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. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Nature

Love Friendship Happiness Hope Fear Courage Death Life Time War Peace Freedom Truth Wisdom Knowledge Science Art Music Nature Money Work Power God Beauty Laughter Family Success and failure Change Dreams Books and reading

“The eye of outward sense is as the palm of a hand, The whole of the object is not grasped in the palm. The sea itself is one thing, the foam another; Neglect the foam, and regard the sea with your eyes.”
Rumi (1207–1273) said by 1273 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(From Sea to Sea vol. 2, p. 61): "Very many Americans have an offensive habit of referring to natives as `heathen.' Mahommedans and Hindus are heathen alike in their eyes.”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A drop Melting into the sea, Everyone can see. But the sea Absorped In a drop — A rare one can follow!”
Kabir (1398–1518) said by 1518 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a coign of the cliff between lowland and highland, At the sea-down's edge between windward and lee, Walled round with rocks as an inland island, The ghost of a garden fronts the sea. A girdle of brushwood and thorn encloses The steep square slope of the blossomless bed Where the weeds that grew green from the graves of its roses Now lie dead.”
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The clouds, never expect it, When it rains But the sea changes color, But the sea does not change, And so with the slow graceful Flow of age, I went forth with an, Age old desire to please, On the edge of seventeen.”
Stevie Nicks (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are times, perhaps once every thirty years, when there is a sea-change in politics. It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of. I suspect there is now such a sea-change and it is for Mrs. Thatcher.”
James Callaghan (1912–2005) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the general election of 1979, quoted in Kenneth Morgan, Callaghan: A Life (1997), p. 697
“Your quest is for darkness only. This sea is not your sea. The myths of men are not your myths. Men’s treasures are not yours.”
Anne Rice (1941–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose, should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is something deeply impressive about the night sea as one experiences it from a small vessel far from land. When I stood on the afterdeck on those dark nights, on a tiny man-made island of wood and steel, dimly seeing the great shapes of waves that rolled about us, I think I was conscious as never before that ours is a water world, dominated by the immensity of the sea....”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If there are no sandpits from which it can be dug, then we must sift it out from river beds or from gravel or even from the sea beach. This kind however has these defects when used in masonry: it dries slowly... and such a wall cannot carry vaultings. Furthermore, when sea-sand is used in walls and these are coated with stucco, a salty efflorescence is given out which spoils the surface.”
Vitruvius (80–15 BC) said by 15 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We must plant the sea and herd its animals … using the sea as farmers instead of hunters. That is what civilization is all about — farming replacing hunting.”
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview (17 July 1971); Cited in: Elizabeth Brubaker et al. (2008) Breath of Fresh Air, p. 180
“The children of the prophets of the Lord, Prince, priest, and people, spurned by zealot hate. Hounded from sea to sea, from state to state, The West refused them, and the East abhorred. No anchorage the known world could afford.”
Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) first seen 1492 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1492", l. 3 (1883)
“Death is a meeting place of sea and sea.”
Conrad Aiken (1889–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The tiny fish enjoy themselves in the sea. Quick little splinters of life, their little lives are fun to them in the sea.”
D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Little Fish (1929)
“The world is supposed to be full of possibilities, but they narrow down to pretty few in most personal experience. There's lots of good fish in the sea ... maybe ... but the vast masses seem to be mackerel or herring, and if you're not mackerel or herring yourself you are likely to find very few good fish in the sea.”
D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) said by 1930 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But I remember that Ernest Hemingway told Bernard Berenson that the secret of his greatest book was that there was no symbolism. The sea was the sea, the old man an old man, the boy a boy, the marlin a marlin, and the sharks the same as other sharks. People empower these things themselves, groping beneath the surface, always looking for more.”
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dwelling beside a body of water is tonic for the weary psyche. Sea smells, sea birds, seawrack, sands—alternately cool, warm, moist and dry—a taste of brine and the presence of the rocking, slopping bluegraygreen spit-flecked waters, has the effect of rinsing the emotions, bathing the outlook, bleaching the conscience.”
