
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,745 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“Tallys up his loneliness, notch by notch, For the sea offers nuthin' to hold or touch.”
“I firmly believe that if the whole materia medica, as now used, could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be better for mankind—and all the worse for the fishes.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Society (30 May 1860), in Medical Communications of the Massachusetts Medical Society, vol. 9 (1860) pp. 337–8
“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Oliver Wendell Holmes
“So from the heights of Will Life's parting stream descends, And, as a moment turns its slender rill, Each widening torrent bends,From the same cradle's side, From the same mother's knee, —One to long darkness and the frozen tide, One to the Peaceful Sea!”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Lloyd George] was very pleased last night, for he had given the soldiers a dressing-down in the morning. He was dealing with Haig's demand for more men & informed them that Haig would get no more than had already been decided upon. 'He does not make the best use of his men. Let him learn to make better use of them. There is no danger now on land. The danger is on sea'.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frances Stevenson's diary entry (14 February 1917), A. J. P. Taylor (ed.), Lloyd George: A Diary (1971), p. 144
“When you are out on a voyage, the tranquillity does not depend upon the ship, but upon the sea... It is not a policy, it is a yawn.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Conservative leader Bonar Law's election slogan, "Tranquillity"; speech in the Stoll Picture Theatre, Kingsway (4 November 1922), quoted in John Campbell, Lloyd George: The Goat in the Wilderness, 1922–1931 (1977…
“The fact remains, that but for the distraction of Passchendaele, Turkey might have been forced to make peace, and the Black Sea might have been opened to Russia and Roumania.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1332 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Volume II, p. 1332
“In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.”
Earl Warren (1891–1974) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Louis Marshall Award Dinner of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Americana Hotel, New York City (11 November 1962)
“When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”
Eric Cantona (born 1966) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Only comment to journalists waiting for him following the "Kung-Fu Kick Incident" of January 1995
“[P]eople think that the human brain is in the head. Nothing of the sort; it is carried by the wind from the Caspian Sea.”
Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852) said by 1852 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never felt magic crazy as this, Never saw moons, knew the meaning of the sea, I never held emotion in the palm of my hand, Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree, But now you're here. Brighten my northern sky.”
Nick Drake (1948–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The moon is no door. It is a face in its own right, White as a knuckle and terribly upset. It drags the sea after it like a dark crime; it is quiet With the O-gape of complete despair. I live here.”
Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, it’s home again, and home again, America for me! I want a ship that’s westward bound to plow the rolling sea, To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars, Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.”
Henry van Dyke (1852–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Night sank upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea, Such night in England ne’er had been, nor e’er again shall be.”
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I only remember one part of the service," he said, "and that is 'And the body shall be cast into the sea'. So cast it in.”
Jack London (1876–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nobilities, indecencies, heroic impulses, cowardly ravings, good and bad, white and black — the mystery of mysteries, the central island of nescience in a sea of science, the dark spot in the lighted room of knowledge, the unknown quantity, the X in the universal problem.”
Frank Crane (1861–1928) said by 1928 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's a bit early in the midnight hour for me / To go through all the things that I want to be Take me away / Coz I just don't want to stay / And the lies you make me say / Are getting deeper every day If you're lost at sea / Well I hope that you drowned" Please don't cry / Never say die”
Noel Gallagher (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The edge of evening ... the long curve of people all wishing on the first star.... Always remember those men and women along the thousands of miles of land and sea. The true moment of shadow is the moment in which you see the point of light in the sky. The single point, and the Shadow that has just gathered you in its sweep ..." Always remember. The first star hangs between his feet. Now —”
Thomas Pynchon (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Not a very well-known fact, but on planes they always carry a trombone just in case there's a disaster and they need to keep morale up. All cabin crew - fully proficient in the trombone. And of course there's a double facility: if you ditch at sea, it can be used as a snorkel.”
Bill Bailey (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Folly is as great as the sea, it will compass anything.”
Bolesław Prus (1847–1912) first seen 1894 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pharaoh (1894–1895)
“The populace is like the sea, motionless in itself, but stirred by every wind, even the lightest breeze.”
Livy (59 BC–17) said by 17 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As long as women suffer as they do I will fight! As long as little children hungering go, as they now do, I will fight. As long as men go to the prisons, in and out, in and out, as they now do, I will fight. All who are not on the ship are in the sea. Every Soldier must do his utmost to save them.”
William Booth (1829–1912) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: An unspecified platform appeal, as quoted in The Musical Salvationist (September 1927). Several variants of this exist, some of them credited to his speech at the Royal Albert Hall on May 9, 1912, as researched "While W…
“Women are the best helpers of one another. Let them think; let them act; till they know what they need. But if you ask me what offices they may fill, I reply-any. Let them be sea-captains if you will.”
Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) first seen 1845 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1845) Attributed in Gerda Lerner, The Majority Finds Its Past: Placing Women in History’’ (1979)
“Safety is not to be secured, then, by the wisest foresight. I shall embark more composedly in our merchant-ship, praying fervently, indeed, that it may not be my lot to lose my boy at sea, either by unsolaced illness, or amid the howling waves; or, if so, that Ossoli, Angelo, and I may go together, and that the anguish may be brief.”
Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter (21 April 1850)
“As morning branded the sea, darkness fell away at the far side of the beach. I turned to follow it.”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fishes and plankton, whales and squids, birds and sea turtles, all are linked by unbreakable ties to certain kinds of water—to warm water or cold water, to clear or turbid water, to water rich in phosphates or in silicates.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The truth is that disposal has proceeded far more rapidly than our knowledge justifies. To dispose first and investigate later is an invitation to disaster, for once radioactive elements have been deposited at sea they are irretrievable. The mistakes that are made now are made for all time.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The pleasures, the values of contact with the natural world, are not reserved for the scientists. They are available to anyone who will place himself under the influence of a lonely mountain top-or the sea-or the stillness of a forest; or who will stop to think about so small a thing as the mystery of a growing seed.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whether we assert our rights by sea, or attempt their maintenance by land—whithersoever we turn ourselves, this phantom incessantly pursues us. Already has it had too much influence on the councils of the nation.”
Henry Clay (1777–1852) first seen 1810 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech on the Line of the Perdido, Senate (25 December 1810)
“Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea, the other was elected Vice President, and nothing was ever heard of either of them again.”
Thomas R. Marshall (1854–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh's charioteers. AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals. It is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
Jerry Falwell (1933–2007) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1993, quoted in {{cite book
“I'd Like to be Under the sea In an octopus's garden with you.”
Ringo Starr (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People may wonder how Mitt came to join in the Holand Sea Festival, carrying a bomb, and what he thought he was doing. Mitt wondered himself by the end.”
Diana Wynne Jones (1934–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the city is on the sea, we should choose ground close to the harbor as the place where the forum is to be built; but if inland, in the middle of the town.”
Vitruvius (80–15 BC) said by 15 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pozzolana.—There is... a kind of powder which from natural causes produces astonishing results. It is found in the neighborhood of Baiae and in the country belonging to the towns round about Mt. Vesuvius. This substance when mixed with lime and rubble not only lends strength to buildings of other kinds, but even when piers of it are constructed in the sea, they set hard under water.”
Vitruvius (80–15 BC) said by 15 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rollers on the beach, wind in the pines, the slow flapping of herons across sand dunes, drown out the hectic rhythms of city and suburb, time tables and schedules. One falls under their spell, relaxes, stretches out prone. One becomes, in fact, like the element on which one lies, flattened by the sea; bare, open, empty as the beach, erased by today’s tides of all yesterday’s scribblings.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Standing on the bridge that crosses The river that goes out to the sea The wind is full of a thousand voices They pass by the bridge and me.”
Loreena McKennitt (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The thundering waves are calling me home to you The pounding sea is calling me home to you”
Loreena McKennitt (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea A vision came o'er me Of thundering hooves and beating wings In clouds above.”
Loreena McKennitt (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many of New Zealand's birds flew here from Australia fifteen hundred miles away across the sea to the west. They started to do so millions of years ago, and they are still doing so today... So, if you know Australian birds, you will recognise quite a lot, particularly those that are relatively recent arrivals.”
David Attenborough (born 1926) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And pray, what in sea language is meant by a ship?" "She must have three square-rigged masts, sir," they told him kindly, "and a bowsprit; and the masts must be in three - lower, top and topgallant - for we never call a polacre a ship.”
Patrick O'Brian (1914–2000) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Master and Commander (1970)
“Last year in Florida, at Sea World Florida, an animal trainer was killed by a killer whale...HUH. Turns out, there's a reason they didn't name them "ocean ponies." Some things are exactly as they seem, folks. Killer whales kill, pilot whales wear dark sunglasses. I'm not sure how the sperm whale got his name...but I'm not getting in the pool. (31:06)”
“20 million other white rappers emerge, but no matter how many fish in the sea, it'll be so empty without me”
“Well you burst on the scene Already a legend The unwashed phenomenon The original vagabond You strayed into my arms And there you stayed Temporarily lost at sea The Madonna was yours for free Yes the girl on the half-shell Would keep you unharmed”
“It was in a bar, a quiet little hole in the wall. It was four o'clock in the afternoon. Beyond the open door the rain fell, the heavy color of the sea, in air where the sunlight was still suspended. Its watery reflection lighted the room, as a room might have lighted a mousehole. It was in New Orleans. (beginning of "The Purple Hat ")”
Eudora Welty (1909–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The sea is the universal sewer.”
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Declaring the sea to be "where all kinds of pollution wind up", to the US House Committee on Science and Astronautics (28 January 1971)
“Farming as we do it is hunting, and in the sea we act like barbarians.”
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview (17 July 1971): Cited in: Jane Goodall et al. (2005) Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating.
“I have come to believe that this is a mighty continent which was hitherto unknown. I am greatly supported in this view by reason of this great river, and by this sea which is fresh.”
Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) said by 1506 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have desired to go Where springs not fail, To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail And a few lilies blow. And I have asked to be Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing of the sea.”
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thou mastering me God! giver of breath and bread; World’s strand, sway of the sea; Lord of living and dead; Thou hast bound bones and veins in me, fastened me flesh, And after it almost unmade, what with dread, Thy doing: and dost thou touch me afresh? Over again I feel thy finger and find thee.”
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source