Advanced Search

Drill down into our database of quotes.

Currently showing 10,076 quotes

Sometimes I think the purpose of life is to reconcile us to its eventual loss by wearing us down, by proving, however long it takes, that life isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending

Buy The Sense of an Ending at Amazon Buy The Sense of an Ending at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Purpose of life The human condition

Author

Julian Barnes

Source

The Sense of an Ending

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

2011 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending. Jonathan Cape/Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, ch. 2.

Is the dwelling place of God anywhere but in the earth and sea, the air and sky, and virtue? Why seek we further for deities? Whatever you see, whatever you touch, that is Jupiter.

Lucan

Pharsalia

More information about this quote

Topic

Animism Nature of God God

Author

Lucan

Source

Pharsalia

Medium

Poem

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Latin

Time

65 60s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Lucan. Pharsalia, or De Bello Civili. c. 65, bk. 9, l. 578-580.

Current Citation

Lucan. Civil War, translated by Matthew Fox. Penguin Classics, 2012, bk. 9, l. 578-580.

The present in New York is so powerful that the past is lost.

John Jay Chapman

More information about this quote

Topic

New York City

Author

John Jay Chapman

Language

English

Time

1909 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chapman, John Jay. Emerson and Other Essays. Moffat, Yard and Company, 1909, preface.

If a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation.

Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun

More information about this quote

Topic

Politics is downstream of culture

Author

Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1703 1700s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Fletcher, Andrew. Letter to the Marquis of Montrose. 1 Dec. 1703.

Current Citation

Fletcher, Andrew. "An Account of Conversation concerning a Right Regulation of Government for the Good of Mankind. In a Letter to the Marquis of Montrose." Andrew Fletcher: Political Works, edited by John Robertson. Cambridge University Press, 1997.

In every house of marriage
there's room for an interpreter.

Stanley Kunitz

More information about this quote

Topic

Marriage Relationships Communication

Author

Stanley Kunitz

Source

Route Six

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kunitz, Stanley. "Route Six." New England Review, c. 1993.

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

William Morris

More information about this quote

Topic

Simple living How to live Clutter Interior design

Author

William Morris

Source

Hopes and Fears for Art

Medium

Speech

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Morris, William. "The Beauty of Life." Hopes and Fears for Art: Five Lectures Delivered in Birmingham, London, and Nottingham, 1878 - 1881. London: Ellis & White/Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1882. Originally a lecture before the Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design. 19 Feb. 1880, Birmingham, England, UK.

Now, we go out there and we half-ass it because we're scared, all we're left with is an excuse. We're always gonna wonder. But, we go out there and we give it absolutely everything...that's heroic. Let's be heroes!

Varsity Blues

Watch Varsity Blues at Amazon Watch Varsity Blues at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Leaving it all on the field Going for it

Speaker

Mox

Actor

James Van Der Beek

Source

Varsity Blues

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Sports (film) Coming of age Sports

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Varsity Blues. Directed by Brian Robbins, MTV Films/Tollin/Robbins Productions, 1999.

Is it progress if a cannibal uses knife and fork?

Stanislaw Lec

More information about this quote

Topic

Technological progress Moral progress Progress

Author

Stanislaw Lec

Source

Unkempt Thoughts

Statement Type

Question

Language

Polish

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Lec, Stanislaw. Unkempt Thoughts, translated by Jacek Galazka. St. Martin's Press, 1962. Originally published as Myśli nieuczesane [Uncombed Thoughts]. Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1957.

It is wrong always, everywhere and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

W.K. Clifford

More information about this quote

Topic

Unjustified beliefs Beliefs Evidence

Author

W.K. Clifford

Source

The Ethics of Belief

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

English

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Clifford, William Kingdon. "The Ethics of Belief." Contemporary Review, 1877.

Current Citation

Clifford, William Kingdon. "The Ethics of Belief." The Ethics of Belief and Other Essays. Prometheus, 1999.

The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Coliseum. He'll bring them death—and they will love him for it.

Gladiator

Watch Gladiator at Amazon Watch Gladiator at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Rome The masses

Speaker

Gracchus

Actor

Derek Jacobi

Source

Gladiator

Medium

Film

Genre

Historical drama (film) Drama (film) Historical drama Drama

Language

English

Time

2000 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gladiator. Directed by Ridley Scott. DreamWorks Pictures/ Scott Free Productions/Universal Pictures/Red Wagon Entertainment, 2000.