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It happened once, some men of Italy Midst the Greek Islands went a sea-roving, And much good fortune had they on the sea: Of many a man they had the ransoming, And many a chain they gat and goodly thing; And midst their voyage to an isle they came, Whereof my story keepeth not the name.”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Are you home from the sea, my soul balladeerYou've been away roaming far away from here weathered a storm, your heart unafraidcrossed every ocean in the boat that you made.... You're a light in the dark, a beacon of hopeand strong as a sea boat, strong as a rope.And the vagabond wind, whispers over the bayand the songs and the laughter, are carried away in the sky.”
Mark Knopfler (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a solitude of the sea Deep from human vanity, And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she. Steel chambers, late the pyres Of her salamandrine fires, Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres. Over the mirrors meant To glass the opulent The sea-worm crawls — grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.”
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Convergence of the Twain (Lines on the loss of the Titanic)", ll. 1-9 (1912)
“Our future lies upon the water. To the sea our thoughts are turned—the sea, which is the symbol of eternity. Seas do not separate; they unite.”
Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To protect Germany's sea trade and colonies, in the existing circumstances, there is only one means: Germany must have a battle fleet so strong that, even for the adversary with the greatest sea-power, a war against it would involve such dangers as to imperil its position in the world.”
Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Coming, as I do, from mountain folk on one side and sea followers on the other, there are few old songs of the hills or the sea with which I am not familiar.”
Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a letter to Robert W. Gordon (February 4, 1925)
“The sea is whipping the sky The sky is whipping the sea You can hide away forever from the storm But you'll never hide away from me.”
Jim Steinman (1947–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I exist without the cosmic shadow, But it could not live bereft of me; As the sea exists without the waves, But they breathe not without the sea. Dreams, wakings, states of deep turiya sleep, Present, past, future, no more for me, But the ever-present, all-flowing, I, I everywhere. Consciously enjoyable, Beyond the imagination of all expectancy, Is this, my samadhi state.”
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) said by 1952 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The waters were his winding sheet, the sea was made for his tomb; Yet for his fame the ocean sea, was not sufficient room.”
Richard Barnfield (1574–1627) first seen 1595 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Epitaph on Hawkins (1595).
“Cuando no sea más nada, ¿no seré más nada? ¡Cómo quisiera no ser más nada cuando no sea más nada!”
Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.”
John Masefield (1878–1967) first seen 1902 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This is the original version of 1902. In later versions, the author inserted the word 'go' ("I must go down to the seas again").
“To study the phenomenon of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea, while to study books without patients is not to go to sea at all.”
William Osler (1849–1919) first seen 1901 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Books and Men" in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal (1901)
“The hills look over on the South, And Southward dreams the sea; And with the sea-breeze hand in hand, Came innocence and she.”
Francis Thompson (1859–1907) first seen 1893 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Daisy (1893), st. 2.
“The sea is the same sea, and the Arabs are the same Arabs.”
Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2012) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Shamir used this phrase in 1996, following the Oslo accords ("It's Inconceivable" by Rafi Mann)
“Was this perhaps life, then?—to have loved one summer in youth and not to have been aware of it until it was over, some sea-wet footprints on the floor and sand in the prints, the fragrance of a woman, soft loving lips in the dusk of a summer night, sea birds; and then nothing more; gone.”
Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ye marshes, how candid and simple and nothing-withholding and free Ye publish yourselves to the sky and offer yourselves to the sea! Tolerant plains, that suffer the sea and the rains and the sun, Ye spread and span like the catholic man who hath mightily won God out of knowledge and good out of infinite pain And sight out of blindness and purity out of a stain.”
Sidney Lanier (1842–1881) first seen 1878 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Marshes of Glynn" (1878).
