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“Here we come upon one of the most profound reasons for Socratic irony: direct language is not adequate for communicating the experience of existing, the authentic consciousness of being, the seriousness of life as we live it, or the solitude of decision making.”
Pierre Hadot (1922–2010) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: trans. Michael Chase (1995), p. 156
“If things blow up then that's awesome and if things don't, I still can live a normal life and be able to go to the grocery store without people following me.”
Skye Sweetnam (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness. The king seems to understand this truth; as for myself, I know that in my whole life (even if I live for a hundred years) I shall never forget the day of the coronation.”
Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) first seen 1766 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After learning of the bread shortages that were occurring in Paris at the time of Louis XVI's coronation in Rheims, as quoted in Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001) by Antonia Fraser, p. 135 . Tradition persists that M…
“Death is really the mystery of life, isn’t it? If you ask, “What happens when we die? Why do we die?” you are asking, “Why do we live?”
Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you live in a small town far from the world you read about in municipal library books, the advent of repair men in the house is a festival. Daily life is gaily broken open, improvisation takes over.”
Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don't live your life as though you were measuring it with a ruler.”
Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Way of God's Will Chapter 2-2 Character Translated 1980.
“For me, as prisoner number LB32/05 at Vaturekuka, is something I will live with for the rest of my life, without any regret or shame because I do not only believe, but I know, and I repeat I know, that what I did then was right because if I did not do anything then, part of my people who were soldiers at the Sukanaivalu Barracks then would have been dead.”
Naiqama Lalabalavu (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The only thing I regret about my past is the length of it. If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.”
Tallulah Bankhead (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[On the Calais crisis.] I accept that, because you have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain because Britain has got jobs, it's got a growing economy, it's an incredible place to live.”
David Cameron (born 1966) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: David Cameron criticised over migrant 'swarm' language BBC News (30 July 2015).
“Regardless of how I live my life, there are people who develop fixations that are not healthy. It could be a visual thing, or it could be the music that they are drawn to. These people need help.”
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies within us while we live.”
Norman Cousins (1915–1990) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in History of Sikh Struggles (1989) by Gurmit Singh, p. 189.
“Freedom is not an abstraction, nor is a little of it enough. A little more of it is not enough either. Having less, being less, impoverished in freedom and rights, women then inevitably have less self-respect: less self-respect than men have and less self-respect than any human being needs to live a brave and honest life. Intercourse as domination battens of that awful absence of self respect.”
Andrea Dworkin (1946–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The only goal is in the process. The process is the thing…with little flashes of light here and there. Those are the gigs, those are the live shows. But it’s the life in between—that’s all I got.”
Jeff Buckley (1966–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bias used to say that men ought to calculate life both as if they were fated to live a long and a short time, and that they ought to love one another as if at a future time they would come to hate one another; for that most men were bad.”
Diogenes Laërtius wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Tertullian
“The nurse is the night To wake to, to die in: and the day I live, The world and its life are her dreams.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...it is better to entertain an idea than to take it home to live with you for the rest of your life.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...I simply don’t want the poems mixed up with my life or opinions or picture or any other regrettable concomitants. I look like a bear and live in a cave; but you should worry.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: of not wanting to write a preface for his first volume of verse, The Rage for the Lost Penny (1940); “A Note on Poetry”, p. 47
“Robots do not hold on to life. They can't. They have nothing to hold on with — no soul, no instinct. Grass has more will to live than they do.”
Karel Čapek (1890–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there.”
Herb Caen (1916–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Byrne, Robert. The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said, page 599. Simon and Schuster, 2012.
“Damn right I like the life I live, 'cause I went from negative to positive.”
The Notorious B.I.G. (1972–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I learned a long time ago that I can't live my life for everybody else. We learn and we grow from our mistakes, and we get older and more mature.”
Jaime Pressly (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans. Our challenge for the future is that we realize we are very much a part of the earth's ecosystem, and we must learn to respect and live according to the basic biological laws of nature.”
Jim Fowler (1930–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think if I had my life to live over again, I'd do things a little different. I was aggressive, perhaps too aggressive. Maybe I went too far. I always had to be right in any argument I was in, I always had to be first in everything. I do indeed think I would have done some things different. And if I had I believe I would have had more friends.”
Ty Cobb (1886–1961) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement made in 1961, as quoted in Voices from Cooperstown: Baseball's Hall of Famers Tell It Like It Was (1998) by Anthony J. Connor, p. 286
“I think that it would be less difficult to live eternally than to be deprived of sleep throughout life.”
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) first seen 1890 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to A.S. Suvorin (December 9, 1890)
“If I were asked to choose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It’s better to live somehow than not at all.”
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The American war in Vietnam raises several questions. One is whether or not small nations, in this age of super-states and and live as they feel they should. For only the people of a superpowers, will be allowed to work out their own destinies country have the right, or the spiritual power, to determine that country's way of life.”
