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 tactical, or if you will, “technical,” task was quite simple — grab every fascist or every isolated group of fascists by their collars, acquaint them with the pavement a few times, strip them of their fascist insignia and documents, and without carrying things any further, leave them with their fright and a few good black and blue marks.”
Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) first seen 1934 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ultraleft Tactics in Fighting the Fascists (March 1934)
“In times of peace, the capitalists used to guarantee their interests by means of the "peaceful" robbery of hired labor. During the war they served those same interests by means of the destruction of countless human lives.”
Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The clergy have always had great faith in famine, in affliction, in pestilence. They know that a man is a thousand times more apt to thank God for a crust or a crumb than for a banquet.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They will find new readings for old texts. They will re-punctuate and re-parse the Old Testament. They will find that “flat” meant “a little rounding;” that “six days” meant “six long times;” that the word “flood” should have been translated “dampness,” “dew,” or “threatened rain...”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes, there were times when I forgot not only who I was, but that I was, forgot to be.”
Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've been married too many times. How terrible to change children's affiliations, their affections — to give them the insecurity of placing their trust in someone when maybe that someone won't be there next year.”
Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Elizabeth Taylor : An informal memoir (1965)
“We are no nearer heaven on the top of Mount Cenis than at the bottom of the sea; take the distance with your astrolabe. They debase God even to the carnal knowledge of women, to so many times, and so many generations.”
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) said by 1592 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.”
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) said by 1592 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Michael De Montaigne
“For truth itself has not the privilege to be spoken at all times and in all sorts.”
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) said by 1592 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Michael De Montaigne
“I, who have so much and so universally adored this [greek], "excellent mediocrity," 32 of ancient times, and who have concluded the most moderate measure the most perfect, shall I pretend to an unreasonable and prodigious old age?”
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) said by 1592 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a certain sense, everything is everywhere at all times. For every location involves an aspect of itself in every other location. Thus every spatio-temporal standpoint mirrors the world.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest. It was a scandal that a breed of fearless and sinister people ran around freely, so they attached a nickname and a myth to these people to get even with them, to make up for the many times they had felt afraid.”
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Haller’s sickness of soul, as I now know, is not the eccentricity of a single individual, but the sickness of the times themselves, the neurosis of that generation to which Haller belongs, a sickness, it seems, that by no means attacks the weak and worthless only but rather those who are strongest in spirit and richest in gifts.”
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Goldmund smiled up into his eyes, with the new smile he had brought home from his travels, the smile which seemed so frail and old, uncertain, at times, and feeble-witted, and then again pure goodness and pure wisdom.”
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For our goal was not only the East, or rather the East was not only a country and something geographical, but the home and the youth of the soul, the everywhere and nowhere, the oneness of all times.”
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journey to the Orient, as quoted in Londhe, S. (2008). A tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and wisdom spanning continents and time about India and her culture
“Immorality, no less than morality, has at all times found support in religion.”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Mosaic religion had been a Father religion; Christianity became a Son religion. The old God, the Father, took second place; Christ, the Son, stood in His stead, just as in those dark times every son had longed to do.”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Moses and Monotheism (1938)
“We are all, at times, unconscious prophets.”
Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As beautiful as Halle is on the outside, she's 10 times more beautiful on the inside.”
Halle Berry (born 1966) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rick Yune — reported in Amy Longsdorf (November 17, 2002) "Still flying, still down to earth - Nothing's been the same since Oscar night, except Halle Berry herself", The Record, p. E01.
“A lot of times in cinema today the women are overly sentimental, so I constantly try to do the opposite. I like strident women.”
Keira Knightley (born 1985) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Allure magazine (October 2007)
“What you do for Jewish New Year is you go down to Times Square... It's a lot quieter than the regular New Year. It's just a few Jews walking around going, "'sup?”
Jon Stewart (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give us back our suffering, we cry to Heaven in our hearts — suffering rather than indifferentism; for out of nothing comes nothing. But out of suffering may come the cure. Better have pain than paralysis! A hundred struggle and drown in the breakers. One discovers the new world. But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the way to that new world, than stand idly on the shore!”
Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Increasingly in recent times we have come first to identify the remedy that is most agreeable, most convenient, most in accord with major pecuniary or political interest, the one that reflects our available faculty for action; then we move from the remedy so available or desired back to a cause to which that remedy is relevant.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Convenient Reverse of Logic in Our Time," commencement address, American University (1984); reprinted in A View from the Stands (1986)
“It was not hard to persuade people that the market was sound; as always in such times they asked only that the disturbing voices of doubt be muted and that there be tolerably frequent expressions of confidence.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At best, in such depression times, monetary policy is a feeble reed on which to lean.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In recent times no problem has been more puzzling to thoughtful people than why, in a troubled world, we make such poor use of our affluence.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only in very recent times has the average man been a source of savings.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A nuclear war does not defend a country and it does not defend a system. I've put it the same way many times; not even the most accomplished ideologue will be able to tell the difference between the ashes of capitalism and the ashes of communism.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had taken a partner once before—but, damnation, no matter how many times you get your fingers burned, you have to trust people. Otherwise you are a hermit in a cave, sleeping with one eye open.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Long ago Mr. Clemens demonstrated in his essay “What is man?” that every one of us acts at all times in his own interest. Once you understand this, it offers a way to negotiate with an antagonist in order to find means to cooperate with him for mutual benefit. But if you are convinced of your own “altruism” and you try to shame him out of his horrid selfishness, you will get nowhere.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By my physical constitution I am but an ordinary man … Yet some great events, some cutting expressions, some mean hypocracies, have at times thrown this assemblage of sloth, sleep, and littleness into rage like a lion.”
John Adams (1735–1826) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary entry (26 April 1779)
“The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity, and humanity, let the blackguard Paine say what he will; it is resignation to God, it is goodness itself to man.”
John Adams (1735–1826) first seen 1796 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary entry (26 July 1796)
“Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!" But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean Hell.”
John Adams (1735–1826) first seen 1817 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Original manuscript at The Library of Congress Letter to Thomas Jefferson (19 April 1817). The italicized section within this statement has often been quoted out of context. Earlier in the letter Adams explained "Lemuel…
“I wish I could paint more.. .I do dozens of sketches for oils.. ..if I do one that interests me I go on to make a painting but that happens only two or three times a year.”
Edward Hopper (1882–1967) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in 'Travelling Man', Time January 1948
“I feel anxious for the fate of our monarchy, or democracy, or whatever is to take place. I soon get lost in a labyrinth of perplexities; but, whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.”
Abigail Adams (1744–1818) first seen 1775 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Adams (27 November 1775)
“And when the devil hath seen that they have set so little by him, after certain essays, made in such times as he thought most fitting, he hath given that temptation quite over. And this he doth not only because the proud spirit cannot endure to be mocked, but also lest, with much tempting the man to the sin to which he could not in conclusion bring him, he should much increase his merit.”
Thomas More (1478–1535) first seen 1535 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation (1535), Book Two, Section XVI
“Of all the times to pick for this outbreak of idiocy, this has gotta be the worst possible. It’s got to be deliberate. Nothing this fouled up could be by chance.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you’re just now finding out that this world is unjust, well, you’re behind the times.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mercy from the Father and the Mother, mercy from the Sister and the Brother, Mercy from the Bastard, five times mercy, High Ones, we beseech you."… Mercy, High Ones. Not justice, please, not justice. We would all be fools to pray for justice.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times begins to seem like a message to be ignored at one’s peril.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity.”
Charles Mackay (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are no events but thoughts and the heart's hard turning, the heart's slow learning where to love and whom. The rest is merely gossip, and tales for other times.”
Annie Dillard (1945–2026) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Holy the Firm (1977)
“Not all readers are prepared, at all times, to make independent judgments. But the failure of modern education to equip them to do so even when they have the inclination creates a serious gap in modern culture.”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Childhood may have periods of great happiness, but it also has times that must simply be endured. Childhood at its best is a form of slavery tempered by affection.”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I can remember times coming home from a chess club at four in the morning when I was half asleep and half dead and forcing myself to pray an hour and study (the Bible) an hour. You know, I was half out of my head-stoned almost.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think the contracts are different from these photos. I mean, contractual benefits I can see a good argument for. Photos in the "New York Times" nuptial section, that's just embarrassing.”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What's News at "New York Times?"; What Will Children Learn About September 11? Aired August 20, 2002 - 19:00 ET.
“My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building.”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Coultergeist" by George Gurley at the New York Observer (August 26, 2002), the interviewer then told her that she should be careful, and she agreed: "You’re right, after 9/11 I shouldn’t say that." Later, …
“The Episcopals don't demand much in the way of actual religious belief. They have girl priests, gay priests, gay bishops, gay marriages — it's much like The New York Times editorial board. They acknowledge the Ten Commandments — or "Moses' talking points" — but hasten to add that they're not exactly "carved in stone.”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Learning difficulties are a cover for] rich parents with dumb kids...That's why 'Pinch' Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times, is alleged to have dyslexia — because he's retarded.”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Ann Coulter: The blonde assassin", The Independent (August 16, 2004).
“The Times was rushing to assure its readers that "prominent Islamic scholars and theologians in the West say unequivocally that nothing in Islam countenances the Sept. 11 actions." (That's if you set aside Muhammad's many specific instructions to kill nonbelievers whenever possible).”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source