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 mobility of the air, which is rapidly displaced... and... rises when heated... diminish the intensity of the effects... [of] a transparent and solid atmosphere, but do not entirely change their character.”
Joseph Fourier (1768–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now think of all the years you tried to Find someone to satisfy you. I might be as crazy as you say. If I'm crazy then it's true That it's all because of you And you wouldn't want me any other way. You may be right I may be crazy. But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for. It's too late to fight It's too late to change me. You may be wrong for all I know But you may be right.”
Billy Joel (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All your life you had to stand in line Still you’re standing on your feet. All your choices made you change your mind Now your calendar's complete. Don't wait for answers Just take your chances Don't ask me why.”
Billy Joel (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is the time to remember 'Cause it will not last forever. These are the days to hold on to 'Cause we won't, although we'll want to. This is the time, But time is gonna change. You've given me the best of you But now I need the rest of you.”
Billy Joel (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm frustrated by what I hear. Maybe it's not meant for me. Personally, I'm way too bright for a lot of the hip-hop lyrics to affect. I'm much too smart to think that jewelry or how cool I am is really going to change much about my personality. If you're dumb enough that it entertains you, have a great time. But I am seeking more than that.”
Tom Petty (1950–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I remember her standing in the tall grass and cattails Away from the windows at the end of the day. Watching the men from the landing in the tall hats & coat-tails. She'd never look different, but something would change.”
Tom Petty (1950–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The tablet market has only succeeded as a niche market over the years and it was hoped Apple would dream up some new paradigm to change all that. From what I've seen and heard, this won't be it.”
John C. Dvorak (1946–2026) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hello, giant iPod Touch" in MarketWatch (29 January 2010)
“No form remains permanently in a substance; a constant change takes place, one form is taken off and another is put on.”
Maimonides (1135–1204) said by 1204 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The prophet [ Isaiah ]... points out what will be the cause of this change; for he says that hatred, quarrel, and fighting will come to an end, because men will have a true knowledge of God. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters which cover the sea" (Isa. xi. ver. 9) Note it.”
Maimonides (1135–1204) said by 1204 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That which is impossible has a permanent and constant property, which is not the result if some agent, and cannot in any way change, and consequently we do not ascribe to God the power of doing what is impossible.”
Maimonides (1135–1204) said by 1204 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fact that laws were given to man, both affirmative and negative, supports the principle, that God's knowledge of future events does not change their character. The great doubt that presents itself to our mind is the result of the insufficiency of our intellect.”
Maimonides (1135–1204) said by 1204 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a higher world it is otherwise; but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Failure is not fatal but failure to change might be.”
John Wooden (1910–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One has very little influence upon one's children. Their characters are what they are and one can do nothing to change them.”
André Maurois (1885–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Television is simultaneously blamed, often by the same people, for worsening the world and for being powerless to change it.”
Clive James (1939–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We do not rule out that it will change in the future, but for now it is. I am convinced that Masonry is very good for England in England; the bad thing is that in Spain it is still very good for England.”
Francisco Franco (1892–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you are free of the world, you can do something about it. As long as you are a prisoner of it, you are helpless to change it. On the contrary, whatever you do will aggravate the situation.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And what is death? It is the change in the living process of a particular body. Integration ends and disintegration sets in. (…) In death only the body dies. Life does not, consciousness does not, reality does not. And the life is never so alive as after death.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To exist means to be something, a thing, a feeling, a thought, an idea. All existence is particular. Only being is universal, in the sense that every being is compatible with every other being. Existences clash, being – never. Existence means becoming, change, birth and death, and birth again, while in being there is silent peace.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The various philosophies of life presented themselves as a conquest of materialism, or in any case, they readily claimed it. That does not change anything: their valuations, revaluations, and explanations of disvalue have been emptied into the over-all secularization stream, where they have only hastened the tendency to unlearn, which is a neutralizing process, after all.”
Carl Schmitt (1888–1985) said by 1985 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That a majority of women do not wish for any important change in their social and civil condition, merely proves that they are the unreflecting slaves of custom.”
Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to the Advocates of Woman’s Suffrage (1870).
“Loneliness, insomnia, and change: the fear of these is even worse than the reality.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's the most unhappy people who most fear change.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is so painful about that time is that nothing was disastrous. It was all wrong, ugly, unhappy and coloured with cynicism, but nothing was tragic, there were no moments that could change anything or anybody. From time to time the emotional lightning flashed and showed a landscape of private misery, and then — we went on dancing.”
Doris Lessing (1919–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not going to change my ways just to please you, or appease you.”
