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Time
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“'I don't believe in this nonsense about time. Time is just common, it's like water for a fish. Everybody's in this water, nobody gets out of it, or if he does the same thing happens to him that happens to the fish, he dies. And you know what happens in this water, time? The big fish eat the little fish. That's all. The big fish eat the little fish and the ocean doesn't care.'”
James Baldwin (1924–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is, therefore, no difficulty in answering such questions as these. What cause was there why the Universe was placed in such a part of Space? and, Why was the Universe created at such a Time? for, if there be no Space beyond the Universe, it was impossible that it should be created in another place; and if there was no Time before, it was impossible it should be created at another time.”
Jonathan Edwards (theologian) first seen 1723 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Mind (begun in September 1723; not completed).
“To ask what God did before the Creation assumes that God is locked in time like we are. If God is limited by time, He is not God! Time is God.”
Kent Hovind (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From time to time, to remind ourselves to relax, to be peaceful, we may wish to set aside some time for a retreat, a day of mindfulness, when we can walk slowly, smile, drink tea with a friend, enjoy being together as if we are the happiest people on Earth. This is not a retreat, it is a treat.”
Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We cannot change the past even if we could go back in time. The fabric of space-time continuum may automatically correct anomalies caused by, say, a time traveler such that any ripple effects are short-lived.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...absolute time would exist in a causal structure for which the concept indeterminate as to time order lends to a unique simultaneity, i.e., for which there is no finite interval of time between the departure and return of a first-signal...”
Hans Reichenbach (1891–1953) said by 1953 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend. Eternity mourns that. ’Tis an ill cure For life’s worst ills, to have no time to feel them. Where sorrow ’s held intrusive and turned out, There wisdom will not enter, nor true power, Nor aught that dignifies humanity.”
Henry Taylor (1800–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On turning 30: "I kind of feel like the same person except more time has gone by. I hate to say that I feel like an adult now. I have to admit I wish I was still 18. After all, even through the time while I was representing that wild kid, I really wasn't. I was just living my life. I was just not making movies at the time.”
Leonardo DiCaprio (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In imitating the exemplary acts of a god or of a mythic hero, or simply by recounting their adventures, the man of an archaic society detaches himself from profane time and magically re-enters the Great Time, the sacred time.”
Mircea Eliade (1907–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's the same old priority that we have today...Housing. Employment. Health. The same priorities follow black people in these United States time after time after time...the same issues. It's strange that they don't change.”
Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some women can be fooled all of the time, and all women can be fooled some of the time, but the same woman can't be fooled by the same man in the same way more than half of the time.”
Helen Rowland (1876–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We may speak loosely of a ‘sense of time,’ but there is no such sensory organ. Time is something we experience and construct. Time is experienced--is felt--when we wait, expect, or hope.”
Yi-Fu Tuan (1930–2022) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Humanist Geography: An Individual's Search for Meaning, p. 100 (2012).
“Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement... says heaven and earth in one word... speaks of himself and his predicament as though for the first time. It has the virtue of being able to say twice as much as prose in half the time, and the drawback, if you do not give it your full attention, of seeming to say half as much in twice the time.”
Christopher Fry (1907–2005) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In TIME magazine, New York (April 3, 1950)
“The purpose of time is to enable you to learn how to use time constructively. It is thus a teaching device and a means to an end. Time will cease when it is no longer useful in facilitating learning.”
Helen Schucman (1909–1981) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Course in Miracles, (1976)
“Time is both a mystery and a miracle. A marvel and magic! We live in time and time lives in us.”
Kuruvilla Pandikattu (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A cigarette only takes a certain amount of time to smoke and though this takes time it seems to take less and less with each one and you can only smoke so many, there comes a time when you have to stop, when you just cant light the next one . . . at least not for a while.”
Hubert Selby Jr. (1928–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We see spirit in the mist and fog; we hear spirit in the silence of the stones. Polish those stones; they make a noble life possible. We feel spirit every time we love, every time we forgive, every time scorn is overwhelmed by empathy and bitterness overcome by compassion.”
Val Kilmer (1959–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One time they said it was terrorism, another time they said it was acting against the constitution, another time they said it was alcohol.”
Mohamed Nasheed (born 1967) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Decca Aitkenhead (1 April 2012). "Dictatorship is coming back to the Maldives and democracy is slipping away". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2012: Nasheed about the official charges against him in the Maldives.
“This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change. I am here to stand up for their rights, raise their voice ... it is not time to pity them. It is time to take action so it becomes the last time that we see a child deprived of education.”