The mountains are fountains of men as well as of rivers, of glaciers, of fertile soil. The great poets, philosophers, prophets, able men whose thoughts and deeds have moved the world, have come down from the mountains—mountain-dwellers who have grown strong there with the forest trees in Nature's workshops.

John Muir

More information about this quote

Topic

Mountains Man and nature

Author

John Muir

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1890 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Muir, John. Journal entry. July 1890.

All nature is but art unknown to thee,
All chance, direction which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good.

Alexander Pope

An Essay on Man

Buy An Essay on Man at Amazon Buy An Essay on Man at Amazon
Read An Essay on Man at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Appearance vs. reality

Author

Alexander Pope

Source

An Essay on Man

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1733 1730s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." London: J. Wilford, 1733, ep. 1, I. 289-292.

Current Citation

Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." The Major Works, edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford University Press, 2009, ep. 1, l. 289-292.

When the sun sets, shadows, that showed at noon
But small, appear most long and terrible.

Nathaniel Lee

More information about this quote

Topic

Shadows The sun

Speaker

Oedipus

Author

Nathaniel Lee

Source

Oedipus: A Tragedy

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1679 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lee, Nathaniel and John Dryden. Oedipus: A Tragedy. London: R. Bentley and M. Magnes, 1679, act 4, sc. 1.

We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and these interests it is our duty to follow.

Henry John Temple

More information about this quote

Topic

Realpolitik International politics Political theory

Speaker

Henry John Temple

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Temple, Henry John. Address in the House of Commons. House of Commons meeting. 1 Mar. 1848, Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK.

To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.

G.K. Chesterton

More information about this quote

Topic

Moral theory Can vs. should Morality

Author

G.K. Chesterton

Source

A Short History of England

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Chesterton, G.K. "A Short History of England." The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton. Vol. 20, Ignatius Press, 2002. Originally published by William Clowes and Sons, 1917.

As civilisation advances, poetry almost necessarily declines... In proportion as men know more and think more, they look less at individuals and more at classes. They therefore make better theories and worse poems.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

More information about this quote

Topic

Poetry Downsides of progress

Author

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Source

Milton Edinburgh Review

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1825 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Macaulay, Thomas Babington. "Milton." Edinburgh Review, 1825.

You think God belongs only to you? He doesn't. God is an immortal spirit who belongs to everybody, to the whole world. You think you're special? God is not an Israelite!

The Last Temptation of Christ

Watch The Last Temptation of Christ at Amazon Watch The Last Temptation of Christ at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of God God

Speaker

Jesus

Actor

Willem Dafoe

Source

The Last Temptation of Christ

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Epic (film) Drama Epic

Language

English

Time

1988 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Last Temptation of Christ. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Universal Pictures/Cineplex Odeon Films/Testament Productions, 1988.

Human relationships are primary in all of living. When the gusty winds blow and shake our lives, if we know that people care about us, we may bend with the wind... But we won't break.

Fred Rogers

Buy The World According to Mr. Rogers from Amazon Buy The World According to Mr. Rogers from Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Resilience Support from others Support Relationships

Author

Fred Rogers

Source

The World According to Mister Rogers

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Rogers, Fred. The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember. Hachette Books, 2019, p. 94.

And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.

Thomas Hardy

More information about this quote

Topic

Disaster Foreboding

Author

Thomas Hardy

Source

The Convergence of the Twain

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1912 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hardy, Thomas. "The Convergence of the Twain." Souvenir Programme for the Titanic Disaster Fund, 1912, st. 8.

Current Citation

Hardy, Thomas. "The Convergence of the Twain." Thomas Hardy: Selected Poems, edited by Robert Mezey. Penguin Classics, 1998, st. 8.

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

Douglas Adams

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Buy The Restaurant at the End of the Universe at Amazon Buy The Restaurant at the End of the Universe at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Origin of the universe Beginning of time Creation of the world The universe

Author

Douglas Adams

Source

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Medium

Radio broadcast Novel

Genre

Science fiction

Statement Type

Opening lines Joke

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Douglas. "Fit the Fifth." The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Primary Phase. BBC Radio 4, London, England, UK, 5 Apr. 1978.

Current Citation

Adams, Douglas. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Pan Books, 1980, ch. 1.