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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“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have been merely oppressed by the weariness and tedium and vanity of things lately: nothing stirs me, nothing seems worth doing or worth having done: the only thing that I strongly feel worth while would be to murder as many people as possible so as to diminish the amount of consciousness in the world. These times have to be lived through: there is nothing to be done with them.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1903 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Gilbert Murray, March 21, 1903
“Philosophy, from the earliest times, has made greater claims, and achieved fewer results, than any other branch of learning.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lecture I, Current Tendencies, p. 11 (New American Library edition, 1960)
“There is no logical impossibility in the hypothesis that the world sprang into being five minutes ago, exactly as it then was, with a population that "remembered" a wholly unreal past. There is no logically necessary connection between events at different times; therefore nothing that is happening now or will happen in the future can disprove the hypothesis that the world began five minutes ago.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Analysis of Mind (1921), Lecture IX: Memory, p. 159
“I am ashamed of belonging to the species Homo Sapiens...You & I may be thankful to have lived in happier times – you more than I, because you have no children.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lucy Donnelly (23 June 1946)
“But [your crime] will be there, one hundred times denied, always there, dragging itself behind you. Then you will finally know that you have committed your life with one throw of the die, once and for all, and there is nothing you can do but tug our crime along until your death. Such is the law, just and unjust, of repentance. Then we will see what will become of your young pride.”
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wanted pure love: foolishness; to love one another is to hate a common enemy: I will thus espouse your hatred. I wanted Good: nonsense; on this earth and in these times, Good and Bad are inseparable: I accept to be evil in order to become good.”
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You are not permitted to kill a woman who has wronged you, but nothing forbids you to reflect that she is growing older every minute. You are avenged 1440 times a day.”
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) said by 1914 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Politics are almost as exciting as war, and – quite as dangerous ... [I]n war, you can only be killed once. But in politics many times.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a conversational exchange with Harold Begbie, as cited in Master Workers, Begbie, Methuen & Co. (1906), p. 177.
“The Times is speechless, and takes three columns to express its speechlessness.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Kinnaird Hall, Dundee, Scotland ("The Dundee Election"), May 14, 1908, in Liberalism and the Social Problem (1909), Churchill, BiblioBazaar (Second Edition, 2006), p. 148
“On September 28 the fleet hove in sight, and all came safely to anchor in Pevensey Bay. There was no opposition to the landing. The local "fyrd" had been called out this year four times already to watch the coast, and having, in true English style, come to the conclusion that the danger was past because it had not yet arrived had gone back to their homes.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A commander in chief ought to say to himself several times a day: If the enemy should appear on my front, on my right, on my left, what would I do? And if the question finds him uncertain, he is not well placed, he is not as he should be, and he should remedy it.”
Napoleon (1769–1821) said by 1821 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“History is bunk. What difference does it make how many times the ancient Greeks flew their kites?”
Henry Ford (1863–1947) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: History is Bunk, Says Henry Ford", The New York Times, October 29, 1921
“There have been times when I've thought of suicide but with my luck it'd probably be a temporary solution.”
Woody Allen (born 1935) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Also found in "Quotations According to Woody Allen" from The New York Times (1 December 1975).
“He had been mistaken several times for Robert Redford, but on each occasion it was by a blind person.”
Woody Allen (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It cannot be that axioms established by argumentation should avail for the discovery of new works, since the subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of argument. But axioms duly and orderly formed from particulars easily discover the way to new particulars, and thus render sciences active.”
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) said by 1626 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bad times have a scientific value. [...] We learn geology the morning after the earthquake, on ghastly diagrams of cloven mountains, upheaved plains, and the dry bed of the sea.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are always two parties, the party of the Past and the party of the Future: the Establishment and the Movement. At times the resistance is reanimated, the schism runs under the world and appears in Literature, Philosophy, Church, State and social customs.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce?”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have been complimented many times and they always embarrass me; I always feel that they have not said enough.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (23 September 1907)
“I have just noticed in the 2nd edition of The Times that the Prussian Second Chamber has finally done something worthwhile. We shall soon have revolution.”
Karl Marx (1818–1883) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Friedrich Engels (21 February 1863), quoted in The Collected Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: Volume 41. Letters 1860–64 (2010), p. 461
“There is a decivilizing bug somewhere at work; unconsciously persons of stern worth, by not resenting and resisting the small indignities of the times, are preparing themselves for the eventual acceptance of what they themselves know they don’t want.”
E. B. White (1899–1985) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Harper's Magazine (October 1938); quoted in Scott Elledge, E.B. White: A Biography (New York: Norton, 1984), ch. X: Mr Tilley's Departure (p. 209)
“If you are describing any occurrence... make two or more distinct reports at different times... We discriminate at first only a few features, and we need to reconsider our experience from many points of view and in various moods in order to perceive the whole.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) first seen 1857 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: March 24, 1857
“The other day [the President] said, I know you've had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. Would you like a puppy?”
Dan Quayle (born 1947) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: cited to the Los Angeles Times (May 16, 1989)
“Do you remember that in classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, "How well he spoke"; but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, "Let us march.”
Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Introducing John F. Kennedy in 1960, as quoted in Adlai Stevenson and The World: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson (1977) by John Bartlow Martin, p. 549
“Character is the virtue of hard times.”
Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The desire of privilege and the taste of equality are the dominant and contradictory passions of the French of all times.”
Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe that I have enough energy to lead our people whither it must shed its blood [zum blutigen Einsatz], not for an adjustment of its boundaries, but to save it into the most distant future by securing so much land and space that the future will receive back many times the blood shed.”
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (23 May 1928), quoted in Gerhard L. Weinberg, 'The world through Hitler's eyes', in Germany, Hitler, and World War II: Essays in Modern German and World History (Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 51
“I was feeling a bit down, I went to a therapist a few times, at a hundred bucks a pop. But then I realized that no therapy session would ever cheer me up half as much as if I was just strolling along and found a hundred dollar bill.”
Emo Philips (born 1956) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Psychology Today (July 2006)
“At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.”
Stephen Crane (1871–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man does not create gods, in spite of appearances. The times, the age, impose them on him. Man can serve his age or rebel against it, but the target of his cooperation or rebellion comes to him from outside.”
Stanisław Lem (1921–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In the 2011 Johnston translation (p. 208), the quote is rendered differently: A human being, appearances to the contrary, doesn't create his own purposes. These are imposed by the time he's born into; he may serve them,…
“But let's say it's true; let's say God gave us these rights. Why would he give us a certain number of rights? The Bill of Rights of this country has ten stipulations, okay? Ten rights. And apparently God was doing sloppy work that week because we've had to amend the Bill of Rights an additional 17 times. So God forgot a couple of things. Like...SLAVERY! Just fuckin' slipped his mind.”
George Carlin (1937–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don Ho can sign autographs 3.4 times faster than Ephraim Zimbalist Jr. (243)”
George Carlin (1937–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conversation with Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig on December 14, 1972
“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white. Or a rape.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Nixon Tapes, Ambivalence Over Abortion, Not Watergate by Charlie Savage, The New York Times (June 23, 2009).
“A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.”
Robert Benchley (1889–1945) first seen 1932 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Your Boy and His Dog," Liberty magazine, (30 July 1932)
“A good technical writer, trying not to be obvious about it, but says everything twice: formally and informally. Or maybe three times.”
Donald Knuth (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When we had no computers, we had no programming problem either. When we had a few computers, we had a mild programming problem. Confronted with machines a million times as powerful, we are faced with a gigantic programming problem.”
Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dijkstra (1986) Visuals for BP's Venture Research Conference (EWD 963).
“Men who fuck easily, and can give themselves without difficulty, have only a very diminished creative potency.. .Look at Leonardo da Vinci, Hitler, Napoleon, they all left their mark on their times, and they were more or less impotent.”
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Entretiens avec Salvador Dali, Alain Bosquet, 1966; as cited in The shameful life of Salvador Dali, Ian Gibson, New York / London, Norton & Co, 1997
“Any segment of a right-angled conoid (i.e., a paraboloid of revolution) cut off by a plane at right angles to the axis is 1½ times the cone which has the same base and the same axis as the segment”
Archimedes (287–212 BC) said by 212 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was at times like this that one of those waves of bestiality ran through the mine, the sudden lust of the male that came over a miner when he met one of these girls on all fours, with her rear in the air and her buttocks bursting out of her breeches.”
Émile Zola (1840–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pt. 1, ch. 4 (tr. L. W. Tancock, 1954)
“Haven’t I told you scores of times that you’re always beginners, and the greatest satisfaction was not in being at the top, but in getting there, in the enjoyment you get out of scaling the heights? ... If only we could have the courage to hang ourselves in front of our last masterpiece!”
Émile Zola (1840–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch. 7 (tr. Thomas Walton and Roger Pearson, 1993)
“Even in ordinary times there are very few of us who do not see the problems of life as through a glass, darkly; and when the glass is clouded by the murk of furious popular passion, the vision of the best and the bravest is dimmed.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) said by 1919 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've spoken many times about the Japanese woman. I've praised her again and again. But I have to tell you that I think the Japanese man is the worst. The women are such delicate creatures and they're treated abominably by the men. The Japanese men are pigs — even worse than American men.”
Henry Miller (1891–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not what the artist does that counts. But what he is. Cézanne would never have interested me if he had lived and thought like Jaques-Emile Blanche, even if the apple he had painted had been ten times more beautiful. What interests us is the anxiety of Cézanne, the teaching of Cézanne, the anguish of Van Gogh, in short the inner drama of the man. The rest is false. [Boisgeloup, winter 1934].”
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Richard Friedenthal, (1963, p. 259)
“The peer review system is satisfactory during quiescent times, but not during a revolution in a discipline such as astrophysics, when the establishment seeks to preserve the status quo.”
Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is already possible to imagine a society in which the majority of the population, that is to say, its laborers, will have almost as much leisure as in earlier times was enjoyed by the aristocracy. When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful.”
W. H. Auden (1907–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I recently received a touching letter that says a lot about the state of America in these difficult times, a letter from a fourth grade girl with a father in the military. As much as I don't want my dad to fight, she wrote, I'm willing to give him to you. This is a precious gift. The greatest she could give. This young girl knows what America is all about.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by the President to the Diet, Tokyo, Japan. (February 18, 2002)