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
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“I have a deep respect for the Circassians, and their historical suffering. They prefer to be called Adyghe and are a brave and faithful people who contributed to all countries in which they settled.”
Muammar Gaddafi (1942–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He is the last of that old guard defending Cattle Land, Those knights who jousted for the cause — blood brothers of the brand; But now they’ve fenced the water-hole, they’re harrowing the plain, They’re changing all the sagebrush flats to fields of waving grain; The cowmen will be gone, they say, and there are no recruits — Good-bye, brave cattle-puncher in the high-heeled boots!”
Arthur Chapman (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whither depart the souls of the brave that die in the battle, Die in the lost, lost fight, for the cause that perishes with them?”
Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861) said by 1861 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If there breathe on earth a slave, Are ye truly free and brave? If ye do not feel the chain, When it works a brother's pain, Are ye not base slaves indeed, Slaves unworthy to be freed?”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Then to side with Truth is noble when we share her wretched crust, Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and 't is prosperous to be just; Then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands aside, Doubting in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified, And the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Spartans meanwhile, man to man, and with their war songs in the ranks, exhorted each brave comrade to remember what he had learned before; well aware that the long training of action was of more use for saving lives than any brief verbal exhortation, though ever so well delivered.”
Thucydides (461–395 BC) said by 395 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No, there is nothing at all funny in poverty—to the poor. It is hell upon earth to a sensitive man; and many a brave gentleman who would have faced the labors of Hercules has had his heart broken by its petty miseries.”
Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927) said by 1927 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You have to understand what you’re fighting for. Otherwise, you were an animal—a brave animal, maybe, but an animal all the same.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How sweet is mortal Sovranty!"—think some: Others — "How blest the Paradise to come!" Ah, take the Cash in hand and wave the Rest; Oh, the brave Music of a distant Drum!”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: XII (1859)
“You know, my Friends, with what a brave Carouse I made a Second Marriage in my house; Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: LV (1889)
“When they saw Patroklos dead — so brave and strong, so young — the horses of Achilles began to weep; their immortal nature was upset deeply by this work of death they had to look at.”
Constantine P. Cavafy (1863–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Herodotus is not more indisputably the father of history than is Sir Boyle Roche the father of Bulls. No doubt there were makers of bulls before his day, even as brave men lived before Agamemnon; but they are not remembered, and if their bulls have survived them they are credited to Sir Boyle by a posterity generously forgiving and forgetful of his famous indictment.”
Boyle Roche (1736–1807) said by 1807 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Listen now to a series of sayings that always come hard to brave people. Our own great movement will grow with its own impetus wherever it is not blighted. We will break up persons of blight and centers of blight. But often, and this will be the hard part for all of you to understand, we will warn and advise before we kill. And quite often we will not kill at all. Try to understand this.”
R. A. Lafferty (1914–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can be a good Christian and a transhumanist. You can be a good Muslim and a transhumanist. You can be a good Buddhist and a transhumanist. Transhumanism gives different religions a common ground for people to live peacefully together, and as a result, to create a better future -- a brave new world of utopia, not dystopia.”
Newton Lee first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: People Unlimited’s Ageless Education (April 7, 2019)
“Whichever form of government that democracy will create in the future, the great American experiment will go down in history as the freest and the bravest in the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Change is inevitable, and it is up to humankind to create a brave new world of utopia instead of dystopia, a heaven on earth instead of a living hell.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can talk! You can talk! You can talk! You're brave now, motherfucker! Throw his ass out! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger! Ooh! Ooh! All right, ya see? It shocks you, it shocks you to see what's buried beneath, you stupid motherfuckers!”
Michael Richards (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They (Indians) are remarkably brave, and superior in war to all Asiatics; they are remarkable for integrity; they are so reasonable as seldom to have recourse to law suits, and so honest as to require neither locks to their doors nor writings to bind their agreements. They are in the highest degree truthful.”
Arrian (89–180) said by 180 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in :Sunderland, Rev. Jabez T. Indza in Bondage. Her Right to Freedom Lewis Copeland Company New York 1929p. 178. Quoted and attributed in Londhe, S. (2008). A tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and wisdom spanning continents…
“The mutual confidence on which all else depends can be maintained only by an open mind and a brave reliance upon free discussion.”
