Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“I was also upset to hear of a black conservative in Virginia named Jay Parker. How could a black man call himself a conservative? In a twist of fate, they both are dear friends today, and the youthful wrath I visited upon them is now being visited upon me, though without the youth. What goes around does indeed come around.”
Clarence Thomas (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Forgotten? No, we never do forget: We let the years go: wash them clean with tears, Leave them to bleach, out in the open day, Or lock them careful by, like dead friends' clothes, Till we shall dare unfold them without pain— But we forget not, never can forget.”
Dinah Craik (1826–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fat men get knocked over by buses no earlier, nor later, than thin men. And I, for one, have buried most of my thin friends.”
Robert Morley (1908–1992) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Toledo Blade (August 20, 1978)
“Book love, my friends, is your pass to the greatest, the purest, and the most perfect pleasure that God has prepared for His creatures.”
Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the opening of an art exhibition at Bolton Mechanics' Institution (7 December 1868)
“It was admitted by all her friends, and also by her enemies — who were in truth the more numerous and active body of the two — that Lizzie Greystock had done very well with herself.”
Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) first seen 1873 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Eustace Diamonds (1873) First lines
“Look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed They've dragged her to the bushes and now she's being stabbed Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody Outside of a small circle of friends.”
Phil Ochs (1940–1976) said by 1976 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You are of all my friends the one who illustrates pragmatism in its most needful forms. You are a jewel of pragmatism.”
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) first seen 1903 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to William James (16 March 1903), published in The thought and character of William James, as revealed in unpublished correspondence and notes (1935) by Ralph Barton Perry, Vol. 2, p. 427
“No. But it was indicated by other people that I should go there—like my wife, my friends, the woman from Alcoholics Anonymous who came around. My wife, Dottie, was the prime mover. It would have been a disappointment to her if I'd rejected her suggestion. I stayed until they were done with me. I don't know if it 'worked.' I don't understand that.”
Robert Mitchum (1917–1997) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: When asked if he was "feeling better" following his previous year's stay at the Betty Ford Center, as quoted in "Roberto Mitchum: After all these years, still one of a kind" by Victor Davis, in The Chicago Tribune (Nove…
“How to make friends and keep them.”
Frank Crane (1861–1928) said by 1928 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know that feeling you get / You feel you're older than time? Do you keep the receipts for the friends that you buy? And I hope you know / That it won't let go / It sticks around with you until the day you die. I hope the tears don't stain the world that waits outside.”
Noel Gallagher (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is anyone here prepared to say / Just what they mean or is it too late / For anyone here to try to do / Just what it takes to get through to you Let's all make believe / That we're still friends and we like each other Let's all make believe / That in the end we're gonna need each other Strangle my hope and make me pray / To a God I've never seen but who I betray”
Noel Gallagher (born 1967) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Let's All Make Believe, 2000
“I have to speak candidly to be of value, but I do not want to offend the Muslim community... I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came, and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration – friends, inter-marriages and so on – than Muslims... I would say, today, we can integrate all religions and races, except Islam.”
Lee Kuan Yew (1923–2015) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: from his book Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going (Asia One, 8 March 2011)
“Perhaps the enemies of liberty are such only because they judge it by its loud voice. If they knew its charms, the dignity that accompanies it, how much a free man feels like a king, the perpetual inner light that is produced by decorous self-awareness and realization, perhaps there would be no greater friends of freedom than those who are its worst enemies.”
José Martí (1853–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God’s signs are not always the ones we look for, yet the private prayers of people, whether in our homes or in this place, are known, heard, and understood. There are prayers that help us last through the day, or endure the night. There are prayers of friends and strangers that give us strength for the journey. And there are prayers that yield our will to a will greater than our own.”
