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 ... take a selfie with him; two, to be safe. My lips are parted, as if I'm poking a dead thing to see if it'll come to life; it's the phone I'm attempting to keep at a distance. He's smiling faintly, as if amuse by some exotic piece of wildlife.”
Amit Chaudhuri (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(There are three stages to a battle: First you’re bored. Then you’re terrified. Then you’re dead. Each is necessary, and they must all come in the proper order.)”
Michael Swanwick (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Besides, thinking kind thoughts about Valek could be extremely dangerous. I could admire his skills, and be relieved when he was on my side in a fight. But for a rat to like the cat? That scenario ended only one way. With one dead rat.”
Maria V. Snyder (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But for a rat to like the cat? That scenario ended only one way. With one dead rat.”
Maria V. Snyder (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like God, however, ideology is dead. The bloody excesses of the twentieth century killed it.”
Jordan Peterson (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He is blind to the dead, to the burning villages, to the starving children. As is the Rebel. Two blind armies, able to see nothing but one another.”
“Can you read?” I nodded. “Rules are posted over there. You got two choices. Obey them. Or be dead.”
“Nobody had any ideas. The questions just sort of lay there like dead fish too ripe to be ignored and too big to shove out of the way.”
“Cloughie was dead right, absolutely. It was the best thing he ever did for me. It's good to get angry. It's an emotion and part of the game. It's good to go a bit mad but I don't throw teacups around. That's not my style - I'd rather throw punches”
“If John Lennon's so smart then why is he dead?”
“Let us remember that those who kill innocent victims do not do so simply because they wish them dead -- terrorism is about killing a few to strike fear into many. Terrorism is a form of activism coupled with narcissism.”
Marc Randazza (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everything delicate & beautiful, from Surrealism to Breakdancing, ends up as fodder for McDeath's ads; 15 minutes later, all the magic has been sucked out, & the art itself dead as a dried locust.”
Peter Lamborn Wilson (1945–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The part where we say who's good and who's bad and who started-- let's-- let's step away from that and instead ask a different question: Instead, let's look at who's dead and who's alive this week.”
Trevor Noah (born 1984) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: May 11, 2021, Visible at 4:40, Let’s Talk About the Israel-Palestine Conflict | The Daily Show, YouTube.com, 11 May 2021.
“The sky is grey The road is grey The building is grey The rain is grey Through this stretch of dead ash Walked two children One in bright red One in light green.”
Gu Cheng (1956–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Seriously. The wheel’s spinning but the hamster’s dead. (Twitter, 2019-01-26, on a Brexit development )”
Nick Harkaway (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My six and seventy years are through. I was not born, I am not dead. Clouds floating on the high wide skies The moon curves through its million-mile course.”
Yakuo Tokuken (1244–1320) said by 1320 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Japanese Death Poems. Compiled by Yoel Hoffmann. ISBN 978-0-8048-3179-6, 2000. Cited in: Ken Jeremiah. Living Buddhas: The Self-Mummified Monks of Yamagata, Japan. 2010. p. 197
“I would rather be dead.”
Arthur Waley (1889–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Response when offered the Chair in Chinese at Cambridge, as quoted in Orientalism and the Operatic World (2015) by Nicholas Tarling, p. 78
“Stone can effectively resist compression but is relatively weak in tension. Because of its mass and weight it may be used advantageously in structural types that can be made stable by the proper weight (dead load, gravity) and are but slightly exposed to lateral forces.”
Eduardo Torroja (1899–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was not surprised to wake up alive. I suppose one is surprised only when one awakens dead.”
Dan Simmons (1948–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For my students at the University of Chicago and in memoriam the Dead at Tiananmen Square June 4, 1989”
Anthony C. Yu (1938–2015) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dedication, p. v; quoted by John Minford in his essay In Memoriam (30 May 2015).
