Advanced Search

Drill down into our database of quotes.

Currently showing 10,076 quotes

Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things.

Ben Jonson

More information about this quote

Topic

Eloquence Talking

Author

Ben Jonson

Source

Praecept[a] Elementa[aria] Timber, or Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter

Language

English

Time

1637 1630s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Jonson, Ben. "Praecept[a] Elementa[aria]." Timber, or Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter. London, 1641.

She's beautiful, and therefore to be wooed;
She is a woman, therefore to be won.

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 1

Buy Henry VI, Part 1 at Amazon Buy Henry VI, Part 1 at Amazon
Read Henry VI, Part 1 at The Folger Shakespeare Library

More information about this quote

Topic

Pursuing women Men and women Women

Speaker

Suffolk

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry VI, Part 1

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Language

English

Time

1592 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry VI, Part 1. Lord Strange's Men, 1592, Rose Theatre, London, England, UK, act 5, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The First Part of Henry the Sixth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 5, sc. 3.

All work, even cotton-spinning, is noble; work is alone noble... a life of ease is not for any man, nor for any god.

Thomas Carlyle

Past and Present

Read Past and Present at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Idleness Dignity of work Work

Author

Thomas Carlyle

Source

Past and Present

Language

English

Time

1843 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Carlyle, Thomas. Past and Present. London: Chapman and Hall, 1843, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Current Citation

Carlyle, Thomas. Past and Present, edited by David R. Sorensen and Brent E. Kinser. Oxford University Press, 2023, bk. 3, ch. 4.

You see things and you understand. You're a wallflower.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Watch The Perks of Being a Wallflower at Amazon Watch The Perks of Being a Wallflower at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Introverts Observation Perception

Speaker

Patrick

Actor

Ezra Miller

Source

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Drama (film) Coming of age Drama

Language

English

Time

2012 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, Mr. Mudd Productions, 2012.

When the grim reaper comes to get me, he'll have to give me a few extra hours to revise my last words.

Flannery O'Connor

More information about this quote

Topic

Grim reaper Death Last Words Editing Writing

Author

Flannery O'Connor

Source

Letters of Flannery O'Connor

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

O'Connor, Flannery. Letter to Catharine Carver. 27 Mar. 1959.

We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindness there is at last one which makes the heart run over.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

Buy The Life of Samuel Johnson at Amazon Buy The Life of Samuel Johnson at Amazon
Read The Life of Samuel Johnson at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Friendship

Speaker

Samuel Johnson

Author

James Boswell

Source

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1777 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 19 Sept. 1777.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

By their fruits ye shall know them.

Jesus

Matthew 7:20

Buy the Bible (KJV) at Amazon Buy the Bible (KJV) at Amazon
Read this verse at Bible Hub

More information about this quote

Topic

Actions speak louder than words Words vs. actions Sermon on the Mount

Speaker

Jesus

Source

Gospel of Matthew The Bible

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Greek

Time

60 60s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (Matthew 7:20).

Women do not believe that men believe what pornography says about women. But they do. From the worst to the best of them, they do.

Andrea Dworkin

More information about this quote

Topic

Pornography Men and women Feminist theory

Author

Andrea Dworkin

Genre

Feminist literature

Language

English

Time

1981 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Dworkin, Andrea. Pornography: Men Possessing Women. Putnam, 1981.

Full nakedness, all joys are due to thee.
As souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be,
To taste whole joys.

John Donne

The Harmony of the Muses

More information about this quote

Topic

Nakedness

Author

John Donne

Source

To His Mistress Going to Bed The Harmony of the Muses

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1631 1630s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Donne, John. "To His Mistress Going to Bed." The Harmony of the Muses. London: William Gilbertson, 1654, I. 33.

Current Citation

Donne, John. "Elegy: To His Mistress Going to Bed." Selected Poems. Penguin Classics, 2007, I. 33.

War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.

Thomas Hardy

More information about this quote

Topic

War and peace War Peace

Author

Thomas Hardy

Source

The Dynasts

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1904 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hardy, Thomas. The Dynasts. Vol. 1, MacMillan & Co., 1904, pt. 1, act 1, sc. 5.

It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas and thinking.