Josefa Iloilo (1920–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Play makes a human being! Work just means you don’t have to feel guilty about playing, which I don’t feel much anyway. Mainly work means I don’t have to suffer the taunts of my friends who wonder why I’m playing as hard as I do!”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Suppose I was researching, not the life of some genius philosopher with his books and articles and a wake of articulate friends and acquaintances, but rather, a homeless kid in and out of mental hospitals for chronic masturbation and indecent exposure?...How would I even start?”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Writing is a lonely occupation at best. Of course there are stimulating and even happy associations with friends and colleagues, but during the actual work of creation the writer cuts himself off from all others and confronts his subject alone. He moves into a realm where he has never been before — perhaps where no one has ever been. It is a lonely place, even a little frightening.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Acceptance speech of the Achievement Award of the American Association of University Women, Washington, D.C., June 22, (1956)
“Mia Hamm: So we walk in to the sorority house and they're (their families and friends) just ripped. I mean they're going nuts. David Letterman: Wow I like the sound of this already; the female soccer team in the sorority house. Noow we're gettin' somewhere.”
David Letterman (born 1947) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 8th August 1996
“All right, you great git, you've asked for it. I'll cover the world in Tastee-Freez and Wimpy Burgers. I'll fill it with concrete runways, motorways, aircraft, television, automobiles, advertising, plastic flowers, frozen food and supersonic bangs. I'll make it so noisy and disgusting that even you'll be ashamed of yourself! No wonder you've so few friends; you're unbelievable!”
Peter Cook (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am rejoiced at my fate. I had rather be in my present situation than to be elected to a seat in congress for life. I am in great hopes of making a fortune for myself and family. I hope you will do the best you can and I will do the same. Do not be uneasy about me for I am with my friends.”
Davy Crockett (1786–1836) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his children (9 January 1836)
“Regardless of the response from the Jewish person, we remain friends in support of the State of Israel as required by scripture.”
Jerry Falwell (1933–2007) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hagee, Falwell deny endorsing 'dual covenant'" in The Jerusalem Post (March 2, 2006)
“I believe more and more that this business is about people. People, people. The idea is to make friends at the retail level, the warehouse level, let people see you exist, can form sentences and have an interest in something other than yourself.”
David Lee Roth (born 1954) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jim White (February 17, 1994) "POP / Hi, I'm Dave - lovely to see you: Last week, David Lee Roth went to Wembley to promote his new album - not at the stadium but at the distribution factory, saying hello to the packers…
“Elections are about fucking your enemies. Winning is about fucking your friends.”
James Carville (born 1944) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: James Carville – 1992, As quoted by Hunter S. Thompson, Better Than Sex, p. 189
“It was Mr. Littlewood (I believe) who remarked that "every positive integer was one of his personal friends.”
John Edensor Littlewood (1885–1977) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About Ramanujan. Quoted in G. H. Hardy, "Obituary Notices: Srinivasa Ramanujan", Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, vol. 19 (1921) p. lvii
“I read in the proof-sheets of Hardy on Ramanujan: 'As someone said, each of the positive integers was one of his personal friends.' My reaction was, 'I wonder who said that; I wish I had.' In the next proof-sheets I read (what now stands): 'It was Littlewood who said...' (What had happened was that Hardy had received the remark in silence and with a poker face, and I wrote it off as a dud....)”
John Edensor Littlewood (1885–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Myself, I am nothing, If I am anything it is because of my companions. An axe cannot chop wood without its handle. I also cannot do anything without my companions and friends who work with me. They are as important as a thumb is in hand.”
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What the local politicians actually meant was that they hoped to claim the land in the name of the public and then make the usual profits privatizing it. There was a principle at stake. They had to ensure their friends and not outsiders got the benefit.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Assassins have attempted to eliminate the trader, but unfortunately, they were not lucky.” Elric laughed. “How disappointing, my friends. Still assassins are the most dispensable members of the community—are they not? And their souls probably went to placate some demon who would otherwise have plagued more honest folk.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I tend to be that guy, you know? When me and four friends walk into a restaurant and nobody else talks to the host, I say, “Yeah, it’s a table for five.” I don’t want to be that guy; I wish someone else would say something. But it always ends up being me, and I hate what comes with that. There’s a lot of baggage—ego and narcissism—that comes with leadership. It’s difficult to cope with at times.”
Jack White (born 1975) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This is not a Spinal Tap". GQ magazine. (accessed 2009-07-15)
“Treasury Secretary Brady didn't like the Fed either. He and the president were friends and had a lot in common-both were wealthy, Yale educated patricians and members of Skull and Bones.”
