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. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“Changing the length of a delay may utterly change behavior. [...] Overshoots, oscillations, and collapses are always caused by delays.”
Donella Meadows (1941–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Climate change is by no means the sole or even the most significant symptom of the changing interests and values of the West. Still, only societies with high levels of cultural amnesia – that have forgotten the scriptures about man created 'in the image and likeness of God' and charged with 'subduing the earth and all its creatures' – could have made such a religion out of it.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "'I've learnt to speak my mind': 10 excerpts from Tony Abbott's climate change speech in London'", Sydney Morning Herald, October 10, 2017
“Inside the family room, Arthur Herk was methodically, relentlessly changing channels. He was doing this partly because the instinct to change channels is embedded deep in the male genetic code, and partly because he knew his wife and stepdaughter hated it. (Chapter 2)”
Dave Barry (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The true wisdom is to be always seasonable, and to change with a good grace in changing circumstances. To love playthings well as a child, to lead an adventurous and honourable youth, and to settle when the time arrives, into a green and smiling age, is to be a good artist in life and deserve well of yourself and your neighbour.”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A change in the weather is known to be extreme; but what's the sense in changing horses in mid-stream?”
“We think we write definitively of those parts of our nature that are dead and therefore beyond change, but that which writes is still changing — still in doubt. Even a monotonously undeviating path of self-examination does not necessarily lead to self-knowledge. I stumble towards my grave confused and hurt and hungry.”
Quentin Crisp (1908–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Rushdie was stabbed in August 2022, leading to life-changing injuries, by an admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini. His novel, Victory City, was about to be published.] I'm hoping that to some degree it might change the subject. I've always thought that my books are more interesting than my life [...] Unfortunately, the world appears to disagree.”
Salman Rushdie (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Word inflation is a problem. You can try to change reality by changing the words, but you can’t. It just stops you from dealing with it. One of the bad guys in Nineteen Eighty-Foursays, ‘The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought.’ It’s Orwellian, and Orwell never ends well.”
Bill Maher (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For a hundred years hell has been gradually growing cool, the flames have been slowly dying out, the brimstone is nearly exhausted, the fires have been burning lower and lower, and the climate gradually changing. To such an extent has the change already been effected that if I were going there to-night I would take an overcoat and a box of matches.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world and is a powerful part of that world changing arsenal.”
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lighting your way to a better future : Speech delivered by Mr N R Mandela at launch of Mindset Network," July 16, 2003 at db.nelsonmandela.org. ; Cited in: Nelson Mandela, S. K. Hatang, Sahm Venter (2012) Notes to the…
“A theory of cultural change is impossible without knowledge of the changing sense ratios effected by various externalizations of our senses. (p. 49)”
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To renew" applies when we are fighting with the enemy, and an entangled spirit arises where there is no possible resolution. We must abandon our efforts, think of the situation in a fresh spirit then win in the new rhythm. To renew, when we are deadlocked with the enemy, means that without changing our circumstance we change our spirit and win through a different technique.”
Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it.”
John McCain (1936–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Transforming negative into positive, you work with whatever comes your way. If others throw bricks at you, build a house. If they throw tomatoes, start a vegetable stand. You can often change a situation simply by changing your attitude toward it.”
Benjamin Hoff (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We take love for granted. We assume we are all perfect lovers and all we need do is wait and our love will grow and blossom as readily as a flower in spring. Not so. Love doesn't grow unless we do. It takes patience, knowledge, experience, determination, and every positive trait we possess. In addition, love is always changing and unless we stay aware and change with it, it eludes us.”
Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of the consolations of dying... Seriously, the world is changing so quickly that if you had any more than 80 years of change I don't see how you could stand it psychologically.”
Jonathan Franzen (born 1959) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jonathan Franzen Warns Ebooks are Corroding Values," The Guardian (Jan 30, 2012).
“I began to suspect that Daddy had been right all along: the only hope I had of changing the world was to change myself first.”
Clarence Thomas (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Autumn to winter — winter into spring — Spring into summer — summer into fall — Thus rolls the changing year, and thus we change; Motion so swift we know not that we move.”
Dinah Craik (1826–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Earth, the world, the fifth planet from the sun—the species that stands on two legs and roams this thin wet crust: it’s changing, Lobey. It’s not the same. Some people walk under the sun and accept that change, others close their eyes, clap their hands to their ears, and deny the world with their tongues.”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like a page of music, like an upper air, Like a momentary color, in which swans Were seraphs, were saints, were changing essences. The west wind was the music, the motion, the force To which the swans curveted, a will to change, A will to make iris frettings on the blank.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A doctor recently described to me "benign positional vertigo": it means you get dizzy in certain positions, but you can get over it without necessarily changing the position. Change "vertigo" to "anxiety," and you've summed up the neurotic's plight.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sam is a repetitive, comic process that merely marks time: he gets nowhere, but then he doesn’t want to get anywhere. Although there is no possibility of any real change in Sam, he never stops changing: Sam stays there inside Sam, getting less and less like the rest of mankind and more and more like Sam, Sam squared, Sam cubed, Sam to the nth.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To Principal Caird... imaging of the Unseen is of inestimable value. It furnishes an objective counterpart to religious emotion, permanent but plastic—capable of indefinite change and purification in response to the changing thoughts and aspirations of mankind.”
John Tyndall (1820–1893) said by 1893 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Considering the temptations under which politicians are placed, of changing their opinions, or rather their professions of opinion, from motives of self interest, the world will not give them credit for motives of honest conviction, unless when the change shall be to their manifest loss and disadvantage.”