James Baldwin (1924–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maybe, but I don't have another life to live to wait around for it.”
Casey Stengel (1890–1975) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking on August 31, 1956 at Griffith Stadium, in response to pitcher Whitey Ford's assurance that he could indeed retire Jim Lemon, who had homered off Ford in each of his previous three at-bats; as quoted in The Gre…
“I paced the floor, knowing that all I possessed were words and dim knowledge that my country had shown me no examples of how to live a human life.”
Richard Wright (1908–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He is angry at his mother for not having normal children and making them live a normal life.”
J. M. Coetzee (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes: in the sea of life enisl’d, With echoing straits between us thrown, Dotting the shoreless watery wild, We mortal millions live alone.”
Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) first seen 1852 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Marguerite: Continued", st. 1 (1852)
“I was, I am and will remain the Russian, the son of the Motherland. Her life first of all I will be interested in. I will live with her interests. With her’s dignity I will strengthen mine.”
Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Then to the lip of this poor earthen Urn I lean'd, the Secret of my Life to learn: And Lip to Lip it murmur'd — "While you live Drink! — for, once dead, you never shall return.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: XXXV (1889)
“He brought me hither to my great surprise From life I gather but a dark surmise; I go perforce. Why come? Why live? Why go? I ask these questions, but find no replies.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Suppose the world goes well with you, what then? When life’s last page is read and turned, what then? Suppose you live a hundred years of bliss Yea, and a hundred more to boot, what then?”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think each person knows what's good for them. I don't think you need to be drastic. But it's finding where's passion in your life. We can't live without dreams.”
Jewel (singer) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Late Late Show (24 January 1997)
“Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organization cannot live a full-blooded life.”
Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the 27th Party Congress, Moscow (25 February 1986)
“There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment. Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else.”
Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659–1719) said by 1719 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My aim is freedom and voluntary relations in all fields. The market economy is the result of this in the economic realm; in the cultural realm it means freedom of expression; in politics, democracy and the rule of law; in social life, the right to live according to one's own values and to choose one's company.”
Johan Norberg (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So often we need a whole lifetime in order to change our life, we think a great deal, weigh things up and vacillate, then we go back to the beginning, we think and think, we displace ourselves on the tracks of time with a circular movement, like those clouds of dust, dead leaves, debris, that have no strength for anything more, better by far that we should live in a land of hurricanes.”
José Saramago (1922–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not tired. I am expectant as a runner is Before a race, a child before a feast day, A woman at the gates of life and death, Expectant for us all, for all of us Who live and suffer on this little earth With such small brotherhood. Something begins. Something is full of change and sparkling stars. Something is loosed that changes all the world.”
Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves—slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.”
Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926–2022) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Miracle of Mindfulness (1999)
“You should live your life with an emphasis on accruing experiences and becoming cooler.”
Jack Terricloth (1970–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our new little house [Kirchner moved to the Wildboden house] is a real joy to us. We shall live here comfortably and in great new order. This will really come to be a turning point of my life. Everything must be put in clear order and the little house furnished as simply and modestly as possible, while still being beautiful and intimate.”
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from his Diary, 1923; as quoted by Kornfield, E. W.; Stauffer, Christine E. Stauffer (1992). Biography Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Kirchner Museum Davos. Retrieved March 21, 2016; from Wikipedia: Kirchner
“Your life is yours alone, rise up and live it!- Richard, Faith of the Fallen”
Terry Goodkind (1948–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All the children in the world deserve to live a happy life so that they can reach their full potential in becoming the future Beethoven, Einstein, Shakespeare, da Vinci, and the like.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The seed buried in the ground produces fruit, and in turn this is planted. Thus the harvest is multiplied. So the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary will bear fruit unto eternal life. The contemplation of this sacrifice will be the glory of those who, as the fruit of it, will live through the eternal ages.”
Ellen G. White (1827–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is change, to cease to change is to cease to live; yet if you may shed a tear beside the death-bed of an old friend, let not your heart be silent on the dissolving of a faith.”
James Anthony Froude (1818–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Come! Let us lay a lance in rest, And tilt at windmills under a wild sky! For who would live so petty and unblest That dare not tilt at something ere he die; Rather than, screened by safe majority, Preserve his little life to little end, And never raise a rebel cry!”
John Galsworthy (1867–1933) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Errantry, St. 1, Moods, Songs and Doggerels (1912)
“To rejoice in life, to find the world beautiful and delightful to live in, was a mark of the Greek spirit, which distinguished it from all that had gone before. It is a vital distinction.”
Edith Hamilton (1867–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To live like an anchorite, without the superstitious ignorance which leads him to such a course of life, this is wisdom indeed, and power is the reward.”
Eliphas Levi (1810–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source