Malala Yousafzai (born 1997) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We’d like to think that the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, but in reality, in the practical and for your daily life, the Bill of Rights means what judges tell you it means and judges in our country are a byproduct of the electoral process. Forget about 1791, the Second Amendment is on the ballot, this time, next time, every time.”
Alan Gura (born 1971) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the need for Second Amendment supporters to remain vigilant about gun rights in the United States, from his recorded speech to attendees of the 2012 Gun Rights Policy Conference.
“At a time when too many Americans are giving up on democracy, now is the time to attempt to restore faith in our government. Now is the time for Congress to have the courage to take on the lobbyists and powerful special interests and show the American people that our government can work for them, and not just the 1%. Let’s do it.”
Bernie Sanders (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe that we have all at some time eaten the fruit from trees that we did not plant. In the fullness of time, when it is our turn to give, it behooves us in turn to plant gardens that we may never eat the fruit of, which will largely benefit generations to come. I believe this is our sacred responsibility, one that I hope you will shoulder in time.”
N. R. Narayana Murthy (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This wasn’t “next time,” and there would be no more of that; there was only this time, this sole finite time of whose direction and outcome Jeff knew absolutely nothing. He would not waste, not take for granted, a single moment of it.”
Ken Grimwood (1944–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Painting is not what my life is about, but it is very important to me, and I am very lucky to be able to give some time to it. The time that I devote to painting is not a lot of time, but I do it 100 percent while I am working, and then there's nothing else that counts.”
Margrethe II of Denmark (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some of these quantities refer directly to a point of time. That is true of "capital value" as also of such quantities as demand and supply prices. Other terms – as e.g. "income", "revenue", "return", "expenses", "savings", "investments" – imply, however, a time period for which they are reckoned. But in order to be unambiguous they must also refer to a point of time at which they are calculated.”
Gunnar Myrdal (1898–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now pray tell me what Time is? ...Time (to speak abstractedly) is the continuance of any Thing in its own Being. But some Things continue longer in their Beings than others... Time absolutely... is Quantity, as admitting in some Manner the chief Affections of Quantity: Equality, Inequality, and Proportion...”
Isaac Barrow (1630–1677) said by 1677 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Law of Accelerating Returns: As order exponentially increases, time exponentially speeds up (that is, the time interval between salient events grows shorter as time passes). The Law... applies specifically to evolutionary processes.”
Ray Kurzweil (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“we who rip off billions of dollars every year through tax evasions, illegal price fixing, embezzlement, consumer fraud, bribes, kickbacks, and swindles. They call us bandits, yet every time most Black people pick up our paychecks we are being robbed. Every time we walk into a store in our neighborhood we are being held up. And every time we pay our rent the landlord sticks a gun into our ribs.”
Assata Shakur (1947–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The science or art of war requires a freedom of thought, and leisure to reflect upon the various incidents that daily occur, which cannot be had where the whole of one's time is engrossed in clerical employments. The time devoted to this employment is not the only injury I feel; but it confines my thoughts as well as engrosses my time. It is like a merchandise of small wares.”
Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) said by 1786 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The historian's special contribution is the discovery of the manifold shapes of time. The aim of the historian, regardless of his specialty in erudition, is to portray time. He is committed to the detection and description of the shape of time.”
George Kubler (1912–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fundamental propositions of the theory of interest being obtained from a theory of production into which time does not enter as a variable, it follows that interest is not connected with time in any different way from the way in which the general theory of production is connected with time.”
Oskar R. Lange (1904–1965) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Place of Interest in the Theory of Production," Review of Economic Studies, vol. 3, (1936)
“You’re just doing that to pass the time,” said Davide, dismissively. “Just to pass the time,” agreed Jac. “Though I suppose time will pass, in any case, regardless of what I do.”
Adam Roberts (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The experience I had seeing Star Wars for the first time was mind-blowing. Eleven is a great age to have your mind blown. I will never forget that feeling of seeing "Long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away" fade out. It was the first time a movie made me believe in another world that way.”
J. J. Abrams (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Full-time participant observation over an extended period of time tends to be an age-graded phenomenon. Such studies are most likely to be done by young people, in our student years. When we are established professionals, with teaching or other professional responsibilities, we are unlikely to have the time and the motivation to make such a full commitment.”
William Foote Whyte (1914–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Do things right the first time. If you don’t have time to do a job once, you certainly don’t have time to do it again.”
Don Soderquist (1934–2016) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Don Soderquist “Live Learn Lead to Make a Difference, Thomas Nelson, April 2006 p. 58.
“The city is unquestionably—or (to say what is in reality exactly the same, but this time with greater caution) vividly—a time machine. It cannot be made without time reversal, and everything we know about historical geography tells us that it is coming to a screen near you.”
