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There was a moment, when I used to blame everything and everyone for all the pain and suffering and vile things that happened to me, that I saw happen to my people. Blame everybody. Blamed white people, blamed society, blamed God. I didn't get no answers 'cause I was asking the wrong questions. You have to ask the right questions.

American History X

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Topic

Blaming others

Speaker

Sweeney

Actor

Avery Brooks

Source

American History X

Medium

Film

Genre

Crime (film) Drama (film) Crime Drama

Language

English

Time

1998 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

American History X. Directed by Tony Kaye, New Line Cinemas/The Turman-Morrissey Company, 1998.

Well, Pa, a woman can change better'n a man. A man lives sorta—well, in jerks. Baby's born or somebody dies, and that's a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk. With a woman, it's all in one flow, like a stream—little eddies and waterfalls—but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it thata way.

Ma Joad

The Grapes of Wrath

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Topic

Nature of men Nature of women Men and women

Speaker

Ma Joad

Actor

Jane Darwell

Source

The Grapes of Wrath

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1940 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Grapes of Wrath. Directed by John Ford. 20th Century Fox, 1940.

Growing old's like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven't committed.

Anthony Powell

A Dance to the Music of Time

More information about this quote

Topic

Aging

Speaker

Umfraville

Author

Anthony Powell

Source

A Dance to the Music of Time

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1973 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Powell, Anthony. A Dance to the Music of Time: Temporary Kings. Vol. 11, London: Heinemann, 1973, ch. 1.

All I'm saying is that if I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself.

Dazed and Confused

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Topic

High school Adolescence Looking back Youth

Speaker

Randall 'Pink' Floyd

Actor

Jason London

Source

Dazed and Confused

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Comedy (film) Coming of age Comedy

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dazed and Confused. Directed by Richard Linklater, Detour Filmproduction/Alphaville Films, 1993.

If ignorance of nature gave birth to the Gods, knowledge of nature is destined to destroy them.

Baron d'Holbach

More information about this quote

Topic

Existence of God Science and religion

Author

Baron d'Holbach

Source

The System of Nature

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1770 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

D'Holbach, Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron [published as Jean-Baptiste de Mirabaud]. Systeme de la Nature ou Des Loix due Mond Physique et du Monde Moral [The System of Nature or, the Laws of the Moral and Physical World]. 1770, pt. 2, ch. 1.

The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.

Eric Hoffer

More information about this quote

Topic

Seeking happiness Happiness Unhappiness Seeking

Author

Eric Hoffer

Source

The Passionate State of Mind and Other Aphorisms

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hoffer, Eric. The Passionate State of Mind, and Other Aphorisms. Harper & Row, 1955, no. 280.

Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.

Charles Mackay

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

More information about this quote

Topic

Groupthink The mob Human nature

Author

Charles Mackay

Source

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mackay, Charles. "National Delusions." Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. Vol. 1, London: Richard Bentley, 1841.

Her hair was the color of gold in old paintings. She had a full set of curves and the kind of legs you'd like to suck on for a day. She was giving me a look I could feel in my hip pocket.

Lt. Frank Drebin

Naked Gun

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Topic

Women's attractiveness Beautiful women

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.

We fear death, we shudder at life's instability, we grieve to see the flowers wilt again and again, and the leaves fall, and in our hearts we know that we, too, are transitory and will soon disappear.

Hermann Hesse

Narcissus and Goldmund

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Topic

Shortness of life Ephemeral nature of life Death

Author

Hermann Hesse

Source

Narcissus and Goldmund

Medium

Novel

Language

German

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hesse, Herman. Narziß und Goldmund [Narcissus and Goldmund]. Fischer Verlag, 1930.

Current Citation

Hesse, Herman. Narcissus and Goldmund, translated by Ursule Molinaro. Bantam, 1984.

Follow the accident, fear the fixed plan-that is the rule.