“Someone worshipped stone and placed it on his head. Someone hung the phallus (lingam) from his neck. Someone visualized God in the South and someone bowed his head towards the West. Some fool worships the idols and someone goes to worship the dead. The whole world is entangled in false rituals and has not known the secret of God. [30].”
Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) said by 1708 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Words are sublime, and in books we may commune with the dead. Beyond this there is nothing true, no voices we can hear.”
Sofia Samatar (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don’t know about police methods in the United States,” remarked Singh, “but where I come from a person last seen having an argument with someone who later turns up dead goes straight to the top of the list of suspects.”
Shamini Flint (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Inspector] Singh closed his eyes and contemplated the gloom within. Circles within circles. Would a child of one of these dead men – killed in a holy place – grow up with revenge on his mind like Tanvir Singh had done? It didn’t bear thinking about.”
Shamini Flint (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom is impossible. Freedom is dead. Freedom is an absolute, a divine measure, just like goodness, evil, and happiness. It is impossible to achieve it, but striving for it is the only way to come closer to peace. The task of a human is to defend the maximum possible level of freedom in the enslavement of nature.”
Mykola Ovcharov (born 1988) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book "The Little Ethics", 2024
“I wouldn’t eat a chicken if it dropped dead in front of me holding up a sign that said, ‘Eat Me.’”
Ricky Williams (born 1977) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About his vegetarianism. "Ricky Williams: Taking the Veggie Plunge" by Jennifer Santiago, PETAWorld.com (23 March 2006).
“Mere gook rule: The deaths and injuries of lesser breeds who stand in our way may be ignored in law and policy-making; technically, the marginal cost of a dead gook (Arab, etc.) is zero. The rule is based on the fact that gooks do not value life and feel pain like we do; besides which, they stand in our way.”
Edward S. Herman (1925–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My healthiest transformation was going vegan. … I don’t think words can describe seeing an animal tortured like [in factory farms]. It’s unethical, and it’s something I want to fight against. You are what you eat, and I’d rather be a fruit than a dead, rotting carcass.”
Jenna Talackova (born 1988) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with PETA; as quoted in "Jenna Talackova’s health transformation", (24 January 2014).
“Reasonably, all these [fossil fuel] investments are financial dead-ends or ecological disasters.”
Jacques Dubochet (born 1942) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source, in French: Jacques Dubochet, Parcours, Éditions Rosso, 2018, page 145 (ISBN 9782940560097).
“No doubt newspaper reports and broadcasts had encouraged us, civilian and military, to regard him [the Japanese] as an evil, misshapen, buck-toothed barbarian who looked and behaved like something sub-Stone Age; the experiences of Allied prisoners of war demonstrated that the reports had not lied and reinforced the view that the only good Jap was a dead one.”
George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whoever said that Russia was an enigma inside a something-or-other inside something else, was dead right. I don't understand the place yet.”
George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At sunset, on the river ban, Krishna Loved her for the last time and left. . . That night in her husband's arms, Radha felt So dead that he asked, What is wrong, Do you mind my kisses, love? And she said, Not not at all, but thought, What is It to the corpse if the maggots nip?”
Kamala Surayya (1934–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A procession will be taken out with the dead bodies of those fired upon by the CRPF, and all the CRPF personnel involved will be suspended and sent behind bars after cases are filed against them through lawyers.”
Mamata Banerjee (born 1955) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: April 2021. Alleged comments of Mamata according to leaked audio. From ‘marching with dead bodies’ to ‘arresting CRPF and everybody’ to ‘detention camps,’ Mamata’s leaked audio shows her evil side [https://www.hindupost…
“Can’t keep hanging on To all that’s dead and gone If you built yourself a myth You'd know just what to give Materialize Or let the ashes fly.”
Victoria Legrand (born 1981) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Amir Khusrau mentions some of the powers “of sorcery and enchantment possessed by the inhabitants of India. First of all they can bring a dead man to life. If a man has been bitten by a snake and is rendered speechless, they can resuscitate him even after six months.”