Beauty and the Beast

Watch Beauty and the Beast at Amazon Watch Beauty and the Beast at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Education of women Oppression of women

Speaker

Gaston

Actor

Richard White

Source

Beauty and the Beast

Medium

Film

Genre

Animation (film) Musical (film) Animation Musical

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Beauty and the Beast. Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, Walt Disney Pictures/Walt Disney Feature Animation/Silver Screen Partners, 1991.

Women are really much nicer than men:
No wonder we like them.

Kingsley Amis

More information about this quote

Topic

Men and women

Author

Kingsley Amis

Source

A Bookshop Idyll

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Amis, Kingsley. "A Bookshop Idyll." A Case of Samples: Poems 1946–1956. Gollancz, 1956.

That's been one of my mantras-focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Steve Jobs

More information about this quote

Topic

Design Simplicity

Speaker

Steve Jobs

Source

BusinessWeek

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

1998 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Jobs, Steve. "Steve Jobs: 'There's Sanity Returning'." Interviewed by Andy Reinhardt. BusinessWeek, 25 May 1998.

I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it.

William Faulkner

Quoted in Paris Review

More information about this quote

Topic

Home Writing

Speaker

William Faulkner

Source

Art of Fiction interview Paris Review

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Faulkner, William. "William Faulkner, The Art of Fiction No. 12." Interviewed by Jean Stein. Paris Review, Spring 1956.

Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it come to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.

Henry David Thoreau

More information about this quote

Topic

Regrets Sadness

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Journals of Henry David Thoreau

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1839 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. Journal entry. 22 Nov. 1839.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. The Heart of Thoreau's Journals, edited by Odell Shepard. Dover Publications, 1961.

Hebraism and Hellenism,—between these two points of influence moves our world.

Matthew Arnold

Culture and Anarchy

Buy Culture and Anarchy at Amazon Buy Culture and Anarchy at Amazon
Read Culture and Anarchy at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Athens and Jerusalem Cultural heritage Classical antiquity

Author

Matthew Arnold

Source

Culture and Anarchy

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1868 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Arnold, Matthew. "Hebraism and Hellenism." Culture and Anarchy: An Essay in Political and Social Criticism. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1869. Originally published in Cornhill Magazine, 1867–68.

I'll tell you why. For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. Why? They want us to kill ourselves.

Furious Styles

Boyz n the Hood

Watch Boyz N the Hood at Amazon Watch Boyz N the Hood at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Inner city issues

Speaker

Furious Styles

Actor

Laurence Fishburne

Source

Boyz n the Hood

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Drama (film) Coming of age Drama

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Boyz n the Hood. Directed by John Singleton, Columbia Pictures, 1991.

There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds.

Alfred Tennyson

In Memoriam A.H.H.

Buy a book containing In Memoriam A.H.H. at Amazon Buy a book containing In Memoriam A.H.H. at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Doubt vs. certainty Doubt and skepticism Faith

Author

Alfred Tennyson

Source

In Memoriam A.H.H.

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1850 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. In Memoriam A.H.H. London: Edward Moxon, 1850, pt. 96, st. 3.

Current Citation

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. "In Memoriam A.H.H." Alfred Tennyson: The Major Works, edited by Adam Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2009, pt. 96, st. 3.

An accident of timing makes the book in question indelible.

Colson Whitehead

More information about this quote

Topic

Serendipity Timing Books

Author

Colson Whitehead

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

2005 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Whitehead, Colson. "The Hum Inside the Skull, Revisited." The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2005.

If a lot of cures are suggested for a disease, it means that the disease is incurable.

Anton Chekhov

Buy The Cherry Orchard at Amazon Buy The Cherry Orchard at Amazon
Read The Cherry Orchard at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Solving problems Disease

Speaker

Leonid Andreieveitch Gayev

Author

Anton Chekhov

Source

The Cherry Orchard

Medium

Play

Language

Russian

Time

1904 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Chekhov, Anton. Вишнёвый сад [The Cherry Orchard]. Directed by Konstantin Stanislavski. 17 Jan. 1904, Moscow Art Theatre, Moscow, Russia, act. 1.

Current Citation

Chekhov, Anton. "The Cherry Orchard." Plays: Ivanov; The Seagull' Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; The Cherry Orchard, translated by Peter Carson. Penguin Classics, 2002, act 1.