many; God gives them precious time in which they are to provide for a kingdom, and they waste this time of life and cut it all into chips. Let this excite violence in the things of God. It is the main errand of our living here...”
Thomas Watson (Puritan) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Living life in "emergency scan" mode self-perpetuates instead of self-corrects. Deal w/a non-emergency before it is one.”
David Allen (born 1945) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 4 November 2010
“When I crashed my BMW and managed to walk away pretty much unscathed, it was a turning point. I'd been living the life, and when people see photos of the car wreck, they can't believe I got away with it. It was like a fog had lifted. I stopped drinking a bottle of Tequila before grabbing my car keys. It was time to wise-up and get a haircut.”
Johnny Marr (born 1963) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: from "The Smiths: Johnny Marr looks back", The Independent (24 February 2006).
“The multitude of formulas (for living the Christian life with success) proposed by Christian writers, preacher, conference speakers, and televangelists simply confuse me. They have different ideas about how it is done, offering promises of fulfillment and joy based on three easy steps, four points of action, or the five smooth stones that David threw.”
Don Miller (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was going through the motions of life, instead of really living, and there’s no excuse for that. It’s not something I’ll let happen to me again.”
Charles de Lint (born 1951) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Making a Noise in This World in Hartwell (ed.) Year's Best Fantasy (2001), p. 326
“The Hindus believe with regard to God that he is one, eternal, without beginning and end, acting by free-will, almighty, all-wise, living, giving life, ruling, preserving; one who in his sovereignty is unique, beyond all likeness and unlikeness, and that he does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble him.”
Al-Biruni (973–1048) said by 1048 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vol. I, p. 27, quoted in , “The dharma of Islam and the dīn of Hinduism: Hindus and Muslims in the age of Śivājī”, International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, 1999.
“My loving children, my children who were created with God's beauty, my wise children, whatever difficulty you may have, do not ever leave His charge. Just as the prophets of God kept their faith firm and were tolerant in spite of the problems they had, no matter what difficulties you may experience, be tolerant, be forbearant and embrace all living things as your own life.”
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (1900–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Tree That Fell To The West: Autobiography of a Sufi (2003)
“Religion means living your own life, completely fresh and new, without being taken in by anyone.”
Kodo Sawaki (1880–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Zen ni kike (To you) (Tokyo: Daihorinkaku, 1987)
“The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. There was coming and going between them, especially at festivals and also when an old man died, because an old man was very close to the ancestors. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors.”
Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As the saying goes, the unexamined life is not worth-living.”
Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Go away, image of my living mother, full of life, as I saw her in France for the last time. Go away! My mother's ghost.”
Albert Cohen (1895–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Christ's whole life on earth was the assertion and example of true manliness — the setting forth in living act and word what man is meant to be, and how he should carry himself in this world of God — one long campaign in which the "temptation" stands out as the first great battle and victory.”
Thomas Hughes (1822–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is wrecked by living.”
Bram van Velde (1895–1981) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: short quotes, 14 September 1967; p. 63
“I don't have an enemy in this state I hope, except rascals like Bill Dodd, Ray Knight and deLesseps Morrison. I'm proud of them! I'll be back. Keep your eye on the indicators. I thought I owed it to you to come look you in the eye and let as many of you see me and see I'm living and I'm not nuts. If I'm nuts, I've been nuts all my life. Thank ya, and God bless ya.”
Earl Long (1895–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "1959 Year In Review: Governor Earl Long Goes Crazy," UPI.com (1959).
“The real question is whether all your pondering and analyses will convince you that life is worth living. That's what it all comes down to.”
Brian Greene (born 1963) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Fabric of the Cosmos : Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality (2004), p. 3
“..the Place de l'Opera [in Paris] gives a better image of the new life than many theories. Its rhythms of opposition, twice repeated in its two directions, realizes a living equilibrium through the exactness of its execution.”
Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Mondrian before 1930; as cited in 'The New Art – The New Life', Piet Mondrian, op. cit. Introd. Note 1., 1931
“There is one thing that makes life mighty in its veriest trifles, worthy in its smallest deeds, that delivers it from monotony, that delivers it from insignificance. All will be great, nothing will be overpowering, when, living in communion with Jesus Christ, we say as He says, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.”
Alexander Maclaren (1826–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you have a child, your previous life seems like someone else's. It's like living in a house and suddenly finding a room you didn't know was there, full of treasure and light.”
Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interviewed in The Guardian, December 4, 2005.
“As preachers we are to promote Christian culture, by bringing the dead branches to the living Vine, that, grafted into it, without a rag of hum1.n righteousness between, the life of Him may enter them; and by keeping them, as far as teaching and example can do it, abiding in Him, that they may bring forth fruit.”