Alan Greenspan (1926–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It has been very humbling and gratifying to have these men as our role models... Your generation enabled America to close out the twentieth century as the greatest nation in the history of mankind, the only remaining superpower, the world's leading economy and the world's most respected and feared military force in the world- respected by our friends and allies, feared by our adversaries.”
Eric Shinseki (born 1942) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About the Medal of Honor awardees. Quoted in "Rising Sons" - Page 260 - by Bill Yenne - History - 2007
“Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt … we are not here to gather members, to please, to placate, to make friends. We're here to hold the radical line.”
Ingrid Newkirk (born 1949) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: USA Today, 1991 September 3
“The people that you grew up and braved the trials of high school with will always hold a special place. Through all the BS of high school you hope that your friends had the time of their life, and that's what the song is talking about”
Billie Joe Armstrong (born 1972) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted CBS Local . "Top 10 Prom Songs". CBS. (April 30, 2012)
“Roll, roll, roll a joint, twist it at the ends [pause] Light it up and take a puff and pass it to your friends.”
Tré Cool (born 1972) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sang to the tune of Row Your Boat Bullet in a Bible (2005) (on the tour bus).
“Yes, your father and Bartolo They have fallen And yesterday they fought and fell But in the quest for joy and freedom And in the struggle of this life you'll find That there is love and sometimes more Yes, in the struggle you will find That you can love and be loved alsoForgive me all who are my friends I am with you I beg of you, do not cry”
“My art, work, family and friends, my son Gabe, and a curious relationship with God remain the sustaining forces in my life.”
“there really is no normal, and the things that I do change: study Aikido, take photos, take a dance course, get back cooking, illustrate a songbook, take on a human rights project-write a book. But there are some friends who have remained constant”
“I became an actor because it was the only thing I could do. I didn't have any friends, I didn't fit in. But when I started acting everything in my life shifted and I felt happy.”
Gillian Anderson (born 1968) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Steve Pratt (April 14, 2007) "Straight talking", The Northern Echo, p. 18.
“I know many fine feathered friends But their friendliness depends on how you do They know many sure fired ways, To find out the one who pays And how you do”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Baby, I love you But if you wanna leave, take good care I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world It's hard to get by just upon a smile Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world I'll always remember you like a child”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sing a song of love and truth We’ll soon remember if you do When all things were tall And our friends were small And the world was new”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am: yet what I am none cares or knows, My friends forsake me like a memory lost: I am the self-consumer of my woes, They rise and vanish in oblivious host, Like shades in love and death's oblivion lost: And yet I am, and live with shadows tost”
John Clare (1793–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[M]y friends and I are totally at a loss to understand the new form of the Mass... Every attendance at Mass leaves me without comfort or edification. I shall never, pray God, apostatize but church-going is now a bitter trial.”
Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Archbishop Heenan (3 January 1965), quoted in A Bitter Trial: Evelyn Waugh and John Carmel Cardinal Heenan on the Liturgical Changes: Expanded Edition, ed. Alcuin Reid (2001), pp. 69, 71
“We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us, but for ours to amuse them -- a diminishing number in my case.”
Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diaries of Evelyn Waugh (1976) p. 786
“Why do we travel to remote locations? To prove our adventurous spirit or to tell stories about incredible things? We do it to be alone amongst friends and to find ourselves in a land without man.”
George Mallory (1886–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Wildest Dream: The Biography of George Mallory (2001), p. 53
“I really wanted to go on Broadway but I was like - do I want to leave my dogs, my house and my friends for nine months? But then I thought, "Wait a second. If this wasn't being offered to me and I heard there was an audition I'd be desperate to have the job." When you're offered things, it makes it so much easier to be indecisive. And it's silly because you can pass on some really amazing things.”
Alicia Silverstone (born 1976) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Barbara Ellen: The Observer, Sunday 29 February 2004
“They are slaves,” people declare. Nay, rather they are men. “Slaves!” No, comrades. “Slaves!” No, they are unpretentious friends. “Slaves!” No, they are our fellow-slaves, if one reflects that Fortune has equal rights over slaves and free men alike.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let us greedily enjoy our friends, because we do not know how long this privilege will be ours.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“New friends, however, will not be the same.” No, nor will you yourself remain the same; you change with every day and every hour.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The one loves to do good, the other to do harm; the one to help even strangers, the other to attack even its dearest friends.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source