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 was only a working-class boy from a Nationalist ghetto, but it is repression that creates the revolutionary spirit of freedom. I shall not settle until I achieve liberation of my country, until Ireland becomes a sovereign, independent socialist republic.”
Bobby Sands (1954–1981) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Republican News, (16 December 1978)
“O’Hara was in his most non-stop way of talking, saying that the pictures put him in mind of Tiepolo [Spanish wall-painter, c. 1750]. Certain cupola frescoes. Suddenly I was working in an ancient building, a warehouse facing the Giudecca. The loft over the firehouse was transformed. It was filled with light reflected from the canal. [quote in 1955]”
Philip Guston (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Guston's quote; as cited in 'Ferguson', 1999, p. 18
“But you begin to feel as you go on working that unless painting proves its right to exist by being critical and self-judging, it has no reason to exist at all - or is not even possible. The canvas is a court where the artist is prosecutor, defendant, jury and judge. Art without a trial disappears at a glance.”
Philip Guston (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Natural phenomena undisturbed by man point the way to the realization of a new technique. One needs a keen sense of observation. We must understand Nature before we can adapt its way of working to our needs.”
Viktor Schauberger (1885–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was a child, I first noticed that neither history as I was taught it, nor the stories I was told, seemed to lead to me. I began to fix them. I have been at it ever since. We need a past that leads to us. Similarly, what we imagine we are working toward does a lot to define what we will consider doable action aimed at producing the future we want and preventing the future we fear.”
Marge Piercy (born 1936) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One aspect of working with you, even of being with you, that I really appreciate is how hard you try to communicate. Human males don't often have that habit." (Shira to Yod, fourteen: BY THE LIGHT OF THE UNYELLOW MOON)”
Marge Piercy (born 1936) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The American people are sheep. They're comfortable, rich, working. It's like the Romans, they're happy with bread and their spectator sports. The Super Bowl means more to them than any right.”
Jack Kevorkian (1928–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want to build vast machines of light and darkness, intricate mechanisms within mechanisms, a progression of gears and cogs and pistons each working to its own end as well as that of the Greater Device. That's what I see in my head. But, too often, I sense that many readers want nothing more complex or challenging than wind-up toys. It's dispiriting.”
Caitlín R. Kiernan (born 1964) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (3 January 2005)
“Art should never be a slave to commerce, but for all working artists that's exactly what it must be.”
Caitlín R. Kiernan (born 1964) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (31 January 2005)
“Earth has never been in better shape…I know — climate change and a polarised political thing — but there are no more world wars. I mean, imagine what London looked like 60 years ago. This is the best of times. Unemployment in the United States is the lowest it’s been in 50 years — 5-0…More people are working. More people are making more money. Unions are more powerful." (2019)”
Gene Simmons (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am working from morning to evening, brimming with energy.. I'm fencing and wrestling with the sun. And what a sun it is! In order to paint here, one would need gold and precious stones. It is quite remarkable.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1888 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in a letter from Cote d'Azure to sculptor and friend Auguste Rodin, 1 February 1888; as cited in R. Gordon and A. Forge (1983), Monet, p. 123
“I am working as hard as I possibly can, and do not even dream of doing anything except the cathedral. It is an immense task.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1893 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in a letter from to his art-dealer Durand-Ruel, 30 March 1893; as quoted in: Christoph Heinrich (2000), Monet, p. 57
“I have at last found a suitable spot and settled her. I have already spend a few days working and started eight canvases, which I hope, if the weather favours me, will give an idea of Norway and the environs of Christiania.. .This morning I was painting under constant falling snow. You would have burst out laughing seeing me white all over, my beard overgrown with icicles.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in his letter from Sandviken to Gustave Geffroy, late January 1895; (Geoffrey, 1922, vol 2 pp. 87-88); as cited in: Nathalia Brodskaya, Claude Monet, 2011, p. 106
“Last week I stated that we were working for peace not only for this country, but to preserve the peace of Europe. Today events move so rapidly that it is exceedingly difficult to state with technical accuracy the actual state of affairs, but it is clear that the peace of Europe cannot be preserved. Russia and Germany, at any rate, have declared war upon each other.”
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He knew in his heart that there was a relief in not being listened to, sometimes. Power meant responsibility. Advice unacted upon almost always might have been right, and in the working out of whatever plan was followed, there was anyway always blood; better it was on their hands. The good soldier did as he was told, and if he had any sense at all volunteered for nothing, especially promotion.”