Dave Matthews (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every day things change, but basically they stay the same.”
Dave Matthews (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There’s an emptiness inside her And she’d do anything to fill it in. And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now, It’s more like cold blue ice in her heart. She feels like kicking out all the windows, And setting fire to this life. She could change everything about her using colors bold and bright, But all the colors mix together - to grey.”
Dave Matthews (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Movement, change, light, growth, and decay are the life-blood of nature, the energies that I try to tap through my work.”
Andy Goldsworthy (born 1956) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Stone River Enters Stanford University's Outdoor Art Collection (4 September 2001)
“I'm like the farmer, planting words, people are seeds/ My truth is the soil, help you grow like trees/ May the children come in all colors, change like leaves/ Behold before you, one of those prophetic MC's.”
“Political abstractions can disguise or change the meaning of the most elementary realities.”
Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gillray’s Ungloomy Morality (Winter 2002).
“The appeal of political correctness is that it attempts to change men’s souls by altering how they speak. If one sufficiently reforms language, certain thoughts become unthinkable, and the world moves in the approved direction.”
Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Engineering Souls (March 22, 2007).
“There is nothing that an intellectual less likes to change than his mind, or a politician his policy.”
Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: British Degeneracy on Parade (August 2011)
“No man can change the common lot to rare.”
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) said by 1928 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.”
Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804) first seen 1788 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Elliot's Debates, volume 2, p. 364. (28 July 1788)
“I wanted to change the rules of engagement, asking for more— from fewer. I was insisting that we had to have only the best people...If you wanted excellence, at a minimum, the ambience had to reflect excellence.”
Jack Welch (1935–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Change has no constituency—and a perceived revolution has even less.”
Jack Welch (1935–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's not too near for me Like a flower I need the rain Though it's not clear to me Every season has its change And I will see you When the sun comes out again.”
Sophie B. Hawkins (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The reality is that we're all in the wilderness, and we have to survive on our own, and things constantly change and if we don't accept that, then we're just trying to fool ourselves. But the beauty of wilderness is that sometimes you can wake up in the morning and feel so sweet and whole.”
Sophie B. Hawkins (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As I have heard Bush say, only a wartime president is likely to achieve greatness, in part because the epochal upheavals of war provide the opportunity for transformative change of the kind Bush hoped to achieve. In Iraq, Bush saw his opportunity to create a legacy of greatness.”
Scott McClellan (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We used to laugh a lot But only because we thought That everything good always would remain Nothing's gonna change there's no need to complain.”
Jack Johnson (musician) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who’s to say what’s impossible? Well they forgot this world keeps spinning. And with each new day, I can feel a change in everything. And as the surface breaks, reflections fade. But in some ways they remain the same. And as my mind begins to spread it’s wings There’s no stopping curiosity.”
Jack Johnson (musician) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Change the world but keep bits of it the way I like it for myself — who wouldn’t make the world over if it were to be as easy as that.”
Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Conservationist (1974)
“You can't change a regime on the basis of compassion. There's got to be something harder.”
Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'A feeling of realistic optimism': An interview with Nadine Gordimer" by Karen Lazar, Salmagundi 113 (Winter 1997)
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life and the procedure. The process is its own reward.”
Amelia Earhart (1897–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When was the last time you looked at anything, solely, and concentratedly, and for its own sake? Ordinary life passes in a near blur. If we go to the theatre or the cinema, the images before us change constantly, and there is the distraction of language. Our loved ones are so well known to us that there is no need to look at them, and one of the gentle jokes of married life is that we do not.”
Jeanette Winterson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible.”
Daniel Berrigan (1921–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you take one out or change one law, then why wouldn’t they take all your rights away from you?”
Bruce Willis (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]here is always the possibility of change. If it happened in South Africa, why can't it happen anywhere?”
Desmond Tutu (1931–2021) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Archbishop urges battle with racism" (18 February 2002), by Sabrina L. Miller, Chicago Tribune, Illinois
“You have your thoughts and I have mine. This is the fact and you can't change it even if you kill me.”
Ba Jin (1904–2005) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Shouted out at the end of a televised public humiliation in the People's Stadium of Shanghai, during the "Cultural Revolution" (20 June 1968), as quoted in Pioneers of Modern China : Understanding the Inscrutable Chines…
“I have said that, in a sense, the parasites were a 'shadow' of man's cowardice and passivity. Their strength could increase in an atmosphere of defeat and panic, for it fed on human fear. In that case, the best way to combat them was to change the atmosphere to one of strength and purpose.”
Colin Wilson (1931–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source