Learned Hand (1872–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Khan analyzed the data and was relieved to find that his son’s DNA was “pretty boring.” In the brave new world of personal genomics, “boring” is the new “great.”
James D. Watson (1928–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When our founding fathers put their signatures on the Declaration of Independence, those 56 brave people, most of whom by the way were clergymen, they said that we had certain inalienable rights given to us by our creator, and among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, life being one of them. I still believe that.”
Mike Huckabee (born 1955) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Republican Presidential Debate, 2007-10-21, quoted in {{cite news
“The history of the (Jewish) people is written in black ink, and has included a series of murders of the prophets, the Mujaheedin, and righteous people. Oh Sons of brave Mujaheedin...You have revived the hopes of this nation through your blessed Jihad...The Islamic nation will not spare money or effort in support of your cause, which is the supreme Muslim cause.”
Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais (born 1962) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Imam Sudayyis in a Friday Sermon at Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca: Either Victory or Martyrdom April 2004.
“The Palestinian issue should be at the heart of our unity. It must motivate us to unite and stand in one row behind the Palestinian Mujahideen and the brave uprising.”
Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri (1944–2020) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ayatollah Muhammad 'Ali Al-Taskhiri, Secretary General of the International Forum for Bringing Islamic Schools of Thought Closer on the Palestinian Struggle May 2004.
“The people with the strong, brave exteriors are just as weak and vulnerable as the rest of us. And of course they never admit to their childish practices, their moments of weakness or absurdity, and then the rest of us think that’s how it should be.”
Alexander McCall Smith (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Do not the brave know The greatness of their progeny? A country present will meet thee, And while it may possibly be yours, Three hundred thousand years save one, A short hour of the day of everlasting life.”
Taliesin (518–599) said by 599 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To my deprivation, to my sorrow, sinew was brave. The world would not be if not for my offspring. I am a bard to be praised. The unskilful May he be possessed by the ravens and eagle and bird of wrath.”
Taliesin (518–599) said by 599 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish-American_War The Spanish-American War has been a splendid little war, begun with the highest motives, carried on with magnificent intelligence and spirit, favored by that Fortune that loves the brave. It is now to be concluded, I hope, with that fine good nature, which is, after all, the distinguishing trait of the American character.”
John Hay (1838–1905) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a 1898 letter to Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, quoted in Donald E. Schmidt's The Folly of War: American Foreign Policy, 1898-2005 (2005).
“Whensoever hostile aggressions...require a resort to war, we must meet our duty and convince the world that we are just friends and brave enemies.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) first seen 1806 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Andrew Jackson (3 December 1806)
“People go, "You’re so brave." I go, "No, I think I’m stupid" [...] It’s so strange to me because artists are free-thinkers, for the most part. You can be cooking meth and sleeping with hookers, as long as apparently you didn’t vote for Trump. I feel like I’m in The Twilight Zone a bit, with the whole concept of it.”
Kirstie Alley (1951–2022) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interviewed by Tucker Carlson on Fox News in 2021,as cited in "Trump pays tribute to ‘great’ Kirstie Alley, who said support for him got her blackballed in Hollywood" The Independent (6 December 2022)
“And though love has brought me down Love is still around Finding all its ways to those whose hearts are brave enough to try Coz love is always ready to defy, All unwilling things that this life may bring. Though at times may seem to lose its faith And die when things turn wrong But love is still my reason to go on.”
Sophia Montecarlo (born 1986) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reason to go on, 2004
“Now Albert had heard about lions, How they was ferocious and wild; And to see Wallace lying so peaceful, Just didn't seem right to the child. So straightway the brave little feller, Not showing a morsel of fear, Took his stick with the 'orses 'ead 'andle, And shoved it in Wallace's ear.”
Marriott Edgar (1880–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our stockpile of antiquity grows constantly, it's overflowing, reckless squatters jostle for a place in history, hordes of sword fodder, Hector's nameless extras, no less brave than he, thousands upon thousands of singular faces, each the first and last for all time, in each a pair of inimitable eyes. How easy it was to live not knowing this, so sentimental, so spacious.”
