Advanced Search

Drill down into our database of quotes.

Currently showing 10,076 quotes

All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.

Samuel Butler (Novelist)

The Way of All Flesh

Buy The Way of All Flesh at Amazon Buy The Way of All Flesh at Amazon
Read The Way of All Flesh at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Man and animals Purpose of life Life

Author

Samuel Butler (Novelist)

Source

The Way of All Flesh

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1902 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh. Grant Richards, 1903, ch. 19.

Current Citation

Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh. Everyman's Library, 1993, ch. 19.

Sleep after toil, port after stormy seas,
Ease after war, death after life does greatly please.

Sir Walter Raleigh

The Faerie Queens

More information about this quote

Topic

Rest

Author

Sir Walter Raleigh

Source

The Faerie Queens

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1590 1590s 16th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene. London: William Ponsonbie, 1590, bk. 1, canto 9, st. 40.

Current Citation

Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene, edited by Thomas P. Roche and C. Patrick O'Donnell. Penguin Classics, 1979, bk. 1, canto 9, st. 40.

True happinesse
Consists not in the multitude of friends,
But in the worth, and choice.

Ben Jonson

Cynthia's Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love

More information about this quote

Topic

Happiness Friends

Speaker

Arete

Author

Ben Jonson

Source

Cynthia's Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love

Medium

Play

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1600 1600s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Jonson, Ben. Cynthia's Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love. Children of the Chapel, 1600, Blackfriars Theatre, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 4.

I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.

John Kerry

On a vote to fund the 2003 Iraq War.

More information about this quote

Topic

Iraq War American politics

Speaker

John Kerry

Statement Type

Political gaffe

Language

English

Time

2004 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kerry, John. Remark about the $87 billion bill. 16 Mar. 2004, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA.

I'm gonna give you to the count of 10, to get your ugly, yella, no-good keister off my property, before I pump your guts full of lead! 1...2...10!

Home Alone

Watch Home Alone at Amazon Watch Home Alone at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Castle doctrine Property rights

Speaker

Johnny

Actor

Ralph Foody

Source

Home Alone

Medium

Film

Genre

Christmas (film) Comedy (film) Christmas Comedy

Statement Type

Threat

Language

English

Time

1990 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Home Alone. Directed by Chris Columbus, Hughes Entertainment , 1990.

He is glorified not in one, but in countless suns, not in a single earth, a single world, but in a thousand thousand, I say in an infinity of worlds.

Giordano Bruno

More information about this quote

Topic

God and the universe The universe Multiverse theory The infinite God

Author

Giordano Bruno

Source

On the Infinite Universe and Worlds

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Italian

Time

1584 1580s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Bruno, Giordano. De l'infinito, universo e mondi [On the Infinite Universe and Worlds]. London, 1584.

I have fought against the people of the North because I believed they were seeking to wrest from the South its dearest rights. But I have never cherished toward them bitter or vindictive feelings, and I have never seen the day when I did not pray for them.

Robert E. Lee

More information about this quote

Topic

American Civil War North vs. south American politics

Speaker

Robert E. Lee

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Lee, Robert E. Spoken to a friend who condemned the North at the end of the war. c. 1865.

Current Citation

Lee, Robert E. Quoted in The Civil War: An Illustrated History, by Geoffrey C. Ward. Alfred A. Knopf, 1990, ch. 5.

Life's hard. It's suppose to be. If we didn't suffer, we wouldn't learn a thing, you know?

Before Sunset

Watch Before Sunset at Amazon Watch Before Sunset at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from suffering Suffering Nature of life Life

Speaker

Jesse

Actor

Ethan Hawke

Source

Before Sunset

Medium

Film

Genre

Romantic drama (film) Drama (film) Romantic drama Drama

Language

English

Time

2004 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Before Sunset. Directed by Richard Linklater, Castle Rock Entertainment/ Detour Filmproduction/Columbia Pictures, 2004.

Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are Constitutional.

John Marshall

McCulloch v. Maryland

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

More information about this quote

Topic

Constitutional law US Constitution

Author

John Marshall

Source

McCulloch v. Maryland

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1819 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Marshall, John. United States, Supreme Court. McCulloch v. Maryland. United States Reports, vol. 17, 5 Mar. 1819, pp. 316-437. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/17/316/.

