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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“If there is a misuse of power, it is on her part. My crime is that I have never labored to make myself popular — I admit that much — and I have paid too little attention to fools who are old enough to be senile but young enough to have power.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've listened to preachers, I've listened to fools I've watched all the dropouts Who make their own rules We're pushed and conditioned to rule and control The media sells it and you live the role”
Ozzy Osbourne (1948–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are more fools in the world than there are people.”
Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in One Big Fib : The Incredible Story of the Fraudulent First International Bank of Grenada (2003) by Owen Platt, p. 37
“I love my Beloved, ooh, All and everywhere, Only the fools blew it. You and me Knew life itself is Breathing...”
“Fools! For I also had my hour; One far fierce hour and sweet: There was a shout about my ears, And palms before my feet.”
G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Donkey", st. 4. The Wild Knight, &c. (1900)
“Come out, my lord, it is a world of fools.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Something inspires the only cow of late To make no more of a wall than an open gate, And think no more of wall-builders than fools.”
Robert Frost (1874–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Though marriage makes man and wife one flesh, it leaves 'em still two fools.”
William Congreve (1670–1729) said by 1729 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are those who regard this history of past strife and exile as better forgotten. But, to use the phrase of Yeats, let us not casually reduce "that great past to a trouble of fools." For we need not feel the bitterness of the past to discover its meaning for the present and the future.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to a joint session of the Dail and the Seanad, Dublin, Ireland (28 June 1963)
“Dear, damned, distracting town, farewell! Thy fools no more I'll tease: This year in peace, ye critics, dwell, Ye harlots, sleep at ease!”
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) first seen 1715 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Farewell to London" (1715), st. 12
“There, take (says Justice), take ye each a shell: We thrive at Westminster on fools like you; 'T was a fat oyster,—live in peace,—adieu.”
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) first seen 1740 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in The Poems of Alexander Pope, ed. John Butt, sixth edition (Yale University Press, 1970), p. 832: "Verbatim from Boileau", written c. 1740, published 1741.. Compare: "Tenez voilà", dit-elle, "à chacun une éca…
Also quoted by: Nicholas Boileau-despreaux
“Lo these were they, whose souls the Furies steel'd, And curs'd with hearts unknowing how to yield. Thus unlamented pass the proud away, The gaze of fools, and pageant of a day! So perish all, whose breast ne'er learn'd to glow For others' good, or melt at others' woe.”
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) said by 1744 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some old men, by continually praising the time of their youth, would almost persuade us that there were no fools in those days; but unluckily they are left themselves for examples.”
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) said by 1744 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You are the fools, not I — for I did dwell With a deep thought, and with a softened eye, On that Old Sexton's natural homily, In which there was Obscurity and Fame, The Glory and the Nothing of a Name.”
Lord Byron (1788–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'll publish right or wrong: Fools are my theme, let satire be my song.”
Lord Byron (1788–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All in this mottie, misty clime, I backward mus'd on wasted time, How I had spent my youthfu' prime An' done nae-thing, But stringing blethers up to rhyme For fools to sing.”
Robert Burns (1759–1796) first seen 1785 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Vision (1785)
“What's a' your jargon o' your schools, Your Latin names for horns and stools? If honest Nature made you fools What sairs your grammars? Ye'd better taen up spades and shools Or knappin hammers. Gie' me ae spark o' Nature's fire! That's a' the learning I desire: Then, tho' I drudge thro' dub and mire At plough or cart, My muse, though homely in attire, May touch the heart.”
Robert Burns (1759–1796) said by 1796 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in The Athenæum, no. 756 (23 April 1842) p. 361, col. 2. Last two lines quoted as epigraph in Eliza Cook, Poems, new ed. (London: Routledge, Warne, & Routledge, 1860) front matter
“Fools! who fancy Christ mistaken; Man a tool to buy and sell; Earth a failure, God-forsaken, Anteroom of Hell.”
Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A Parliament speaking through reporters to Buncombe and the twenty-seven millions, mostly fools.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Tis an old maxim in the schools, That flattery's the food of fools; Yet now and then your men of wit Will condescend to take a bit.”
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) first seen 1713 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cadenus and Vanessa (1713)
“Those dreams that on the silent night intrude, And with false flitting shapes our minds delude … are mere productions of the brain. And fools consult interpreters in vain.”
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) first seen 1727 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Dreams (1727)
“No man is esteemed for gay garments but by fools and women.”
Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) said by 1618 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We saw a countless number of post-chaises full of boys pass by yesterday morning — full of future heroes, legislators, fools, and villains. You have never thanked me for my last letter, which went by the cheese. I cannot bear not to be thanked.”
Jane Austen (1775–1817) first seen 1816 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to J. Edward Austen (1816-07-09) [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition]
“Pull yourself together," said the Voice, "for you have to do the job I've chosen for you."Mr. Marvel blew out his cheeks, and his eyes were round."I've chosen you," said the Voice. "You are the only man except some of those fools down there, who knows there is such a thing as an invisible man. You have to be my helper. Help me—and I will do great things for you. An invisible man is a man of power.”
