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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“Slowly but surely withal moveth the might of the gods.”
Euripides (481–407 BC) said by 407 BC at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.”
Euripides (481–407 BC) said by 407 BC at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“He whom the gods favour dies in youth.”
Plautus (250–184 BC) said by 184 BC at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“If you are wise, be wise; keep what goods the gods provide you.”
Plautus (250–184 BC) said by 184 BC at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“The gods looked with favour on superior courage.”
Tacitus (55–120) said by 120 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“The ways of the gods are full of providence.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121–180) said by 180 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain.”
Schiller (1759–1805) said by 1805 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“I sought not in her visage, for the tinge of the morning, and the lustre of heaven. These had vanished with life; but I hoped for liberty to print a last kiss upon her lips. This was denied me; for such had been the merciless blow that destroyed her, that not a lineament remained!”
Charles Brockden Brown (1771–1810) said by 1810 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want to soar the boundless blue Where winds and tempests have their birth, And let the clouds conceal for me Not heaven, but the earth.”
Isaac Leib Peretz (1852–1915) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I Am a Rainworm", 1900, translated by Jacob Robbins. J. Leftwich. Golden Peacock. Sci-Art, 1939, p. 83.
“They are all so-called Christian nations, but... this superimposed religion... does not penetrate into the core of their souls. It has no relation to their daily experience... It is a key to open a heaven after death and not a key with which to force open the portals of this life.”
Isaac Leib Peretz (1852–1915) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vegn vos Firn op fun Yidishkeit, 1911. S. Liptzin. Peretz. Yivo, 1947, p. 372.
“Don't look up to heaven, for what will you see in the sky, except stars, luminous but cold, wholly insensitive to pity?”
Isaac Leib Peretz (1852–1915) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Drei Matones, 1904–15. S. Liptzin. Peretz. Yivo, 1947, p. 187.
“Music, being identical with heaven, isn't a thing of momentary thrills, or even hourly ones. It's a condition of eternity.”
Gustav Holst (1874–1934) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to W G Whittaker, 1914, quoted in Paul Holmes Holst p. 62.
“ALANZO: Wrongs, like great whirlwinds, Shake highest battlements. Few for heaven would care, Should they be ever happy.”
Thomas Dekker (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I write of hell; I sing (and ever shall) Of heaven, and hope to have it after all.”
Robert Herrick (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Soul of my life and fame! Eternal lamp of love! whose radiant flame Out-glares the heaven's Osiris, and thy gleams Out-shine the splendour of his mid-day beams.”
Robert Herrick (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting.”
Robert Herrick (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O Twilight! Spirit that dost render birth To dim enchantments; melting heaven with earth, Leaving on craggy hills and running streams A softness like the atmosphere of dreams.”
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (1808–1877) first seen 1840 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Winter’s Walk (c. 1840).
“And also there’s a little star So white a virgin’s it must be:— Perhaps the lamp my love in heaven Hangs out to light the way for me.”
Theo Marzials (1850–1920) first seen 1883 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Song (1883).
“Sometimes they seem like living shapes, — The people of the sky, — Guests in white raiment coming down From heaven, which is close by; I call them by familiar names, As one by one draws nigh.”
Lucy Larcom (1824–1893) said by 1893 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Just men, by whom impartial laws were given; And saints who taught and led the way to heaven.”
Thomas Tickell (1685–1740) first seen 1721 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Death of Mr. Addison (1721), line 41. The work was an epitath for Tickell's friend and employer, Joseph Addison.
“Are these the choice dishes the Doctor has sent us? Is this the great poet whose works so content us? This Goldsmith’s fine feast, who has written fine books? Heaven sends us good meat, but the Devil sends cooks?”
David Garrick (1717–1779) first seen 1557 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Epigram on Goldsmith’s Retaliation. Vol. ii. p. 157. Compare: "God sendeth and giveth both mouth and the meat", Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Points of Good Husbandry (1557); "God sends meat, and the Devil sends cooks", John…
“Know, dear little one! our Father Will no gentle deed disdain: Love on the cold earth beginning Lives divine in Heaven again, While the angel hearts that beat there Still all tender thoughts retain.”
Adelaide Anne Procter (1825–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A little longer still, and Heaven awaits thee, And fills thy spirit with a great delight; Then our pale joys will seem a dream forgotten, Our Sun a darkness, and our Day a Night.”
Adelaide Anne Procter (1825–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have sought, but I seek it vainly, That one lost chord divine, Which came from the soul of the Organ, And entered into mine.It may be that Death's bright angel Will speak in that chord again, It may be that only in Heaven I shall hear that grand Amen.”
Adelaide Anne Procter (1825–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She is both heaven and the way.”
Coventry Patmore (1823–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why, having won her, do I woo? Because her spirit's vestal grace Provokes me always to pursue, But, spirit-like, eludes embrace.[…] Because though free of the outer court I am, this Temple keeps its shrine Sacred to Heaven; because, in short, She's not and never can be mine.”
Coventry Patmore (1823–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life's warp of Heaven and woof of Hell.”
Coventry Patmore (1823–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Press on! there's no such word as fail! Press nobly on! the goal is near,— Ascend the mountain! breast the gale! Look upward, onward,—never fear! Why shouldst thou faint? Heaven smiles above, Though storm and vapor intervene; That sun shines on, whose name is Love, Serenely o'er Life's shadow'd scene.”
