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Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

John F. Kennedy

Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy

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Topic

American resolve American politics

Speaker

John F. Kennedy

Source

Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kennedy, John F. "Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1961, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Winston Churchill

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Topic

Russia International politics

Speaker

Winston Churchill

Source

The First Month of War

Medium

Radio broadcast Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Churchill, Winston. "The First Month of War." 1 Oct. 1939, Broadcasting House, London, UK. Radio Broadcast.

Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.

James Madison

Federalist 10

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Topic

Political faction Political conflict Political theory Politics

Author

James Madison

Source

Federalist 10 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 10: The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection." Daily Advertiser, 22 Nov. 1787.

Current Citation

Madison, James. "No. 10: An extensive republic a remedy for mischiefs of faction.--Madison." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

I am not in the roll of common men.

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1

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Topic

Arrogance Self-assurance

Speaker

Glendower

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry IV, Part 1

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Statement Type

Boast

Language

English

Time

1597 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV, Part 1. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, c. 1597, The Theatre, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The First Part of Henry the Fourth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015act 3, sc. 1.

You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Morpheus

The Matrix

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Topic

Ignorance is bliss Red pill Knowledge

Speaker

Morpheus

Actor

Laurence Fishburne

Source

The Matrix

Medium

Film

Genre

Science fiction (film) Action (film) Science fiction Action

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Matrix. Directed by The Wachowskis. Warner Bros./Village Roadshow Pictures/Groucho II Film Partnership/Silver Pictures, 1999.

No, I make no pretension to patriotism. So long as my voice can be heard on this or the other side of the Atlantic, I will hold up America to the lightning scorn of moral indignation. In doing this, I shall feel myself discharging the duty of a true patriot; for he is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins.

Frederick Douglass

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Topic

Patriotism

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1847 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country." 24 Sept. 1847, Syracuse, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "If I Had a Country, I Should Be a Patriot." American Heritage Book of Great American Speeches for Young People, edited by Suzanne McIntire. John Wiley & Sons, 2002.

The man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe. Though he does not represent the present state, he represents the future state. If he does not represent what we are, he represents what we ought to be.

Frederick Douglass

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Topic

Political progress

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "The Fugitive Slave Law." National Free Soil Convention. 11 Aug. 1852, Pittsburg, PA, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "The Fugitive Slave Law." The Essential Douglass: Selected Writings and Speeches. Hackett Publishing Company, 2016.

We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy’s pocket.

Frank Sobotka

The Wire

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Topic

Deindustrialization American decline Decline

Speaker

Frank Sobotka

Actor

Chris Bauer

Source

The Wire

Medium

TV program

Genre

Crime (TV) Drama (TV) Crime Drama

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"Bad Dreams." The Wire, written by David Simon and George Pelecanos and Joy Kecken, directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, season 2, episode 11, Blown Deadline Productions and Home Box Office, 2003.

Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us together today. Mawage, that blessed awangement, that dweam wifin a dweam.

The Princess Bride

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Topic

Marriage

Speaker

The Impressive Clergyman

Actor

Peter Cook

Source

The Princess Bride

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Fantasy (film) Comedy Fantasy

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Princess Bride. Directed by Rob Reiner, Act III Communications/Buttercup Films/The Princess Bride Ltd., 1987.

There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.

Gerald Ford

More information about this quote

Topic

Cold War Soviet Union American politics

Author

Gerald Ford

Source

Presidential debates

Medium

Political debate

Statement Type

Political gaffe

Language

English

Time

1976 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Ford, Gerald. Debate with Jimmy Carter. The Second Carter-Ford Presidential Debate. 6 Oct. 1976, Palace of the Fine Arts Theater, San Francisco, CA, USA.

What pity is it,
That we can die but once, to serve our country!

Joseph Addison

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Topic

Serving one's country Citizen and state Patriotism

Author

Joseph Addison

Source

Cato

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1713 1700s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Addison, Joseph. Cato. 14 April 1713, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, England, UK, act 4, sc. 1, l. 258.

It's the economy, stupid.

James Carville

More information about this quote

Topic

Political strategy Political campaigns American politics

Author

James Carville

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Carville, James. Political campaign slogan. 1992.

Current Citation

The War Room. Directed by Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker. Pennebaker Associates, 1993.

You live and learn. At any rate, you live.

Douglas Adams

Mostly Harmless

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More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from mistakes Mistakes

Author

Douglas Adams

Source

Mostly Harmless

Medium

Novel

Genre

Science fiction

Statement Type

Joke

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Adams, Douglas. Mostly Harmless. William Heinemann/Harmony Books, 1992, ch. 11.

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Little Prince

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Topic

What really matters The heart Perception Reason and emotion

Speaker

Fox

Author

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Source

The Little Prince

Language

French

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

De Saint-Exupery, Antoine. Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince]. Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943, ch. 21.

We are all travellers in what John Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world....and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend.

Robert Louis Stevenson

More information about this quote

Topic

Friends Existential solitude Travel

Author

Robert Louis Stevenson

Source

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes

Genre

Autobiography and memoir Travel writing

Language

English

Time

1879 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1879.

Current Citation

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. Dover Publications, 2019.

It therefore comes to pass that everyone is fond of relating his own exploits and displaying the strength both of his body and his mind, and that men are on this account a nuisance one to the other.

Baruch Spinoza

Ethics

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Topic

Bragging and boasting

Author

Baruch Spinoza

Source

Ethics

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

1677 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Spinoza, Baruch. Ethica, Ordine Geometrico Desmonstrata [Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order]. 1677, pt. 3, prop. 55, note.

Current Citation

Spinoza, Benedict. Ethics, translated by Michael Silverthorne and Matthew J. Kinser. Cambridge University Press, 2018, pt. 3, prop. 55, note.

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

Harlem

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Topic

Broken dreams Dreams

Author

Langston Hughes

Source

Harlem

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hughes, Langston. "Harlem." Montage of a Dream Deferred. Holt, 1951.

His heart danced upon her movements like a cork upon a tide. He heard what her eyes said to him from beneath their cowl and knew that in some dim past, whether in life or reverie, he had heard their tale before.

James Joyce

The Egoist

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Topic

Being in love Memory

Author

James Joyce

Source

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man The Egoist

Medium

Novel Magazine

Genre

Modernist literature

Language

English

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Joyce, James. "A Portrait of the Artists as a Young Man." The Egoist. 2 Feb. 1914 - 1 Sept. 1915. Serial.

Current Citation

Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, edited by John Paul Riquelme. W. W. Norton & Company, 2007, ch. 2.

First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

Henry Lee III

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Topic

George Washington

Author

Henry Lee III

Source

Funeral Oration on the death of General Washington

Medium

Speech

Genre

Funeral oration

Statement Type

Eulogy

Language

English

Time

1799 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lee, Henry. Funeral oration on the death of General Washington. 26 Dec. 1799, German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.

Walter Cronkite

More information about this quote

Topic

Vietnam War American politics Media

Speaker

Walter Cronkite

Medium

TV program

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cronkite, Walter. "We are Mired in Stalemate." CBS Evening News, created by Don Hewitt, CBS News Productions, 27 Feb. 1968.