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Change

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“The essence of life is change, he said, and the essence of eternal life is eternal change.”
Robert Charles Wilson (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is inevitable is not death but change. Change is the only abiding reality. The metaverse evolves, fractally and forever. Saints become sinners, sinners become saints. Dust becomes men, men become gods, gods become dust.”
Robert Charles Wilson (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I said, ‘I'll change tomorrow if that's okay, I just didn't even realize it today,’ but they said, ‘Well, you have to change now,’ and, well, at that point it became, you know, a bit of a matter of principle for me. [...] And yeah, so here we are.”
Magnus Carlsen (born 1990) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm optimistic. I see no longer people accepting fuzzy thinking in the world. The change is not that people aren't still saying under-informed things. The change is that if you're in power and you say something under-informed, there are people out there with a voice who will take you to task for having done so.”
Neil deGrasse Tyson (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“after having had contact with students for so many years, I think it's a lot harder to change somebody's life than people think. People will say they've been changed, but what they really mean is they read something which crystallized an awful lot of things they were already feeling. I don't think books really change people's minds very often; I think that's awfully rare.”
Joanna Russ (1937–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can't just wish change; you have to live the change in order for it to become a reality.”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing is going to change unless you first change”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You cannot just speak change, you have to LIVE change!”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Speak the truth! One committed mouth carries the seeds that could change a generation and change the world.”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you change for the better, the people around you will be inspired to change … But only after trying their hardest to make you stop.”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In most Western economies, the general relationship is not in fact between the rate of inflation and the level of unemployment, but between the rate of change of inflation and the rate of change of unemployment.”
Paul Ormerod (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every fourth euro spent within the EU budget will go towards action to mitigate climate change... I am glad to see that young people are taking to the streets in Europe to raise visibility of the issue of climate change.”
Jean-Claude Juncker (born 1954) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Julia Conley, in Kicking Ass for Her Generation': Applause for 16-Year-Old Greta Thunberg as EU Chief Pledges $1 Trillion to Curb Climate Threat, (21 February 2019)
“Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at the Cow Palace on Accepting the Nomination of the Republican National Convention (August 23, 1956). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
“We –finally—look upon change, the every-unfolding future, with confidence rather than doubt, hope rather than fear. We, as a people, were born of revolution. And we have lived by change—always a frontier people, exploring—if not new wilderness—then new science and new knowledge.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are two numbers you need to know about climate change. The first is 51 billion. The other is zero. Fifty-one billion is how many tons of greenhouse gases the world typically adds to the atmosphere every year. . . . Zero is what we need to aim for [by the year 2050 to] stop the warming and avoid the worst effects of climate change . . . .”
Bill Gates (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Something happens to a man when he puts on a judicial robe, and I think it ought to. The change is very great and requires psychological change within a man to get into an attitude of deciding other people's controversies, instead of waging them. It really calls for quite a changed attitude. Some never make it - and I am not sure I have.”
Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) first seen 1789 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, 4 The Justices of the United States Supreme Court 1789-1969, 2563 (1969)
“They say if you scratch a cynic, you'll find a disappointed idealist. And I would admit, that somewhere underneath all this there's a little flicker of a flame of idealism that would love to see it all — huish! — change. But it can't happen that way. And incremental change — it just seems the pile of shit is too deep.”
George Carlin (1937–2008) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Archive of American Television, from one of Carlin's final interviews (2008)
“If you want to change the system, change the system. It's no good shooting people.”
John Lennon (1940–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If an artist can't do anymore, then he should just quit; and an artist ought to be able to change his style without feeling bad. I heard that Lichtenstein said he might not be painting comic strips a year of two from now [1963]. I think that would be so great, to be able to change styles. And I think that's what's going to happen; that's going to be the whole new scene.”
Andy Warhol (1928–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Beyond Civilization: Humanity's Next Great Adventure (1999), by Daniel Quinn, p. 137
“Too many religions for only one god I don't need another saviour Don't try to change my mind You know I'm one of a kind Ain't gonna change my bad behaviour”
Ozzy Osbourne (1948–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For each human being there is an optimum ratio between change and stasis. Too little change, he grows bored. Too little stability, he panics and loses his ability to adapt.”
Larry Niven (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The world was never made; It will change, but it will not fade. So let the wind range; For even and morn Ever will be Thro’ eternity. Nothing was born; Nothing will die; All things will change.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.”
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thoughts," Postscriptum de ma vie, in Victor Hugo's Intellectual Autobiography, Funk and Wagnalls (1907) as translated by Lorenzo O'Rourke
“Many people will tell you of his wonderful qualities and his many accomplishments, but what makes him special to me, the truth many people don't want you to remember, is that Dr. king was a great activist, fighting for radical social change with radical methods. While other people talked about change, Dr. King used direct action to challenge the system. He welcomed it, and used it wisely.”
