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. 1,159,190 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

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“I did not decide to become an officer to start a military career. I still wanted to be an agronomist and work in some remote corner of Russia after the war. I could not suppose that my country would change, and I would.”
Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "The matter of my whole life" - by Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky - Moscow, Politizdat, 1978.
“He's had a tough life. As is not unusual in Jewish families - if you've ever seen the movie Avalon - I think somebody's cut the turkey on Uncle Louis a few years ago... That doesn't change my view of him when I was young and he was a detective.”
Howard Safir (1942–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Despite everything he had or might have (except, of course, another human being), life gave no promise of improvement or even of change. The way things shaped up, he would live out his life with no more than he already had. And how many years was that? Thirty, maybe forty if he didn’t drink himself to death. The thought of forty more years of living as he was made him shudder.”
Richard Matheson (1926–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But as important as it is to see what's going on, it's unlikely that merely understanding the situation will do much to improve it. If you're interested in change, you need to develop a sense of possibility.”
Tim Hurson (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No matter how dysfunctional the present, no matter how sensible the reasons for change, most people and organizations would rather wring out the old than ring in the new.”
Tim Hurson (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In my experience one of the most common causes for programs, products, and change initiatives that don't work is that the wrong question has been asked.”
Tim Hurson (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They flee from me that sometime did me seek With naked foot, stalking in my chamber. I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek, That now are wild, and do not remember That sometime they have put themselves in danger To take bread at my hand; and now they range, Busily seeking with a continual change.”
Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542) said by 1542 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Times daily change and we likewise in them; Things out of sight do straight forgotten die.”
William Alexander (1567–1640) said by 1640 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God, the supreme being, is neither circumscribed by space, nor touched by time; he cannot be found in a particular direction, and his essence cannot change. The secret conversation is thus entirely spiritual; it is a direct encounter between God and the soul, abstracted from all material constraints.”
Avicenna (980–1037) said by 1037 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in 366 Readings From Islam (2000), edited by Robert Van der Weyer
“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.”
Eckhart Tolle (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“V Stands for Verity, Virtue, Valor, Validity and Veganism. … Veganism is real conservation in action. It goes beyond talking about climate change and diminishment of biodiversity and actually does something to address the problems.”
Paul Watson (born 1950) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: V" by Captain Paul Watson, SeaShepherd.org (6 May 2014)
“Susannah and I have always felt that the psychology of clothing does make people change a mind-set, so if we use that and we help someone feel more confident about themselves and build them up that’s great.”
Trinny Woodall (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The social problems were far tougher than technological ones, because the human basics remained unaltered, and people don’t change as fast as things.”
Henry Kuttner (1915–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People don’t change, they just grow older. But fads and gadgets and trivia alter fast, even to the point of becoming unrecognizable.”
Henry Kuttner (1915–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People seem to like new things—if they weren’t too new, if they didn’t seem to point the way to Change.”
Henry Kuttner (1915–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Will change the pebbles of our puddly thought To orient pearls.”
Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544–1590) said by 1590 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Du Bartas
“After that they had boiled jam roll and apple dumpling, as the fancy took them, for if you wanted a change of food from the Puddin', all you had to do was to whistle twice and turn the basin round.”
Norman Lindsay (1879–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The major challenges of climate change, the major challenge of the economy and manufacturing, the major challenges in education, and how do we turbo-charge our national education system to create the knowledge base for the future of the Australian economy. These are the sorts of areas that you're going to see detailed policy plans from us in the weeks and months ahead...”
Kevin Rudd (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never really have any major resolutions. I do try to be a good person, to be a good mom, to be a good wife, I don't really start the year off on January 1, 'Oh, I am now going to make a big change.' I try every day when I wake up to be good to the people around me.”
Heidi Klum (born 1973) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Discussing New Year's resolutions. From The Morning Call, 5 January 2011
“We have this window of opportunity; we have a chance to make something real happen. Something possible happen, to live beyond our fear — think about that, and help us. Help lift us up, help us fight this fight to change — transform — this country in a fundamental way. This chance won’t come around again.”
Michelle Obama (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams; that Barack will fight for people like them; and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.”
Michelle Obama (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...the biggest, most dramatic change happens incrementally, little by little, through compromises and adjustments over years and decades.”
Michelle Obama (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you want to make a difference, when you want to change the world, your mental health will sometimes get in the way.”
Michelle Obama (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are many moderate Muslims, but that does not change the fact that the political ideology of Islam is not moderate—it is a totalitarian cult with global ambitions.”
Geert Wilders (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Because these things Will change. We can see it now. These walls That they put up, To hold us back Will fall down. It's a revolution, It's how we'll become. Who we're Supposed to be. We'll sing hallelujah; We'll sing hallelujah. Oh.”
Taylor Swift (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a man talks shit then I owe him nothing. And if spends my change than he had it coming. They said I did something bad But why it feels so good.”
Taylor Swift (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why then should I seek further store, And still make love anew? When change itself can give no more, 'Tis easy to be true.”
