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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“Don't aim at any impossible heroisms. Strive rather to be quiet in your own sphere. Don't live in the cloudland of some transcendental heaven; do your best to bring the glory of a real heaven down, and ray it out upon your fellows in this work-day world. Seek to make trade bright with a spotless integrity, and business lustrous with the beauty of holiness.”
William Morley Punshon (1824–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The trees that whisper in the evening Carried away by a moonlight shadow Sing a song of sorrow and grieving Carried away by a moonlight shadow All she saw was a silhouette of a gun Far away on the other side He was shot six times by a man on the run And she couldn't find how to push trough I stay, I pray, see you in heaven far away I stay, I pray, see you in heaven one day...”
Mike Oldfield (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That was obvious that there are people in this world who always going to try and take advantage of you — and do take advantage of you. Those kings and queens are the people who think that they are so important, who want to take advantage of you, and that makes your life Heaven and Hell. Promises that you're going to get [is] the Heaven part, and Hell [is] when they don't come real.”
Ronnie James Dio (1942–2010) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking on the Black Sabbath song "Heaven and Hell", interview by Dmitry M. Epstein, September 2005
“Upon death the believer goes immediately into the presence of Christ in heaven, a realm far better than this earth…Heaven is our true home.”
“Scripture indicates that heaven is not distant but rather… heaven is near—in another realm.”
“While we look forward to a new heaven, let’s first consider the new earth, for the new earth will indeed be like heaven on earth. We will live on a restored earth.”
“On this sinful, fallen earth, life will remain difficult, fraught with suffering and sadness. But we are looking forward to heaven—and heaven is always better in every realm than the earth.”
“I don't believe in an afterlife, so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Philosophy on the Go (2007) by Joey Green, p. 222
“I would say here something that was heard from an ecclesiastic of the most eminent degree [probably Caesar Baronius]: "The intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how heaven goes.”
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) said by 1642 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am Yali, and I would like to welcome you to Heaven. I hope you will enjoy your stay.” He laughed heartily, as at a private joke. “Yes, I most certainly hope you do. After all, some of you may stay forever. It is a nice place, actually, one of those infinitely rare situations where one is rewarded commensurately to one’s efforts. Surely that is Heaven by any man’s definition?”
Larry Niven (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some say that knowledge is something that you never have. Some say that knowledge is something sat in your lap. Some say that heaven is hell. Some say that hell is heaven.”
“He could not be captured, He could not be bought, His running was rhythm, His standing was thought; With one eye on sorrow And one eye on mirth, He galloped in heaven And gambolled on earth. And only the poet With wings to his brain Can mount him and ride him Without any rein, The stallion of heaven, The steed of the skies, The horse of the singer Who sings as he flies.”
Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are depths in man which go down the length of the lowest Hell, as there are heights which reach the highest Heaven; — for are not both Heaven and Hell made out of him, everlasting Miracle and Mystery that he is?”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: This was slightly paraphrased in A Dictionary of Thoughts : Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors, Both Ancient and Modern (1891) edited by Tryon Edwards. p. 327. This version in turn was refere…
“I cannot be content with less than heaven; Living, and comprehensive of all life. Thee, universal heaven, celestial all; Thee, sacred seat of intellective time; Field of the soul's best wisdom: home of truth, Star-throned.”
Philip James Bailey (1816–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...this visionary [ Emanuel Swedenborg in his book Heaven and Hell ] tells us, under the form of images, that each angel, each society of angels, and the whole of heaven comprehensively surveyed, appear in human form, and in the virtue of this human form the Lord rules them as one man.”
Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The number of levels (stages) in Heaven is (equivalent to) the number of verses in the Qur'an (6236). Thus, when a reciter of the Qur'an enters into Heaven, it will be said to him: ‘Go up one level for every verse that you can recite.’ Thus, no one will be in a higher level than the one who has memorized the entire Qur'an.”
Muhammad (571–632) said by 632 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Immortal is an ample word When what we need is by, But when it leaves us for a time, 'Tis a necessity.Of heaven above the firmest proof We fundamental know, Except for its marauding hand, It had been heaven below.”
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This country ... abounds in that Cuba is a heaven in the spiritual sense of the word, and we prefer to die in heaven than serve in hell.”
Fidel Castro (1926–2016) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the First World Congress on Literacy (2 February 2005) paraphrasing a line in John Milton's Paradise Lost; quoted in Granma
“This hath ever been a comfort to me, that I chose Jesus to my Heaven, by His grace, in all this time of Passion and sorrow; and that hath been a learning to me that I should evermore do so: choose only Jesus to my Heaven in weal and woe.”
Julian of Norwich (1342–1500) said by 1500 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our body is dependent on heaven and heaven on the Spirit.”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) said by 1519 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want to try and get to heaven if possible…. I'm hearing I'm not doing well. …I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking on Fox and Friends regarding his desire to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine War "Donald Trump shares fears he won't go to heaven as he says he's 'not doing well'" The Mirror US (August 19, 2025)
“You say that in heaven there is eternal beauty. The eternal beauty is here and now, not in heaven.”
Rajneesh (1931–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You forget that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence: and the kingdom of heaven is like a woman.”