All women are stimulated by the news that any wife has left any husband.

Anthony Powell

The Acceptance World

More information about this quote

Topic

Gossip

Author

Anthony Powell

Source

The Acceptance World A Dance to the Music of Time

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Powell, Anthony. A Dance to the Music of Time: The Acceptance World. Vol. 3, London: Heinemann, 1955, ch. 4.

I like to be in America,
OK by me in America,
Everything free in America.

West Side Story

Watch West Side Story at Amazon Watch West Side Story at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

America

Speaker

Anita

Actor

Rita Moreno

Source

West Side Story

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Musical (film) Drama Musical

Language

English

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

West Side Story. Directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, Seven Arts Productions/The Mirisch Company, 1961.

All the news that's fit to print.

Adolph S. Ochs

Read more about this motto at the New York Times

More information about this quote

Topic

Newspapers Media Curation

Author

Adolph S. Ochs

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1896 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ochs, Adolph. "Winning Slogan for the Times on the Web." The New York Times, 25 Oct. 1996, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/specials/contest/.

Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Read The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of ideas Ideas Personal growth

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Source

Autocrat of the Breakfast Table

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1831 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." The New England Magazine. Boston: Joseph T. Buckingham, Nov. 1831 and Feb. 1832.

Current Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. Dover Publications, 2015.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by the past.

Patrick Henry

Speech at the Second Virginia Convention

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from the past

Author

Patrick Henry

Source

Speech at the Second Virginia Convention

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1775 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Henry, Patrick. "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!" Second Virginia Convention. 23 Mar. 1775, St. John's Church, Richmond, VA, USA. Speech.

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.

Charlie Parker

More information about this quote

Topic

Music Creative expression

Speaker

Charlie Parker

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Parker, Charlie. Quoted in Hear Me Talkin' to Ya. Written by Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff. Rinehart & Company, 1955.

Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.

G.K. Chesterton

Orthodoxy

Buy Orthodoxy at Amazon Buy Orthodoxy at Amazon
Read Orthodoxy at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Tradition

Author

G.K. Chesterton

Source

Orthodoxy

Genre

Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chesterton, G.K. "Orthodoxy." The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton. Vol. 1, Ignatius Press, 1986, ch. 4. Originally published by John Lane Co., 1908.

Jane, since I've met you, I've noticed things that I never knew were there before...birds singing, dew glistening on a newly formed leaf, stoplights.

Lt. Frank Drebin

Naked Gun

Watch The Naked Gun at Amazon Watch The Naked Gun at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Infatuation Being in love

Speaker

Lt. Frank Drebin

Actor

Leslie Nielsen

Source

Naked Gun

Medium

Film

Genre

Crime comedy (film) Comedy (film) Crime comedy Comedy

Language

English

Time

1988 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad. Directed by David Zucker, Paramount Pictures, 1988.

Detested sport,
That owes its pleasures to another's pain.

William Cowper

On hunting.

Read The Task at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Hunting Man and animals

Author

William Cowper

Source

The Garden The Task

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1785 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Cowper, William. The Task. London: Joseph Johnson, 1785, bk. 3.

Current Citation

Cowper, William. "The Task." William Cowper: The Task and Selected Other Poems, edited by James Sambrook. Routledge, 2016, bk. 3.

When you're on junk you have only one worry: scoring. When you're off it, you are suddenly obliged to worry about all sorts of other shite. Got no money: can't get pissed. Got money: drinking too much. Can't get a bird: no chance of a ride. Got a bird: too much hassle. You have to worry about bills, about food, about some football team that never fucking wins, about human relationships and all the things that really don't matter when you've got a sincere and truthful junk habit.

Trainspotting

Watch Trainspotting at Amazon Watch Trainspotting at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Heroin Drugs Decisions and choices

Speaker

Mark Renton

Actor

Ewan McGregor

Source

Trainspotting

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy drama (film) Comedy drama

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Trainspotting. Directed by Danny Boyle, Channel Four Films/Figment Films/Noel Gay Motion Picture Company, 1996.

The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.

Dorothea Lange

More information about this quote

Topic

Photography Medium is the message

Author

Dorothea Lange

Language

English

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lange, Dorothea and Robert Coles. Photographs of a Lifetime. Aperture, 1982.