Charles Sedley (1639–1701) said by 1701 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm tired of trying to do something worthwhile for the human race, they simply don't want to change!”
August Dvorak (1894–1975) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1962 interview, reported in Robert Parkinson, "The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard: Forty Years of Frustration", Computers And Automation, 1972-11, pp. 18-25
“That is the difference between gods and men. Gods can change themselves; humans can only be changed.”
Cees Nooteboom (1933–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have always found them very reasonable --they don't change their minds when you aren't looking at them. Each one can always be relied upon to say the same thing.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's also been attacked from the left by people... I teach students at Stanford, and many of them think that liberalism is... the doctrine of their parents' or their grandparents' generation, but it's really not relevant to Gen Z younger people who are impatient for social justice and social change that liberalism is not providing.”
Francis Fukuyama (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your needs are your choice. Because they are your choice, this means you are not bound by them. You can choose to change your needs.”
Scott Shaw (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The masses are always paralyzed by inertia. They resist change except in small doses which do not violently upset their current dogma and their comfort level. And that is why there must be many levels to the resistance. The masses must be fed milk before they are ready to digest meat, i.e., the brutal and unpleasant truth.”
David Lane (white nationalist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: David Eden Lane
“Human social institutions can effect the course of human evolution. Just as climate-change, food supply, predators, and other natural forces of selection have molded our nature, so too can our culture.”
Peter Singer (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“LSD is a unique and powerful tool for the exploration of the human mind and human nature. Psychedelic experiences mediate access to deep realms of the psyche that have not yet been discovered and acknowledged by mainstream psychology and psychiatry. They also reveal new possibilities and mechanisms of therapeutic change and personality transformation.”
Stanislav Grof (born 1931) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: LSD psychotherapy (1980), MAPS 2001 edition, Epilogue, p. 299.
“So vast has been the change in the claim and position of slavery! So entirely has it reversed the classic story, and the blind, begging Belisarius has become the imperial general! So proudly, in such long and dazzling and magnificent array, stands Xerxes at the fiery pass of war! And where is Leonidas? Where is liberty?”
George William Curtis (1824–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Israel's continued refusal to change its Jewish supremacist character or its racist policies toward the Palestinian people is portrayed in the international press and by official Israeli rhetoric as a defense of its 'democratic' principles and in defense of a Jewish people whose historic persecution came to a halt only because of Zionism's intervention.”
Joseph Massad (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The game today is entirely different to when I played. But I still think it's pretty smart. Maybe the biggest change lies in the simple fact that if you're a bit slow today, mentally or physically, you're not going to survive.”
Jack Gibson (1929–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That was what drew him to mathematics. Not because it was rarefied, but because it probed to the subtle, deeper reality. People said that mathematicians were unworldly, and yammered on about how Einstein couldn’t make correct change. Nonsense. Einstein just didn’t give a damn. It was the subtle, the beautiful that concerned him.”
Gregory Benford (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Definitions, her grandmother once said, had to be like a fat man’s belt—big enough to cover the subject but elastic enough to allow for change.”
Gregory Benford (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nature’s nature was change. It was not a museum.”
Gregory Benford (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“History says don't hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed for tidal wave Of justice can rise up And hope and history rhyme. So hope for a great sea-change on the far side of revenge. Believe that a further shore is reachable from here. Believe in miracles and cures and healing wells.”
Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Doubletake", from The Cure at Troy (1990)
“Nothing has changed since I began. My eye has permitted no change. I am going to keep things like this.”
Ted Hughes (1930–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poems get to the point where they are stronger than you are. They come up from some other depth and they find a place on the page. You can never find that depth again, that same kind of authority and voice. I might feel I would like to change something about them, but they’re still stronger than I am and I cannot.”
Ted Hughes (1930–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He had foreseen every such change in his fortune, ignored it always, and called the refusal innocence.”
Peter S. Beagle (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I always had an interest in the story of everything. A little bit of an existential crisis always helps when you’re looking for a sea change. If I know anything, it’s that I never learned anything while I was talking.”
Robert Downey Jr. (born 1965) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Robert Downey Jr. on Being an Entrepreneur: 'I Never Learned Anything While I Was Talking'" (2 April 2021)
“In the spiritual order a proof is of assistance only to the man who wishes to understand and who, because of this wish, has in some measure understood already; it is of no practical use to one who, deep in his heart, does not want to change his position and whose philosophy merely expresses this desire.”
Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Get rid of those terrible jeans that everybody else wears. And wear something different for a change, so you don't just look like a clone.”
Vivienne Westwood (1941–2022) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Talking about her manifesto, on the Daily Mayo (25 April 2008)
“The only constant in the technology industry is change.”
Marc Benioff (born 1964) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Forbes: Marc Benioff to Write Age of Context Foreword (18 March 2013)
“The most brilliant scientific discoveries will in time change and perhaps grow obsolete as new scientific manifestations emerge. But art is eternal, for it reveals the inner landscape, which is the soul of man.”
Martha Graham (1894–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source