John Fowles

More information about this quote

Topic

Serendipity Making plans Spontaneity

Author

John Fowles

Source

Notes on an Unfinished Novel

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1977 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fowles, John. "Notes on an Unfinished Novel." The Novel Today: Contemporary Writers on Modern Fiction, edited by Malcolm Bradbury. Manchester University Press, 1977.

The heart gets tired too; and it falls apart bit by bit, like an old cloth wears out in the wash.

Giovanni Verga

More information about this quote

Topic

Tired heart The heart

Speaker

Marizza la Longa

Author

Giovanni Verga

Source

The House by the Medlar Tree

Medium

Novel

Language

Italian

Time

1881 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Verga, Giovanni. I Malavoglia. Italy, 1881, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Verga, Giovanni. The House by the Medlar Tree, translated by Raymond Rosenthal. University of California Press, 1984, ch. 11.

There's no point to any of this. It's all just a...a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes. So I take pleasure in the details. You know...a quarter-pounder with cheese, those are good, the sky about ten minutes before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter becomes a cackle. And I sit back, and I...I smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt.

Reality Bites

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Topic

Meaninglessness The absurd Enjoying life The little things

Speaker

Troy Dyer

Actor

Ethan Hawke

Source

Reality Bites

Medium

Film

Genre

Romantic comedy (film) Comedy drama (film) Romantic comedy Comedy drama

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Reality Bites. Directed by Ben Stiller, Jersey Films, 1994.

A good plan violenty executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.

George S. Patton

More information about this quote

Topic

Military strategy War

Author

George S. Patton

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1947 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Patton, George Smith. War As I Knew It. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947, pt. 3.

Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics, that it can never be fully learnt.

Izaak Walton

The Compleat Angler

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Topic

Fishing

Author

Izaak Walton

Source

The Compleat Angler

Medium

Treatise

Language

English

Time

1653 1650s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. London: Richard Marriot, 1653, introduction.

Current Citation

Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler, edited by Marjorie Swann. Oxford University Press, 2014, introduction.

Human life is a sad show, undoubtedly: ugly, heavy and complex. Art has no other end, for people of feeling, than to conjure away the burden and bitterness.

Gustave Flaubert

More information about this quote

Topic

Purpose of art Art Life The human condition

Author

Gustave Flaubert

Source

Letters of Gustave Flaubert

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1864 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Letter to Amelie Bosquet. July 1864.

The world's a scene of changes, and to be Constant, in Nature were inconstancy.

Abraham Cowley

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Topic

Nature The world

Author

Abraham Cowley

Source

Inconstancy The Mistress

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1647 1640s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cowley, Abraham. "Inconstancy." The Mistress with Other Select Poems. London: self-published, 1647.

I for one believe that there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death.

Elizabeth II

More information about this quote

Topic

Princess Diana

Speaker

Elizabeth II

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Elizabeth II. Tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. 5 Sept. 1997, Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK. Broadcast.

The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.

Friedrich Hayek

The Road to Serfdom

More information about this quote

Topic

Property rights Freedom

Author

Friedrich Hayek

Source

The Road to Serfdom

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

English

Time

1944 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Von Hayek, Friedrich August. The Road to Serfdom [Der Weg zur Knechtschaft]. Routledge Press/University of Chicago Press, 1944, ch. 8.

It's cool, that you're strong and I respect it, I do. In the end, everybody breaks, bro. It's biology.

Zero Dark Thirty

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Topic

Torture War on Terrorism

Speaker

Dan

Actor

Jason Clarke

Source

Zero Dark Thirty

Medium

Film

Genre

Thriller (film) Thriller

Language

English

Time

2012 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Zero Dark Thirty. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Columbia Pictures/First Light Productions/Annapurna Pictures, 2012.

A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the “why” for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any “how.”

Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning

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Topic

Purpose of life Meaning of life

Author

Viktor Frankl

Source

Man's Search for Meaning

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

German

Time

1946 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Frankl, Victor. …trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager [Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy]. Verlag für Jugend und Volk, 1946.

Current Citation

Frankl, Victor. Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press, 2006.