Iain Banks (1954–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the working of wood and for the determining of its character I had had enough experience in my five-year pursuit of woodcutting. I also always gladly let the various charming grainings and sometimes the knots become involved in the printing.”
Emil Nolde (1867–1956) first seen 1910 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in Nolde's letter, c. 1910; in , 'Nolde als Graphiker', Das Kunstblatt 11, no. 8., 1927, p. 289; as quoted in 'The Revival of Printmaking in Germany', I. K. Rigby; in German Expressionist Prints and Drawings - Essays Vo…
“Anywhere I found wood I took it home and started working with it..to show the world that art is everywhere, except it has to pass through a creative mind.”
Louise Nevelson (1899–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Concerning all painters] working in what is known as the abstract style: [the abstract form] is a living thing.. ..a carrier of the awesome feelings he felt before the unknowable [common quote of Barnett Newman, Clifford Still, and Mark Rothko, 1947]”
Barnett Newman (1905–1970) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: the catalogue of the 'Ideographic Picture' show, New York, 1947
“The agricultural labourers have been better off this winter and last winter than they were before, and rely upon it that when the working-classes feel convinced that their wages do not rise with the price of food, the worst grounds on which we can fight the battle of true Conservatism is food.”
Robert Peel (1788–1850) first seen 1830 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Charles Arbuthnot (7 January 1846), quoted in Norman Gash, Sir Robert Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel after 1830 (1972), pp. 566–567
“I had been painting Kate Moss for a long time, both before the time of her crisis and during it. I felt very strongly for her - she's a hard-working mum and it seemed as if suddenly the world turned against her. Holy water cannot help you now is painted in very warm pretty colours...”
Stella Vine (born 1969) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Williams-Akoto. "My Home: Stella Vine, artist", The Independent, (2005-11-30)
“My working hours are not that conventional. I often get up about two in the morning and do a painting, and then I'll have a bath, and then I often feel very hungry around 4am, so I'll go into Soho and have a meal somewhere like Balans. That's what I love about living here - there's always life around me.”
Stella Vine (born 1969) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Williams-Akoto. "My Home: Stella Vine, artist", The Independent, (2005-11-30)
“[T]he principles of political economy have elevated the working class above the place they ever filled before.”
Richard Cobden (1804–1865) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Rochdale (23 November 1864), quoted in John Bright and J. E. Thorold Rogers (eds.), Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P. Volume II (1908), p. 496
“On working with Martin Scorsese in Gangs of New York (2002): "He's a perfectionist, obsessed with detail. That's why he went over budget and over schedule.”
Leonardo DiCaprio (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He reminds me of that excitement when De Niro and I stumbled upon a way of working together - a similar kind of energy to the actors in the 1970s. It’s very rare for me to find that kind of connection again. Leo will give me the emotion where I least expect it and could only hope for it about three or four scenes. And he can do it take after take.”
Leonardo DiCaprio (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Jesus, to whom miracles cost nothing when every thing was arranged for performing them, did not risk himself by working them impromptu, or in the presence of those he judged acute enough to examine them.”
Baron d'Holbach (1723–1789) said by 1789 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“, Worpswede, Worpswede! [small rural village in North-Germany were a colony of German artists was working then, including Paula] My sunken Bell mood! Birches, birches, pine trees and old willows. Beautiful brown moors – exquisite brown! The canals with their black reflections, black as asphalt..”
Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907) first seen 1897 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from her Journal, Worpswede 1897; as cited in Voicing our visions, – Writings by women artists; ed. Mara R. Witzling, Universe New York, 1991, p. 192
“It's really fun and just to be with a friend while you're working really hard. It can sometimes be really stressful. Also it's just fun to have someone to laugh with and have a good time with.”
Rachel Trachtenburg (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I started making movies when I was 20. I started playing piano when I was about 3 years old, so I'm probably a musician first. But when I'm working on a movie, as an actor, I'm an actor - 100 percent. And when I'm on tour, I'm a musician 100 percent.”
Harry Connick Jr. (born 1967) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Costco Connection magazine interview, February 2007
“The General Strike has taught the working classes more in four days than years of talking could have done.”