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science has toiled too long forging weapons for fools to use. It is time she held her hand.”
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The new age, the new art, the new ethic and thought, And fools crying, Because it has begun It will continue as it has begun! The wheel runs fast, therefore the wheel will run Faster for ever. The old age is done, We have new lights and see without the sun. (Though they lay flat the mountains and dry up the sea, Wilt thou yet change, as though God were a god?)”
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am two fools, I know, For loving, and for saying so In whining poetry.”
John Donne (1572–1631) said by 1631 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Think of life as it really is, think of the details of life; and then think that there is no meaning in it, no purpose, no goal except the grave. Surely only fools or self-deceivers, or those whose lives are exceptionally fortunate, can face that thought without flinching?”
George Orwell (1903–1950) first seen 1935 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Clergyman's Daughter, Ch. 2 (1935)
“There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.”
Nicolas Chamfort (1740–1794) said by 1794 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Cynic's Breviary : Maxims and Anecdotes from Nicolas de Chamfort (1902) as translated by William G. Hutchison, p. 37
Also quoted by: Diane Ackerman (misattributed)
“Like when Jay Leno made jokes about Koreans eating dog, but the hidden messages, our invisibility, is more harmful to us than any of those fools on "board".”
Margaret Cho (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All I ask for is a chance to have the same kind of forum, the right to speak, the same credibility as thee wrong-ass ignant fools. But the producers of these types of shows think tht I will only talk about tai chi, where to get the best sushi on the West Side, how to feng-shui your office...the fact that the media at large look at my race before they hear my voice = fucked up shit.”
Margaret Cho (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Being pleased with what they give you is proper of slaves. Asking for more is proper of children. Conquering more is proper of fools.”
Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When my young master's worship comes to town, From pedagogue and mother just fit free, The heir and hopes of a great famiiy; Who with strong beer and beef the country rules, And ever since the Conquest have been fools; And now, with careful prospect to maintain This character, lest crossing of the strain Should mend the booby breed, his friends provide A cousin of his own to be his bride.”
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680) first seen 1680 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Artemisia in Town to Chloe in the Country (1680), p. 4
“Such nat’ral freedoms are but just: There’s something gen’rous in mere lust. But to turn a damn’d abandon’d jade When neither head nor tail persuade; To be a whore in understanding, A passive pot for fools to spend in!”
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know nothing about Hope, that immortal, delicious maiden forever courted forever propitious, whom fools have called deceitful, as if it were Hope that carried the cup of disappointment, whereas it is her deadly enemy, Certainty, whom she only escapes by transformation.”
George Eliot (1819–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yet still thy fools shall stand in thy defence, And justify their author’s want of sense.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) said by 1700 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools.”
Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) said by 1903 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have great faith in fools — self-confidence my friends will call it.”
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fools glorify themselves, trying to manipulate Satan.”
“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, both of their futures so full of dread.”
“Inventors and geniuses have almost always been looked on as no better than fools at the beginning of their career, and very frequently at the end of it also.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Part 3, Chapter 1 (tr. Constance Garnett, 1913)
“To all the Callahan's Places there ever were or ever will be,” Spider Robinson says, “whatever they may be called—and to all the merry maniacs and happy fools who are fortunate enough to stumble into one: may none of them arrive too late!”
Spider Robinson (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I made my song a coat Covered with embroideries Out of old mythologies From heel to throat; But the fools caught it, Wore it in the world’s eyes As though they’d wrought it. Song, let them take it, For there’s more enterprise In walking naked.”
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no Heav'en, there is no Hell; these be the dreams of baby minds, Tools of the wily Fetisheer, to 'fright the fools his cunning blinds. Learn from the mighty Spi'rits of old to set thy foot on Heav'en and Hell; In Life to find thy hell and heav'en as thou abuse or use it well.”
Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Brahmins are making you fools in the name of god. He makes you have faith in superstitions. He leads a very comfortable life condemning you as untouchable. He bargains with you to offer prayers to god on your behalf. I strongly condemn this brokerage business and warn you not to believe such Brahmins anymore".”
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy (1879–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men are made fools by the gleaming limbs of women, and, lo, in a minute they are become discolored carnelians. A trifle, a little, the likeness of a dream. And death comes as the end.”
Agatha Christie (1890–1976) said by 1976 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was thinking what a curious thing love is; only a sentiment, and yet it has power to make fools of men and slaves of women. p. 45.”
Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thank you all for coming and putting on a brave face. To Will Smith: Stay strong and I got your back… April Fools. You’re a d***. I'm not here to humiliate Will Smith. He gets enough of that at home.”
Bill Maher (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Generally among intelligent people are found nothing but paralytics and among men of action nothing but fools.”
André Gide (1869–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source