Cesar Chavez (1927–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common sense.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) said by 1719 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Observe always that everything is the result of a change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and to make new ones like them.”
Marcus Aurelius (121–180) said by 180 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
“Is any man afraid of change? Why what can take place without change?”
Marcus Aurelius (121–180) said by 180 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From an article on dealing with snake bites, published in Indian Opinion dated August 9th, 1913, in the Gujarti language edition, English translation available in the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 12, April 19…
“[I]t is not true that we shall necessarily progress if our political conditions undergo a change, irrespectively of the manner in which it is brought about. If the means employed are impure, the change will not be in the direction of progress but very likely in the opposite.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Gandhi’s Experiments With Truth: Essential Writings by and about Mahatma Gandhi, Richard L. Johnson (edit), Lexington Books (2006) p. 118. Original source: Forward to volume of Gokhale's speeches, Gopal Kri…
“If racial minorities, sexual minorities, feminists both male and female, hell, all liberals got together and had this big "too much information," "go there," voice...that would equal power. And that power would equal change. And that change would equal a revolution.”
Margaret Cho (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana (1863–1952) said by 1952 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As we wash our body so we should wash destiny, change life as we change clothes.”
Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The natur o' things doesn't change, though it seems as if one's own life was nothing but change. The square o' four is sixteen, and you must lengthen your lever in proportion to your weight, is as true when a man's miserable as when he's happy; and the best o' working is, it gives you a grip hold o' things outside your own lot".”
George Eliot (1819–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We change, and others change, while recollection Fain would renew what it can but recall : Dark are life's dreams, and weary its affection, And cold its hopes, — and yet I felt them all, A long while ago.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) first seen 1838 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1838 1) (Vol 52) A Long While Ago
“If your religion does not change you, then you had better change your religion.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By the time we awaken faintly to the awareness that we have been socially conditioned, we find ourselves so indoctrinated that it's difficult, if not impossible, to break the old patterns … Survival pressures demanding that we evolve, grow, and change, however, continue to proliferate. We don't want to change, but the floodgates open abruptly and we are overwhelmed. Crisis!”
Frank Herbert (1920–1986) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Science Fiction and a World in Crisis" in Science Fiction: Today and Tomorrow (1974) edited by Reginald Bretnor
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is only the possessors of "headline" mentality that exaggerate or distort the true objectives of those in this Nation whether they be the president of the University of North Carolina or the President of the United States, who, with Mr. Justice Cardozo, admit the fact of change and seek to guide change into the right channels to the greater glory of God and the greater good of mankind.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One change of attitude would change everything. If everyone realized that it could be a beautiful world and said let's not do these things anymore — let's have fun.”
David Lynch (1946–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not saying I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.”
Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our institutions and conditions rest upon deep-seated ideas. To change those conditions and at the same time leave the underlying ideas and values intact means only a superficial transformation, one that cannot be permanent or bring real betterment. It is a change of form only, not of substance, as so tragically proven by Russia.”
Emma Goldman (1869–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I am to live longer, perhaps I must live out my old age, seeing and hearing less, understanding worse, coming to learn with more difficulty and to be more forgetful, and growing worse than those to whom I was once superior. Indeed, life would be unliveable, even if I did not notice the change. And if I see the change, how could life not be even more wretched and unpleasant?”
Socrates (470–399 BC) said by 399 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Disneyland is something that will never be finished. It's something that I can keep developing. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need change. A picture is a thing, once you wrap it up and turn it over to Technicolor, you're through. Snow White is a dead issue with me. But I can change the park, because it's alive.”
Walt Disney (1901–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "The Rides of Passage" in Via magazine (July 2005)
“You know, if you hurt people enough, eventually they'll all call you whatever you want. Maker. King. Captain. Boss. Master. Holy One. Pick your title, you can beat people into calling you that. But you don't change yourself a bit. All you do is change the meanings of those words, so they all mean the same thing: Bully.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The problems we face now – poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad – will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. A change in leadership is required to change these outcomes.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change’, but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change? MIGA!!!”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Truth Social posting, reported in Trump agitates for regime change to ‘make Iran great again’ The Telegraph (June 22, 2025)
“TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025. There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change. In other words, all money will be due and payable starting AUGUST 1, 2025 — No extensions will be granted.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Truth Social, quoted in Trump threatens 'no extensions' on new Aug. 1 tariff deadline, warns of higher import taxes NBC News (July 8, 2025)
“Were it not for the mind change of Sai devotees the world would already have fallen into complete chaos. The deterioration of mind and man has been very rapid and abrupt, even precipitous during the last fifteen years. That the world is not in total destruction is due to the change of mind of Sai devotees and to Sai's grace.”
Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The goal of change management is to dupe slow-witted employees into thinking change is good for them by appealing to their sense of adventure and love of challenge. This is like convincing a trout to leap out of a stream to experience the adventure of getting deboned.”
Scott Adams (1957–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source