Arthur Balfour (1848–1930) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (7 May 1926), reported in The Observer (14 November 1926), quoted in Robert Andrews, The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations (2003)
“We must have a distinct vision of what employment and unemployment are. A person who is training or educating themselves is working for their country. That is what we have discovered in this recession, that training, education and innovation are fundamental.", Oslo Forum, September 2010.”
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The defeat of Nazi Germany signified the victory of progress over reaction, humanity over barbarism and the victory of socialism over imperialist obscurantism. This victory opened the road for advancing the revolutionary struggle of the working class, a national liberation movement on an unprecedented scale and the destruction of the shameful colonial system.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most important thing in my life, its leitmotif, has been the constant and close contacts with working people, with workers and peasants.”
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Sputnik : Digest (1967), p. 48
“Symmetry is a vast subject, significant in art and nature. Mathematics lies at its root, and it would be hard to find a better one on which to demonstrate the working of the mathematical intellect.”
Hermann Weyl (1885–1955) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Symmetry (1952)
“People always said that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
Rosa Parks (1913–2005) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rosa Parks: My Story, p. 116, Rosa Parks and James Haskins (1992)
“One of the bellwether marks of the growth and vitality of the Church is the construction of temples. . . . We will keep on working to bring the temples to the people, making it more convenient for Latter day Saints everywhere to receive the blessings which can only be had in these holy houses.”
Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Work Goes On, Ensign, May 2001, 1.
“In capitalist countries the bourgeoisie leads. So long as imperialism and socialism are locked in struggle with each other, it's either a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie or a dictatorship of the working class.”
Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Molotov Remembers: Inside Kremlin Politics (1993) by Felix Chuev, p. 146. ISBN: 978-1-5663-715-2.
“How is that working out?” I asked. “Somewhere between frustratingly slow and fiendishly elusive.”
Jasper Fforde (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The power of the Father guide me, the wisdom of the Son enlighten me, the working of the Spirit quicken me. Guard Thou my soul, stablish my body, elevate my senses, direct my converse, form my habits, bless my actions, fulfil my prayers, inspire holy thoughts, pardon the past, correct the present, prevent the future.”
Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626) said by 1626 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Commune was...heroic, with its strange mixture of patriotism and working class idealism, a mixture which no historian will ever clearly resolve.”
A. J. P. Taylor (1906–1990) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Martyrdom of Paris', The Observer (7 November 1965), p. 26
“Basically it’s a velociraptor with a fur coat and an outsize sense of entitlement. Right now it has convinced Pete that it is harmless, but I know better: just give them thumbs and in no time at all they’ll have us working in the tuna mines, delivering cans from now until eternity.”
Charles Stross (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Y2K was a real end-of-civilization problem. And the people who could deal with it treated it as such, working flat-out on disaster management for the last year-long countdown. With the result that the end-of-the-world scenario didn’t happen…causing everyone not directly involved to conclude that it was a false alarm.”
Charles Stross (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The iron law of bureaucracy doesn’t help: everybody working to ensure that the organization continues to pay them a salary, rather than necessarily achieving its objectives.”
Charles Stross (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not enough just to identify a problem; there are plenty of people who were very skilled at pointing out what was wrong with the world, but they were not always so adept at working out how these things could be righted.”
Alexander McCall Smith (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By the standards of the international human rights community, the typical working conditions in America's slaughterhouses constitute human rights violations.”
Jonathan Safran Foer (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A woman who says 'because I am working I will not be a mother' is actually denying her feminity.”
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 1954) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Turkey's Erdogan says childless women are 'incomplete'", Al Jazeera (June 6, 2016)
“A woman who rejects motherhood, who refrains from being around the house, however successful her working life is, is deficient, is incomplete.”
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 1954) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Turkey's Erdogan says childless women are 'incomplete'", Al Jazeera (June 6, 2016)
“I've never been comfortable working live, and I'm still not. I was always more music-oriented and less star-oriented, which is why I've never been comfortable on big stages in big halls.”
Van Morrison (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What's my line? I'm happy cleaning windows Take my time I'll see you when my love grows Baby don't let it slide I'm a working man in my prime Cleaning windows...”
Van Morrison (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While we were working with the Jews to solve the Jewish question, the others used the Jews as a means to an end, to milk them for their own ends.... And this is why there are still a whole lot of Jews enjoying life today who ought to have been gassed.”
Adolf Eichmann (1906–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I always remember how a novel written by John Braine in the 1950s about working-class life in England, which was called Room at the Top, which was translated into Swedish as The Attic!”
John Banville (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source