
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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“My little fellow, about four years old, whom I brought with me, gave himself no trouble amid the boats, omnibuses, and railway coaches, on sea, land, and in dark tunnels; his father was at his side, and never a care or fear or doubt or anxiety had he. May we have grace to be led by the hand, and trust to the care and kindness of a reconciled God and Father.”
Thomas Guthrie (1803–1873) said by 1873 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The life-boat may have a tasteful bend and beautiful decoration, but these are not the qualities for which I prize it; it was my salvation from the howling sea! So the interest which a regenerate soul takes in the Bible, is founded on a personal application to the heart of the saving truth which it contains.”
James Waddel Alexander (1804–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now, the smoke fills the air In this honky-tonk bar. And I'm thinking 'bout where I'd rather be. But I burned all my bridges; I sank all my ships. And I'm stranded at the edge of the sea.”
James Taylor (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He wants to dream like a young man With the wisdom of an old man. He wants his home and security, He wants to live like a sailor at sea. Beautiful loser, where you gonna fall? You realize you just can't have it all.”
“In the study of such events we do well to remember that the hand once nailed to the tree holds the chain that binds the past, the present, and the future. His way is in the sea, His path is in the great waters, and His footsteps are not known. But wisdom marks His plans; truth and justice attend their development, and out of seeming evil He brings triumphant good.”
John Lanahan (1815–1903) said by 1903 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The sea and wind can at the same time convey my neighbour's vessel and my own.”
Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dominion by land or sea will appear equally destitute of attraction, when it comes to be generally understood, that all its advantages rest with the rulers, and that the subjects at large derive no benefit whatever.”
Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My father taught me that the sea is full of signs. Let's say we leave on a voyage at sunset. At midnight the navigator listens for chirping birds. You and I don't hear them—we can't hear them. Only the navigator can hear them.”
Mau Piailug (1932–2010) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Last Navigator (1987)
“Four beautiful maids Were all in love with me. They said that I could have but one So I went off to sea.”
Alexander Knox (1907–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The best thing I know between France and England is the sea.”
Douglas William Jerrold (1803–1857) said by 1857 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Anglo-French Alliance, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Also quoted by: Douglas Jerrold
“I watch the boats go by As the evening colours of the sand The rain is bringing tears From my lover's land I watch the silver stars melt in love with the sea I cry to the wind: – Bring back my lover to me! -”
Mike Oldfield (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, my love You're searching For your name Beside the sea Of dwells and dreams Where Shadows're dancing For your glance... The sky would chance The granting of a dream To the restless soul That dwells within your heart...”
Mike Oldfield (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Drifting a dream On a mystical sea... A wishful emotion A drop in the ocean A hush in the air You can feel anywhere In the cool twilight Of a tropical night...”
Mike Oldfield (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Taking on water Sailing a restless sea From a memory A fantasy The wind carries into white water Far from the islands Don't you know... You're never going to get to France Mary, queen of chance, will they find you! Never going to get to France... Could a new romance ever bind you?”
Mike Oldfield (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Far the horizon Hove to the wind; We're sailing the sea To the Edge of the World.”
Mike Oldfield (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I understand the most profound and simplest Truth of all: Any time any of us reaches out, any time we pour even a drop of love, compassion, simple human decency (no matter how small; how seemingly insignificant) into the sea of earthly existence — we are, each and every one of us — the being called Mercy.”
J. M. DeMatteis (born 1953) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mercy (1993)
“Jump blind and you might find yourself on the rim of a raging volcano, or smack in the middle of a battlefield during a savage war, or on a swiftly tilting ice floe in a tempest-tossed sea.”
Stephen R. Lawhead (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He who controls the sea controls everything.”
Themistocles (524–459 BC) said by 459 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Each day you hear the sand as it moves and whispers, Come and sail on my golden sea, Maybe one day you'll be just like me, And that's free.”
Ronnie James Dio (1942–2010) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Egypt (The Chains Are On)" on The Last in Line (1984)
“There's perfect harmony In the rising and the falling of the sea. And as we sail along, I never fail to be astounded by The things we'll do for promises And a song.”
Ronnie James Dio (1942–2010) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: All the Fools Sailed Away" on Dream Evil (1987)
“What's going on down there, Katniss? Have they all joined hands? Taken a vow of nonviolence? Tossed the weapons in the sea in defiance of the Capitol?" Finnick asks. "No," I say. "No," Finnick repeats. "Because whatever happened in the past is in the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance." He eyes Peeta for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta.”
Suzanne Collins (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The waves of hatred-night can easily be dissolved in the sea of oneness-love.”
Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And when I first saw you I first loved you With a song that I sang to the fire in your eyes But somebody told you that it wouldn't be easy And you carried that lie for the devil to sing Some sail rivers deep and muddy some sail rivers clear and cold But the river that I'm sailin' goes to sea And sometimes I do grow weary sometimes I feel old And sometimes I wonder if you think of me”
Hoyt Axton (1938–1999) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lion In The Winter" on Southbound (1975) · Performance with Linda Ronstadt
“Joy to the world All the boys and girls, now, Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea Joy to you and me”
Hoyt Axton (1938–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some say he was a sailor who died away at sea Some say he was a prisoner who never was set free Lost upon the ocean he died there in the mist Dreaming of a kiss Bitter Green they called her walking in the sun Loving everyone that she met Bitter Green they called her waiting in the sun Waiting for someone to take her home”
Gordon Lightfoot (1938–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Saw the English [pilots] coming from the sea in huge bands like the bristling hair of Zeus Jupiter. Heard all destroyed in Frankfurt. Sad... (12 April 1944)”
Max Beckmann (1884–1950) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: notes in his diary, 1944, Amsterdam; as quoted on: 'Arts in exile'
“The three horizontal bands at the top [ in his collage: landscape with paintings 1954] correspond to sea, sand and sky, while the yellow/white and red/white shapes at the bottom are the paintings – though of a kind I actually painted only later. It was the collage that suggested the idea of doing such paintings.”
Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 18 : 'Notes from 1969'
“The poor Palestinians who today kill Jews with explosives and firebombs and stones are part of the same people who when they had all the territories they now demand be given to them for their state -attempted to drive the Jewish state into the sea.”
Meir Kahane (1932–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your entire universe will not be enough to make me guilty. You are the king of the Gods, Jupiter, the king of the stones and of the stars, the king of the waves of the sea. But you are not the king of men.”
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I pass with relief from the tossing sea of Cause and Theory to the firm ground of Result and Fact.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Story of the Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War (1898), Chapter III
“When we reflect upon the brutal vices of these salt-water bandits, pirates as shameful as any whom the sea has borne, or recoil from their villainous destruction and cruel deeds, we must also remember the discipline, the fortitude, the comradeship and martial virtues which made them at this period beyond all challenge the most formidable and daring race in the world.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.”
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) said by 1626 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wiped away the weeds and foam, And fetched my sea-born treasures home; But the poor, unsightly, noisome things Had left their beauty on the shore With the sun, and the sand, and the wild uproar.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bad times have a scientific value. [...] We learn geology the morning after the earthquake, on ghastly diagrams of cloven mountains, upheaved plains, and the dry bed of the sea.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I could put my hand on the north star, would it be as beautiful? The sea is lovely, but when we bathe in it, the beauty forsakes all the near water. For the imagination and senses cannot be gratified at the same time.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A ruddy drop of manly blood The surging sea outweighs, The world uncertain comes and goes; The lover rooted stays.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Palestine is Arab and must be liberated from the river to the sea and all the Zionists who emigrated to the land of Palestine must leave.”
Saddam Hussein (1937–2006) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Iraqi Television, May 30, 2001; quoted in Robert Wistrich, Muslim Anti-Semitism: A Clear and Present Danger(2002), page 43.
“Autobiography is never entirely true. No one can get the right perspective on himself. Every fact is colored by imagination and dream. The young look forth across the sea to a mirage of fairylands filled with hidden treasures; the aged turn to the fading past, and through the mist and haze that veils once familiar scenes, bygone events assume weird and fanciful proportions.”
Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The chief character in this narrative is the Caribbean Sea, one of the world's most alluring bodies of water, a rare gem among the oceans, defined by the islands that form a chain of lovely jewels to the north and east.”
James A. Michener (1907–1997) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Caribbean (1989) First lines
“Now landsmen all, whoever you may be, If you want to rise to the top of the tree, If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool, Be careful to be guided by this golden rule— Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, And you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navee.”
W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) said by 1911 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am the monarch of the sea, The Ruler of the Queen's Navee, Whose praise Great Britain loudly chants And we are his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts!”
W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) first seen 1878 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1878, HMS Pinafore, act 1, also quoted in Dictionary of Quotations, p. 353 (2005)
“A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats.”
Stephen Crane (1871–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When it came night, the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea's voice to the men on shore, and they felt that they could then be interpreters.”
Stephen Crane (1871–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1778 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (10 April 1778)
“Myself at the age of six, when I believed I was a little girl, raising with a very great care the skin of the sea in order to observe a dog sleeping in the shadow of the water.”
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: title of his oil-painting, Dali painted in 1950
“Look, stranger, on this island now The leaping light for your delight discovers, Stand stable here And silent be, That through the channels of the ear May wander like a river The swaying sound of the sea.”
W. H. Auden (1907–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“¿Cómo reconocer una obra de arte? ¿Cómo separarla, aunque sólo sea un momento, de su aparato crítico, de sus exégetas, de sus incansables plagiarios, de sus ninguneadores, de su final destino de soledad? Es fácil. Hay que traducirla.”
Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Entre Paréntesis (2004) edited by Ignacio Echevarría, p. 223
“Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations. Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We seldom stop to think that we are still creatures of the sea, able to leave it only because, from birth to death, we wear the water-filled space suits of our skins.”
Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source