Henry Taylor (1800–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know, if I tried to change the minds of everyone who I thought needed changing, I’d never have time to do anything else.”
Charles Stross (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People say having kids is life changing, well that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing, does it? I could take one of my legs off. That would change my life.”
Karl Pilkington (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A perennial problem of any organization which is involved in systems work of a changing nature is the need for the organization itself to change as it adapts to new opportunities, new objectives, new equipment, and new people.”
Harold Chestnut (1917–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The more things change, the more the speed up in changing.”
Malcolm Azania (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only by changing education can we change the world.”
Pope Francis (1936–2025) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address of Pope Francis to members of the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation, 25 June 2018 .
“I like to be involved in things that change the world. The Internet did, and space will probably be more responsible for changing the world than anything else. If humanity can expand beyond the Earth, obviously that's where the future is.”
“I can’t change what I am ovenight.” “Nor can I. And yet, one can’t stop changing, either.”
Joan Slonczewski (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The inescapable conclusion is that the direct contribution of man-hours and capital accumulation would hardly account for more than a tenth of the rate of growth in per capita product — and probably less. The large remainder must be assigned to an increase in efficiency in the productive resources, or the effects of changing arrangements, or to the impact of technological change, or to all three”
Simon Kuznets (1901–1985) said by 1985 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no time apart from change. There is no such thing as a clock outside the network of changing relationships. ...one can only compare how fast one thing is happening with the rate of some other process.”
Lee Smolin (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Her face kept changing and that bothered me as well. Why were human beings so unstable? The door and the curtains and the supply cabinet didn't continually change their appearance.'”
John Twelve Hawks (born 2000) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It seems apparent that the circumstances of existence in modern society are in many ways more restrictive of privacy than conditions in the past; we seem haunted by specters of the organization man, Big Brother, and the omnipresent state. Yet the facts of a changing social and political structure do not themselves attest the badness of that change.”
Glenn Negley (1907–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve come to believe that you cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.”
Grace Lee Boggs (1915–2015) first seen 1280 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Revolution as a New Beginning': An Interview with Grace Lee Boggs". Upping the Anti No. 1. p. 28. March 31, 2005. Interview conducted at Boggs's home in Detroit, Michigan, July 22, 2003. (Web archives [http://web.archi…
“Behold the state of man's unstable mind, Still prone to change with every changing wind! All our resolves are weak, but weakest prove Where sprung from sense of disappointed love.”
John Hoole (1727–1803) said by 1803 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want to start a revolution, I can't change things overnight but in 100–200 years, there will be very few pure Japanese left, so we have to start changing the way we think.”
Ariana Miyamoto (born 1994) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 12 May 2015 to Associated Free Press via Cosmopolitan
“…Back then, it was very difficult for Latinos to even play their own roles, even if it was written for a Latin character. This was an event where they were actually changing the role to make it Latin, and I was just very proud to be able to change it. To not only have this be my first acting role, but have it be a little bit groundbreaking…”
Constance Marie (born 1965) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her first acting role in the television series Dirty Dancing in “From Selena to Undone, Constance Marie has been the matriarch of many an American Family” in the AV Club (2019 Oct 16)
“We are more connected in more ways to more people than we ever have been at any point in human history. This is changing everything, and it would be deeply strange if it didn’t change money too.”
John Lanchester (born 1962) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: When Bitcoin Grows Up", The London Review of Books (April 21, 2016)
“The speedily changing world and the growth in business and industrial enterprises have led to greater demand of semi-skilled manpower, who need a higher level of education in order to perform their tasks at the adequate level.To keep up with the speedy change, the educational system can no longer take a passive role.”
Sukavich Rangsitpol (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is it a surprise to anybody in this room that if you don’t have any money, you don’t get any justice? (Laughter.) Is that a surprise to you all? (Applause.) My gracious, the only way you’re going to get justice is to turn around and empower yourselves to become lawmakers so you can change the system, and there’s no thought of really changing the system today. It’s politics as usual. (Applause.)”
Mike Gravel (1930–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while. But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. Have no doubt that we will rebuild Britain with wealth created in every community.”
Keir Starmer (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The world was changing, and it wouldn’t change back.”
Jack Cady (1932–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have only the many and various legends and even they continue to change with the changing political needs of the Church.”
Ishwar Sharan wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He who does not change in this changing world, perishes. He who does not know how to transform with the times has to be eliminated by them.”
Daniel Salamanca (1869–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But changing laws, more job opportunities, less financial discrimination, and more possibilities for the use of our minds and bodies will only partially change the place of women in this country. By themselves, they will never be enough because we must value our own talents before we can expect acceptance from others. The heart of the battle is within.”
Betty Ford (1918–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is one thing to get girls to study these subjects, it is another thing to transit to the career and stay in the career. A lot of research shows that within the first ten years shows that women who are working in tech tend to drop out. So, the workplace must be also friendly to women. Things are changing but change also takes time.”
Oreoluwa Lesi wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There can be no justice and no peace without changing the hearts of the people. And what other than God’s mercy can change the heart of the people? No, we have to pray. Moreover, people who pray with sincerity cannot feel hate. This is again a contribution towards peace.”
Chucrallah-Nabil El-Hage (born 1943) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Middle East: “Peace comes directly out of the heart of Jesus” (25 June 2021) Aid to the Church in Need International