James Joyce (1882–1941) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Exiles (1915), Act II
“breakfast breakfast i am full of breakfast and they are at breakfast in heaven they breakfast in heaven all s well with the world”
Don Marquis (1878–1937) said by 1937 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dada is the signboard of abstraction; advertising and business are also elements of poetry.. .I destroy the drawers of the brain and of social organization: spread demoralization wherever I go and cast my hand from heaven to hell, my eyes from hell to heaven, restore the fecund wheel of a universal circus to objective forces and the imagination of every individual.”
Tristan Tzara (1896–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same If I saw you in heaven?”
Eric Clapton (born 1945) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tears in Heaven (from the album Unplugged - 1992)
“Silhouettes and shadows Watch the revolution No more free steps to heaven Just walkie-talkie Heaven or hearth Just big heads and drums Full speed and pagan And it's no game”
David Bowie (1947–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no sorrow under heaven which is, or ought to be, endless. To believe or to make it so, is an insult to Heaven itself.”
Dinah Craik (1826–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I die I don't want no part of heaven. I would not do heaven's work well. I pray the devil comes and takes me To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell.”
Bruce Springsteen (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She gets the sun in the daytime Perfume in the dusk And she comes out in the night time With the honeysuckle musk Because she smells just like a rose And she tastes just like a peach She got me walking where the wildlife goes I'd do anything to reach her And she was made in heaven Heaven's in the world”
Mark Knopfler (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When she opened her eyes, Veronika did not think "this must be heaven". Heaven would never use a fluorescent tube to light a room, and the pain — which started a fraction of a second later — was typical of the Earth. Ah, that Earth pain — unique, unmistakable.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah." The Blue Man nodded. "Well people often belittle the place where they were born. But heaven can be found in the most unlikely corners. And heaven itself has many steps. This, for me, is the second. And for you the first.”
Mitch Albom (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are five people you meet in heaven," the Blue Man suddenly said. "Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth.”
Mitch Albom (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he course of ages has fulfilled the prophecy and promise, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." That which in substance was possessed by the Nicene Hierarchy, that the Pope claims now.”
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed; In war, he mounts the warrior's steed; In halls, in gay attire is seen; In hamlets, dances on the green. Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, And men below, and saints above; For love is heaven, and heaven is love.”
Walter Scott (1771–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Sir Walter Scott
“heaven, is this heaven where we are?”
Natalie Merchant (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I do go to heaven, I'm going to do what every San Franciscan does who goes to heaven. He looks around and says, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco.'”
Herb Caen (1916–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: USA Today, February 16, 2001. "Words from the heart', page D4
“They sin who tell us love can die; With life all other passions fly, All others are but vanity. . . . . . Love is indestructible, Its holy flame forever burneth; From heaven it came, to heaven returneth. . . . . . It soweth here with toil and care, But the harvest-time of love is there.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A young man who had been troubling society with impalpable doctrines of a new civilization which he called "the Kingdom of Heaven" had been put out of the way; and I can imagine that believer in material power murmuring as he went homeward, "it will all blow over now." Yes. The wind from the Kingdom of Heaven has blown over the world, and shall blow for centuries yet.”
George William Russell (1867–1935) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Economics of Ireland and the Policy of the British Government (1921)
“Baby - thought I'd died and gone to heaven; Such a night I never had before. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven, Cause what I got there ain't no cure for.”
Bryan Adams (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Short arm needs man to reach to Heaven, So ready is Heaven to stoop to him.”
Francis Thompson (1859–1907) said by 1907 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A book, a woman, and a flask of wine: The three make heaven for me; it may be thine Is some sour place of singing cold and bare — But then, I never said thy heaven was mine.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 32 (1902)
“The return from your work must be the satisfaction which that work brings you and the world's need of that work. With this, life is heaven, or as near heaven as you can get. Without this — with work which you despise, which bores you, and which the world does not need — this life is hell.”
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To His Newborn Great-Grandson, address on his ninetieth birthday (1958)
“This in my heart I keep for goad! Somewhere, in Heaven she walks that road. Somewhere... in Heaven... she walks... that... road...”
Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It may be from some moral obliquity in myself, or from some strange disease; but for me, and I should think too for every human being in whose breast a human heart is beating, to know that one single creature is in that dreadful place would make a hell of heaven itself. And they have hearts in heaven, for they love there.”
James Anthony Froude (1818–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencing powers actuate, by the permission or disposal of Providence, from selfish or social views, yet in time the mysterious will of Heaven is unfolded, and we behold our conduct, from whatever motives excited, operating to answer the important designs of heaven.”
Daniel Boone (1734–1820) first seen 1784 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in the opening lines of "The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon; containing a Narrative of the Wars of Kentucke" in The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke (1784) by John Filson
“Lord, kiss me once more, fill me with song Allah, kiss me once more that I may, that I may Wear my love like heaven Wear my love like Wear my love like heaven.”
“Therefore the earth is dark to me, the sunlight blackness, Therefore I go in tears and alone, by night and day; Therefore I find no love in heaven, no light, no beauty, A heaven taken by storm, where none are left but the slain!”
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Desolate City, from Collected Poems (1914)
“We are what we were at birth, and each trait has remained in conformity with earth's and with heaven's logic: Be the devil's tool, resort to black magic, None can diverge from the ends which Heaven foreordained.”
Marianne Moore (1887–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Women enjoy'd (whate'er before th' have been) Are like romances read, or sights once seen: Fruition's dull, and spoils the play much more Than if one read or knew the plot before. 'Tis expectation makes a blessing dear; Heaven were not heaven, if we knew what it were.”
John Suckling (1609–1642) said by 1642 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source