“The wind is rising on the sea, The windy white foam-dancers leap; And the sea moans uneasily, And turns to sleep, and cannot sleep.”
Arthur Symons (1865–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drowned, he said, for he will be going out on a day he shouldn't. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we do only be drownded now and again.”
John Millington Synge (1871–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We finally saw the sea, the horizonless sea – how odd for a mountaindweller. We saw the beautiful boats that sail on it. It is too inviting, one feels carried away, one would leave to see the whole world.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1841 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Courbet's letter to his parents (1841); as quoted in Howard F. Isham Image of the Sea: Oceanic Consciousness in the Romantic Century, Peter Lang (2004), Chapter 'Waterworlds', p. 307
“The sea! The sea!.. ..in her growling fury, she reminds me of a of the caged monster who can devour me.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Courbet's letter to Victor Hugo, 1864; as cited by Sarah Faunce and Linda Nochlin, in Courbet Reconsidered; exhibition catalogue, The Brooklyn Museum, 1988, p. 188
“The sea, the sea is everything! Its sovereign mass brings to me atoms of a myriad faraway lands; Its bright smile animates me in the limpid mornings And when at the end of day my faith has failed me My heart echoes the sound of its sorrow in the sands.”
José Rizal (1861–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Look at the sea and remember the past. Look at the sky and imagine the future. Look at the land and think of the present. And in the most profound place where land, sea and sky are one - there ye shall play volleyball.”
Simon Munnery (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The flavour of a fish which comes out of the sea at Acre is not similar to the flavour of a fish which comes out of the sea in Spain.”
Rashi (1040–1105) said by 1105 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pleasant, the eagle on the shore of the sea when it flows; Also pleasant, sea-gulls playing. Pleasant, a horse with gold-enamelled trappings; Also pleasant to be honest in a breach.”
Taliesin (518–599) said by 599 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The praising thy mercy. There hath not been here; O supreme Ruler; There hath not been; there will not be, One so good as the Lord. There hath not been born in the day of the people Any one equal to God. And no one will acknowledge Any one equal to him. Above heaven, below heaven, There is no Ruler but he. Above sea, below sea, He created us.”
Taliesin (518–599) said by 599 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The legend of the parting of the Red Sea probably refers to tidal changes in the Sea of Reeds related to the Thera eruption.”
Julian Jaynes (1920–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The sea Will be a sea Whatever the drop's philosophy.”
Attar of Nishapur (1145–1221) said by 1221 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Laurence Galian, The Sun at Midnight: The Revealed Mysteries of the Ahlul Bayt Sufis (2003), p. 285
“This is a strange fraternity — these sea lions and land lions, land unicorns and sea unicorns; the lion civilly rampant, tame and concessive like the long-tailed bear of Ecuador — the lion standing up against this screen of woven air which is the forest: the unicorn also, on its hind legs in reciprocity.”
Marianne Moore (1887–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would live in your love as the sea-grasses live in the sea, Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by each wave that recedes.”
Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea Tracing one warm line through a land so wide and savage And make a northwest passage to the sea.”
Stan Rogers (1949–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As one moves out to sea, the world's dimensions change. While things on land grow distant, the sea increases in its expanse, made bluer and wilder; there is a taste of something grand in it. It makes one seem small but also connected to larger forces, part of a great planetary flow. I felt deeply inside the present moment, as if I'd entered a more authentic state of being.”
Justin Cronin (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It appears that in the lapse of ages, the sea alternately encroaches on and retreats from the land, and the districts it formerly occupied become the habitation of terrestrial animals and vegetables;—but other revolutions succeed, the sea returns to its ancient bed, and the countries from which it retires, are again fitted for the reception of their former inhabitants.”
Gideon Mantell (1790–1852) said by 1852 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ocean is large and resilient, but it is not too big to fail. What we are taking out of the sea, what we are putting into the sea are actions that are undermining the most important thing the ocean delivers to humankind – our very existence.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source