John Hall (Presbyterian pastor) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She felt like drawing this scene, but knew it was the type of moment she couldn’t capture on a page. It wasn’t about content or composition, but the pleasure of living. The trick to happiness wasn’t in freezing every momentary pleasure and clinging to each one, but in ensuring one’s life would produce many future moments to anticipate.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Progress, in the sense of acquisition, is something; but progress in the sense of being, is a great deal more. To grow higher, deeper, wider, as the years go on; to conquer difficulties, and acquire more and more power; to feel all one's faculties unfolding, and truth descending into the soul, — this makes life worth living.”
James Freeman Clarke (1810–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All that we can learn by science of the... processes... of the living body has been learned in those deep foundations of knowledge appertaining to the simplest state... wherein phenomena and events are unobscured by... life.”
Frederick Soddy (1877–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Green Acres is the place to be; Farm living is the life for me.”
Vic Mizzy (1916–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How about we have been dead and what we must do after we die? Why we go to the churches when we are living because I think the divines and Christs are dead in the churches and provide the services, cares and merrys on our lived people. And we received the peaceful mind from them and held a better life than before.”
Martin Firrell (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don’t let life pass you by before you realise that it was worth living.”
Hill Zaini (born 1987) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Borneo Bulletin, 2 October 2009
“It appears to me that, even within the recollection of living men, the Christian faith has come to be less and less regarded as a commanding and mighty power from heaven, a voice of authority, a law of holy life, but more and more as an easy going guide to future enjoyment, to a universal happiness and an indiscriminate salvation.”
Frederic Dan Huntington (1819–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The leader of the band is tired And his eyes are growing old But his blood runs through my instrument And his song is in my soul -- My life has been a poor attempt To imitate the man. I'm just a living legacy To the leader of the band.”
Dan Fogelberg (1951–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have been young, but now am old. I have spent a whole life-time in battling against infidelity with the weapons of apologetic science; but I have become ever more and more convinced that the way to the heart does not lie through the head; and that the only way to the conversion of the head lies through a converted heart which already tastes the living fruits of the gospel.”
Friedrich Tholuck (1799–1877) said by 1877 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. 137.
“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
Mary Oliver (1935–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So are they some form of life, or are they machines?” “At the chemical level all living things can be construed as machines.”
Robert Charles Wilson (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What I do for a living is talk. What I do for life is action.”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am strongly drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labour of my fellow-men. I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force. I also consider that plain living is good for everybody, physically and mentally.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am always astonishing myself. It is the only thing that makes life worth living.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The great secret of power is never to will to do more than you can accomplish. The great secret of action and victory is to be capable of living your life without ideals. Such is the sum of the whole world's wisdom.”
Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) said by 1906 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Ibsen Calendar : A Quotation from the Works of Henrik Ibsen for Every Day (1913) by C. A. Arfwedson
“Had it not been for you, I should have remained what I was when we first met, a prejudiced, narrow-minded being, with contracted sympathies and false knowledge, wasting my life on obsolete trifles, and utterly insensible to the privilege of living in this wondrous age of change and progress.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was too busy doing my job and living my life to spend time keeping notes for some future volume of memoirs.”
Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us the task of a double living, that we have henceforth to fulfill the promise of our friend's life also, in our own, to the world.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) first seen 1840 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: February 28, 1840
“If one has no vanity in this life of ours, there is no sufficient reason for living.”
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion, too, Imagine all the people Living life in peace...”
John Lennon (1940–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood—the virtues that made America. The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to S. Stanwood Menken, chairman, committee on Congress of Constructive Patriotism (January 10, 1917). Roosevelt's sister, Mrs. Douglas Robinson, read the letter to a national meeting, January 26, 1917. Reported i…
“We always thought the living earth was a thing of beauty. It isn’t. Life has had to learn to defend itself against the planet’s random geological savagery.”
Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Without the interplay of human against human, the chief interest in life is gone; most of the intellectual values are gone; most of the reason for living is gone.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Suicide was against the law. Johnny had wondered why. It meant that if you missed, or the gas ran out, or the rope broke, you could get locked up in prison to show you that life was really very jolly and thoroughly worth living.”
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. This is in fact true. It's called living.”
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I frequently asked myself, if I could, or if I was bound to go on living, when life must be passed in this manner. I generally answered to myself, that I did not think I could possibly bear it beyond a year.”
John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) said by 1873 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“... the true utility function of life, that which is being maximised in the natural world, is DNA survival. But DNA is not floating free; it is locked up in living bodies and it has made the most of the levers of power at its disposal.”
Richard Dawkins (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source