Amir Khusrow (1253–1325) said by 1325 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Amir Khusrau, Nuh Sipehr, Elliot and Dowson, III, p.563. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1992). The legacy of Muslim rule in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 1
“Intelligent Design is simply a dead end; it does not deserve to be called a theory.”
Mordechai Ben-Ari (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(Bairam Khan said): ‘This is your first war (ghazd), prove your sword on this infidel, for it will be a meritorious deed.’ Akbar replied: ‘He is now no better than a dead man, how am I to strike him? If he had sense and strength, I would try my sword.’ Then in the presence of them all, the Khan as a warrior of the faith, cut him down with the sword.”
Hemu (1501–1556) said by 1556 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By Sanskrit is meant the learned language of India - the language of its cultured inhabitants, the language of its religion, its literature and science - not by any means a dead language, but one still spoken and written by educated men by all parts of the country, from Kashmir to Cape Comorin, from Bombay to Calcutta and Madras.”
Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I visited Muladi village also, where I found skeletons of dead bodies at some places. I found dogs and vultures eating corpses on he river-side. I got the information there that after the whole-scale killing of all adult males, all the young girls were distributed among the ringleaders of the miscreants.”
Jogendra Nath Mandal (1904–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Almost from the time of Xavier's actual presence on the Coast, the work of legend-building began, and it came to be firmly believed that he possessed miraculous powers, which extended even to the raising of the dead. Xavier never made such extravagant claims for himself.”
Francis Xavier (1506–1552) said by 1552 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Neill, S. (2004). A history of Christianity in India: The beginning to AD 1707. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
“I’m dead, Jorl. You can’t tell me what to do.”
Lawrence M. Schoen (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh! This isn’t possible. You’re dead.” “So are you, but we’re not going to let that get in our way.”
Lawrence M. Schoen (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We’ve met, and it wasn’t the highlight of my being dead.”
Lawrence M. Schoen (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A painting is good if it is not finished. Just like ideas. Finished ideas are dead.. .Everything is floating, just as in life – also life will never get ready. (translation from Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek, 2018)”
Gerrit Benner (1897–1981) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Gerrit Benner, in: Gerrit Benner, G. Westenberg en E. van Dooren , Harlingen 2005, p. 4; as cited in Lucht in de Nederlandse kunst sinds 1850, Antoon Erftemeijer; catalogue of Frans Halsmuseum Haarlem, 2014, p …
“oh nothin, i was just buying some ear medication for my sick uncle... *LOWERS SHADES TO LOOK YOU DEAD IN THE EYE* who's a Model by the way,”
“so long suckers! i rev up my motorcylce and create a huge cloud of smoke. when the cloud dissipates im lying completely dead on the pavement”
“Bad news folks! i waited in line for 16 hours to see the queen. But by the time i got there she was fuckin DEAD!!!!!!”
“Yes, of course you want every shot to be a duck-bird [a dead bird?]”
Johannes Warnardus Bilders (1811–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Maria Bilders-van Bosse, in her letter to A.C. Loffelt, 23 June 1895; from an excerpt of this letter in RKD-Archive, The Hague
“They say that he [ Floris Verster ] has made beautiful impressionist things in the past, afterwards he suddenly has achieved a tender drawing; in this time for example he painted dead rooks, so intimately pure and at the same time monumental, that it seemed to me the best what was made here [in the Netherlands] about that time. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)”
Jan Mankes (1889–1920) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter to A.A.M. Pauwels, 2 Feb. 1911; as cited Jan Mankes – in woord en beeld, ed. Sjoerd van Faassen; Museum Bèlvédère, Heerenveen, 2015 ISBN 1877-0983, n. 22, p. 50
“Bad, I thought, looking around me, that I’d accumulated so much. A man should never own more stuff than he can carry in his hands at a dead run. It was bad, but it had happened.”
Fredric Brown (1906–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Chapter 3, “1999” (p. 230)