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wish I was dead, And lay deep in the grave. I've a pain in my head, I wish I was dead. In a coffin of lead— With the Wise and the Brave— I wish I was dead, And lay deep in the grave.”
Maurice Baring (1874–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Welcome, brave Hero, to this course Retreat, Thou who excell'st whatever Rome call'd great; Great as thou art, yet others of thy Name Shall thee transcend in martial Acts and Fame. Two shall their Names from Africa receive, As Asia did to thee thy Glories give.”
Jane Barker (1652–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why, Rome was naked once, a bastard smudge, Tumbled on straw, the denfellow of whelps, Fattened on roots, and, when a-thirst for milk, He crept beneath and drank the swagging udder Of Tyber’s brave she-wolf; and Heaven’s Judea Was folded in a pannier.”
Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849) first seen 1823 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Humble Beginnings" (wr. 1823-5; pub. 1851), as anthologised by Ricks (1987), no. 4
“These were the 1940s, and we were told a great deal about the Battle of Britain, the noble French Resistance fighters, the brave, starving Dutch-but I did not learn of the resistance of the Warsaw ghetto until I left home.”
Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What of it? We call them brave perhaps? Yes; what if the time should come when no one will fight for anything and there's nothing of worth to save.”
Marianne Moore (1887–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The last member of the party to disembark was a girl of about nineteen, and it was the young man who stood at the boat's prow to lift her high and dry upon land. She gave him a brave and pretty smile of thanks, but no words passed between them.”
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go Always a little further; it may be Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow Across that angry or that glimmering sea,White on a throne or guarded in a cave There lies a prophet who can understand Why men were born: but surely we are brave, Who take the Golden Road to Samarkand.”
James Elroy Flecker (1884–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cf. George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman at the Charge (1973)
“Parade with me my brave fellows, we will have them soon!”
George Washington (1732–1799) first seen 1777 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rallying his troops at the Battle of Princeton (3 January 1777)
“So, there lies the brave de Kalb. The generous stranger, who came from a distant land to fight our battles and to water with his blood the tree of liberty. Would to God he had lived to share its fruits!”
George Washington (1732–1799) said by 1799 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Upon visiting the grave of Johann de Kalb, some years after his death, as quoted in "Baron De Kalb" (1827), by George R. Graham and Edgar Allan Poe, Graham's Illustrated Magazine of Literature, Romance, Art, and Fashion…
“May I ask those who have not differed with me to join with me in this same spirit towards those who have? And now, let me close by asking three hearty cheers for our brave soldiers and seamen, and their gallant and skillful commanders.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) said by 1865 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The brave man is not he who feels no fear, For that were stupid and irrational; But he, whose noble soul its fear subdues, And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.”
Joanna Baillie (1762–1851) said by 1851 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your men are brave men, And you have won. I can live with that, Earl of Bronze — a poor man would I be if I could not.”
David Gemmell (1948–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Do not speak badly of yourself, for the warrior that is inside you hears your words and is lessened by them. You are strong and you are brave. There is a nobility of spirit within you. Let it grow — you will do well enough.”
David Gemmell (1948–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we can just be brave enough to be each others mirror, we may finally recognize the face of conscious that we fear.”
Dawud Wharnsby (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Do I have to dig? Do I have to prod? Reach into your chest And pull your feelings out? Are you dancing dead? Or maybe walking toast? If you feel anything Be brave Come forth Let it show. Tell me what d'you think of life? Tell me do you think at all?”
Happy Rhodes (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“John Roecker's Everything You Wanted to Know About Gay Porn Stars *but were afraid to ask, is an intimate, brave and frequently witty exploration inside the heads of 16 male erotic video performers, many with well-known nom de porns: Johnny Hazzard, Brad Benton, Nick Capra and Jason Ridge.”
John Roecker (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Not all who seem to fail have failed indeed, Not all who fail have therefor worked in vain. There is no failure for the good and brave.”
Richard Chenevix Trench (1807–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Trench by Prof. Connington; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 253.
“I knew we needed brave actors - the story called for scenes that might be frightening to some - and we needed it to be real and believable.”
Olly Blackburn (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source