Nick Land (born 1962) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Templexity: Disordered Loops Through Shanghai Time (2014), "Distribution" (original emphasis)
“I think all men recognize that in time of war the citizen must surrender some rights for the common good which he is entitled to enjoy in time of peace. But, sir, the right to control their own government according to constitutional forms is not one of the rights that the citizens of this country are called upon to surrender in time of war.”
Robert M. La Follette Sr. (1855–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Read only the best books. There are plenty of them, far more than you will ever find time to read, and when they are to be had it is a pity to waste time on any others...Goethe once said of someone he knew: "He is a dull man. If he were a book, I would not read him". When you find that a book is poor, and does not give you even the bare facts you are in search of, waste no more time upon it.”
James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838–1922) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Some Hints on Reading - Address to the Students of Rutgers (formerly Queen's) College, New Jersey October, 1911'. In University and Historical Addresses, Delivered During a Residence in the United States As an Ambassad…
“They say that he [ Floris Verster ] has made beautiful impressionist things in the past, afterwards he suddenly has achieved a tender drawing; in this time for example he painted dead rooks, so intimately pure and at the same time monumental, that it seemed to me the best what was made here [in the Netherlands] about that time. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)”
Jan Mankes (1889–1920) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter to A.A.M. Pauwels, 2 Feb. 1911; as cited Jan Mankes – in woord en beeld, ed. Sjoerd van Faassen; Museum Bèlvédère, Heerenveen, 2015 ISBN 1877-0983, n. 22, p. 50
“Rules had been made, and even enforced from time to time. When the first absolute prohibition of time meddling came along, it was already far too late.”
Keith Laumer (1925–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This time a year ago, I was bartending while running a long-shot campaign for Congress. That time felt so dark and yet so hopeful at the same time. Our odds were dismal + I was dismissed, but we felt that fighting hard for what’s right - even uphill - was worth it. Keep going.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born 1989) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post, (29 December 2018)
“As time goes on, it will probably be very difficult to beat AI. But winning this one time, it felt like it was enough. One time was enough.”
“There’s no time, no time!There’s no time to rest!When suddenly death is uponyou, what will you do?Now you’d better start practicingthe sublime Dharma right away;Now, quick, hurry-recite the six-syllable mantra.”
Dilgo Khyentse (1910–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think it was inevitable (not having enough time for school due to Morning Musume) at that time, and there's aspects of myself that only exist because of that time.”
Koharu Kusumi (born 1992) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Koharu Kusumi (2011) cited in "Dream Morning Musume Interviews: Kusumi Koharu" on Tokyo Hive, 3 April 2011.
“I don’t actually regret taking it, but I do regret the amount of time … it’s a time-consumer. But I think at that point it was a necessary evil. To some degree, it was self-medicating. It was a rough, depressing time of life and it seemed to suit the purpose, but then it outlived its benefits.”
Debbie Harry (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Two weeks passed, by the time of the ship—physiological time, that measured by heartbeats and all bodily rhythms, in which the span of life moved relentlessly toward its end, regardless of motion backward or forward along the time dimension.”
Jack Williamson (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I regret not having taken more advantage of time — of the solidity of time, the intention of time. That’s why I don’t like to sleep much anymore. Had I known when I was 20 that I was going to be a musician, I would have taken to the piano, I would have taken the guitar more seriously, I would have perfected my knowledge of music.”
Julio Iglesias (born 1943) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On one of his biggest regrets in "Julio Iglesias reflects on a life that 'has been a miracle'" in AP News (2019 Jun 14)
“I want more time with Jason. I want more time with my children. I want more time sipping martinis at the Green Mill Jazz Club on Thursday nights. But that is not going to happen. I probably have only a few days left being a person on this planet.”
Amy Krouse Rosenthal (1965–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By the time I get to coloring it’s usually the last step and I’m a little creatively tapped out. So I don’t spend a ton of time building a concept for the coloring, but I do love seeing things take final form. A lot of it is thinking about the scene, what the mood is, and how to light it. By that point I’ve spent enough time with the book I already know what I want to achieve when I get to it.”
Jen Wang (born 1984) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On putting the final touches to her images in “The Prince and the Dressmaker’s Jen Wang Talks High-School Habits, Sensitive Storytelling & Her Favorite Princesses” in Paste Magazine (2018 Feb 13)
“But time, I have come to realize, is not for us to fill in such great, blank slabs. We speak of managing time, but it is the opposite. Our lives are filled with businesses because those thin chinks of time are all we can truly master.”
Hanya Yanagihara (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source