Famous quotes

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 myself believe that the evidence for God lies primarily in inner personal experiences.”
William James (1842–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is both rhyme and reason in what I say, I have made a dream poem of humanity. I will cling to it. I will be good. I will let death have no mastery over my thoughts. For therein lies goodness and love of humankind, and in nothing else.”
Thomas Mann (1875–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is probable that fascism will continue to prefer this kind of war to actual open warfare as long as possible, for a real war would soon reveal the important role which lies and deception play in the “totalitarian state.”
Thomas Mann (1875–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Here lies W. C. Fields. I would rather be living in Philadelphia.”
W. C. Fields (1880–1946) first seen 1880 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This was an epitaph Fields proposed for himself in a 1925 article in Vanity Fair. It refers to his long standing jokes about Philadelphia (his actual birthplace), and the grave being one place he might actually not pref…
“I could not dig: I dared not rob: Therefore I lied to please the mob. Now all my lies are proved untrue And I must face the men I slew. What tale shall serve me here among Mine angry and defrauded young?”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No easy hope or lies Shall bring us to our goal, But iron sacrifice Of body, will, and soul. There is but one task for all— One life for each to give. What stands if Freedom fall? Who dies if England live?”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now it is not good for the Christian's health to hustle the Aryan brown, For the Christian riles, and the Aryan smiles and he weareth the Christian down; And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, with the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear: "A fool lies here who tried to hustle the East.”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) first seen 1892 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Naulahka, ch. 5 (1892).
“Here lies Howard Campbell's essence, Freed from his body's noisome nuisance. His body, empty, prowls the earth, Earning what a body's worth. If his body and his essence remain apart, Burn his body, but spare this, his heart.”
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My arms are up to the elbows in blood. That is the most terrible thing that lies in my soul.”
Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Told to Soviet playwright Nikolay Shatrov, as quoted in William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era (New York: W.W. Norton, 2002)
“To make a revolution it is not necessary to play the great drama of the area. We have left many dead on the roads to Rome and naturally anybody who deludes himself is a fool. We have the power and we shall hold it. We shall defend it against anybody! The revolution lies in this firm determination to hold power!”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Election Reform Bill,” speech (16 July 1923) delivered at the Chamber of Deputies, p. 354
“This is the epitaph I want on my tomb: "Here lies one of the most intelligent animals who ever appeared on the face of the Earth.”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) first seen 1937 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remark to Galeazzo Ciano (December 19, 1937) quoted in The Book of Italian Wisdom (2003) by Antonio Santi, p. 50
“When a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can't see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence – I know that corruption has reached a level like never before.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your [Hilary Clinton's] situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it, and we're going to have a special prosecutor.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can’t change the facts with your lies, allegations and counterfeits”
Lech Wałęsa (born 1943) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Being accused of being an agent for the Soviet era communist police, quoted on New Europe (February 18, 2016), "Poland’s former president accused of being a communist spy
“Always the victor writes the history of the vanquished. He who beats distorts the faces of the beaten. The weaker depart from this world and the lies remain.”
Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1940), Brecht Collected Plays, vol. 4, p. 386.
“Every day, to earn my daily bread I go to the market where lies are bought Hopefully I take up my place among the sellers.”
Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hollywood" (1942)
“It is man’s pretence that because he has choice he is free. Freedom is pure observation without direction, without fear of punishment and reward. Freedom is without motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man but lies in the first step of his existence.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Perfecting Ourselves : Coordinating Body, Mind, and Spirit (2002) by Aaron Hoopes, p. 64
“My so-called faith went up in flames Till I believed in all your lies, For the life of me I don't know why. They got you wrong, You're not that strong. I don't belong here!”
Alicia Witt (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some people think, Swami calls himself a powerful magnet, but He is unable to attract us. The fault lies in them only.”
Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sanathana Sarathi (January 2003), page 10
“Every Conservative desires peace. The threat to peace comes from Communism, which has powerful forces ready to attack anywhere. Communism waits for weakness, it leaves strength alone. Britain therefore must be strong, strong in arms, and strong in faith in her own way of life. The greatest hope for peace lies in friendship and co-operation with the United States of America.”
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1951 General Election Address (8 October 1951)
“IF THERE BE HERE LESSON OR MORAL, IT LIES BEYOND THE COMPETENCE OF HIM WHO INSCRIBES THIS RECORD.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To the president the Democrats should be saying, Double or Nothing is Not a Foreign Policy.The great bulk of the public doesn't believe this president any more when he tries to gin up a phony crisis. They don't believe he'd have much of an idea of how to deal with a real one. Enough of the lies. Enough of the incompetence and failure.No buying into another of the president's phony crises.”
Josh Marshall (born 1969) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Talking Points Memo (2006-04-10)
“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.”
Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m quite convinced in my own mind that those who were arguing that [the need to intervene in Iraq] was a more immediate one than some believed - were I’m sure convinced that they were right on fact, I don’t think they were making it up. So as to lying, I don’t think it has been established that any lies were told.”
Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Scotland Live (2005-10-31): On the 2003 invasion of Iraq
“Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me.”
Paul Simon (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have failed [...] I live for my people because they need me. But whenever they leave, they tell lies about the place.”
Jim Jones (1931–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Talking to his attorney Charles Garry after the Leo Ryan visit, quoted in Walliss 2004, p. 71
“So my opinion is that you be kind to children and be kind to seniors and take the potion like they used to take in ancient Greece and step over quietly because we are not committing suicide; it’s a revolutionary act. We can’t go back; they won’t leave us alone. They’re mow going back to tell more lies, which means more congressmen. And there’s no way, no way we can survive.”
Jim Jones (1931–1978) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Suicide tape, quoted in Maaga 1998, p. 148, Walliss 2004, p. 73 (November 18, 1978)
“To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that.”
Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) said by 1582 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Little Lamp (1981) by Eknath Easwaran, p. 80
“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A book can never be anything more than the impression of its author’s thoughts [Ein Buch kann nie mehr seyn, als der Abdruck der Gedanken des Verfassers]. The value of these thoughts lies either in the matter about which he has thought, or in the form in which he develops his matter — that is to say, what he has thought about it.”
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) said by 1860 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.”
Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) said by 1931 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Handful of Sand on the Shore, as quoted in Alterquest: the Alternative Quest for Answers (2006) by Karen Fiala, p. 127
“Once again I say that with death Jesus conquered death, and rose from the grave a spirit and a power. And He walked in our solitude and visited the gardens of our passion. He lies not there in that cleft rock behind the stone. We who love Him beheld Him with these our eyes which He made to see; and we touched Him with these our hands which He taught to reach forth.”
Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) said by 1931 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Locarno pacts offer only the insubstantial semblance of a guarantee; they are an illusion calculated to mislead easily satisfied consciences and to lull more vigilant minds to sleep. In their inadequacy lies their danger. The spirit of Locarno itself is positively injurious to the interests of our country.”
Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) said by 1929 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If Germany, still obsessed by her traditional militarism, persists in her Deutschland über Alles, well—let the die be cast. We shall take up the atrocious War again at the point where we left it off. We must have the courage to prepare for it, instead of frittering away our strength in lies that no one believes, from conference to conference.”
Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) said by 1929 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The value of the goal lies in the goal itself; and therefore the goal cannot be attained unless it is pursued for its own sake.”
Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vol. 12 (1961)
“The road to socialism lies through a period of the highest possible intensification of the principle of the state … Just as a lamp, before going out, shoots up in a brilliant flame, so the state, before disappearing, assumes the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e., the most ruthless form of state, which embraces the life of the citizens authoritatively in every direction.”
Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a quality of life which lies always beyond the mere fact of life; and when we include the quality in the fact, there is still omitted the quality of the quality.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Religion in the Making (February 1926), Lecture II: "Religion and Dogma".
“Creativity is the universal of universals characterizing ultimate matter of fact. It is that ultimate principle by which the many, which are the universe disjunctively, become the one actual occasion, which is the universe conjunctively. It lies in the nature of things that the many enter into complex unity.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe that much of the secret of soul-winning lies in having bowels of compassion, in having spirits that can be touched with the feeling of human infirmities.”
Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She wants to go home, but nobody's home. It's where she lies, broken inside.”
Avril Lavigne (born 1984) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nobody's Home" (2004)
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) said by 1931 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Edison & Ford Quote Book (2003) edited by Edison & Ford Winter Estates
“One should be under no illusions as to the future of the Old World. The real contest in the present day is purely social. In a word the struggle lies between him who has nothing and him who has. Figure out the consequences of such a principle, infiltrated in the masses by the harangues of the clubs and the reading of millions of pamphlets.”
José de San Martín (1778–1850) said by 1850 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to a General Pinto, as quoted in ‪Captain of the Andes : The Life of José de San Martín, Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru (1943) b‬y Margaret Hayne Harrison, p. 196
“THE GENIUS of the industrial system lies in its organized use of capital and technology. This is made possible, as we have duly seen, by extensively replacing the market with planning.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I sometimes think that my own weakness lies in not realizing the full depths of the weakness and stupidity of men. As a reasonable creature myself I seem to have an unfortunate tendency to expect others unlike myself to be reasonable.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Friday, don’t despise assassins indiscriminately. As with any tool, merit or demerit lies in how it is used.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Happiness,” Jubal stated, “lies in being privileged to work hard for long hours in doing whatever you think is worth doing.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.”
Garrison Keillor (born 1942) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lake Wobegon Days (1985), p. 337
“If you want external happiness, it can be an elusive desire. Internal happiness needs only to be revealed. It is not elusive because it is within you. It is your treasure. If you take someone else's desire, it is stealing, but if you turn to your own, it is not. Happiness is your own treasure because it lies within you.”
Prem Rawat (born 1957) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fernbank, London, England, October 1971, as reported in Maharaji, Visions International (1998)
“Leadership is mostly a power over imagination, and never more so than in combat. The bravest man alone can only be an armed lunatic. The real strength lies in the ability to get others to do your work.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source