Park Benjamin Sr. (1809–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Calm on the listening ear of night Come Heaven’s melodious strains, Where wild Judea stretches far Her silver-mantled plains.”
Edmund Sears (1810–1876) said by 1876 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Christmas Song, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Also quoted by: Edmund H. Sears
“It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From Angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold; "Peace on the earth, good will to man From Heaven’s all gracious King." The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing.”
Edmund Sears (1810–1876) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Angels' Song ("It Came Upon A Midnight Clear", 1849).
“A place of dream, the Holy Land Hangs midway between earth and heaven.”
Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford (1835–1921) said by 1921 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A clean conscience might help you to get into heaven. but it won't help your career.”
Mario Vargas Llosa (1936–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And now her eyes grew bright, and brighter still, Too bright for ours to look upon, suffused With many tears, and closed without a cloud. They set as sets the morning star, which goes Not down behind the darkened west, nor hides Obscured among the tempests of the sky, But melts away into the light of heaven.”
Robert Pollok (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was a man Who stole the livery of the court of Heaven To serve the Devil in.”
Robert Pollok (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Robert Pollok
“If today he descended from Heaven, the great warrior who struck the money changers, You would once again shout 'crucify!' And nail him to the cross that he himself carried. But he would gently laugh at your hatred. 'The truth remains even when your bearers are passed. Faith remains, because I give my life...' And the fighter of all the world towers on the cross.”
Baldur von Schirach (1907–1974) first seen 1934 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Christ ("Christus"), from "The Flag of the Persecuted" (Die Fahne der Verfolgten, 1934), pg 51.
“If heaven send no supplies, The fairest blossom of the garden dies.”
William Browne (1590–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I were lost in misery What was it to Thy heaven and thee? What was it to Thy precious blood If my foul heart called for a flood? What if my faithless soul and I Would needs fall in With guilt and sin, What did the lamb that He should die? What did the lamb that He should need, When the wolf sins, Himself to bleed?”
Richard Crashaw (1612–1649) said by 1649 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A happy soul, that all the way To heaven hath a summer’s day.”
Richard Crashaw (1612–1649) said by 1649 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Praise of Lessius’s Rule of Health, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Also quoted by: Sir John Denham
“With what reason canst thou expect that thy children should follow thy good instructions, when thou thyself givest them an ill example? Thou dost but as it were beckon to them with thy head, and shew them the way to heaven by thy good counsel, but thou takest them by the hand and leadest them in the way to hell by thy contrary example.”
John Tillotson (1630–1694) said by 1694 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sermon 62: On the Education of Children, in The Works of Dr. John Tillotson (1772) edited by Thomas Birch, Vol 3, p. 197; this is more commonly quoted as modernized and paraphrased by John Charles Ryle, Anglican Bishop …
“Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down, Fix in us thy humble dwelling, All thy faithful mercies crown; Jesu, thou art all compassion, Pure unbounded love thou art, Visit us with thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart.”
Charles Wesley (1707–1788) said by 1788 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hymn IX" of "Hymns for those that seek and those who have redemption in the blood of Jesus Christ", in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley Vol 4. (1868), edited by G Osborn, p. 219
“James — it's about your sister I wonder if you missed her I'm on my way to see you but I don't know what to bring Almost gave up the ghost, now you have what she wants most a little piece of heaven and a lovely song to sing.”
Ysabella Brave (born 1979) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: James (new original song!)" (5 July 2007)
“O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you. Angels are painted fair, to look like you: There ’s in you all that we believe of heaven,— Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, Eternal joy, and everlasting love.”
Thomas Otway (1652–1685) first seen 1682 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Venice Preserv'd (1682), Act i. Sc. 1.
“Vows with so much passion, swears with so much grace, That ’t is a kind of heaven to be deluded by him.”
Nathaniel Lee (1653–1692) said by 1692 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm a lazy writer. My idea of heaven is not writing. On the other hand, I'm obviously compulsive about it.”
Stephen Sondheim (1930–2021) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies (2001 ed): Art. Stephen Sondheim p. 408
“Nobody crossed him without a battle. He disliked almost everything, particularly his wife, his children, his neighbors, his church, his priest, his town, his state, his country, and the country from which he emigrated. Nor did he give a damn for the world either, or the sun or the stars, or the universe, or heaven or hell. But he liked women.”
John Fante (1909–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch.3 - at p.21 [Page numbers per the Canongate Books Ltd paperback, 2005 edition.]
“Let this hell be our heaven.”
Richard Matheson (1926–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Others of graver mien; behold, adorn'd With holy ensigns, how sublime they move, And bending oft their sanctimonious eyes Take homage of the simple-minded throng; Ambassadors of heaven!”
Mark Akenside (1721–1770) said by 1770 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Mark Akenside (attributed)
“The Providence of heaven Has some peculiar blessing given To each allotted state below.”
Mark Akenside (1721–1770) said by 1770 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Heaven's all-subduing will, With good the progeny of ill, Attempreth every state below.”
Mark Akenside (1721–1770) said by 1770 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Vile avarice and pride, from Heaven accurst, In all are ill, but in a church-man worst.”
William Alexander (1567–1640) said by 1640 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source