20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.

The Book of Common Prayer

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More information about this quote

Topic

Marriage

Source

Solemnization of Matrimony The Book of Common Prayer

Genre

Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1928 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Book of Common Prayer (American). Episcopal Church, 1928.

In the arts of life man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery all the slaughter of plague, pestilence and famine.

George Bernard Shaw

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More information about this quote

Topic

Man's inhumanity to man War

Speaker

The devil

Author

George Bernard Shaw

Source

Man and Superman

Medium

Play

Genre

Drama (play)

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. "Man and Superman." Man and Superman, John Bull's Other Island, and Major Barbara. Oxford University Press, 2021, act 3. Originally published by Archibald and Constable & Co., Ltd, 1903.

The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything.

David Ogilvy

Confessions of an Advertising Man

More information about this quote

Topic

Advertising and marketing

Author

David Ogilvy

Source

Confessions of an Advertising Man

Medium

Treatise

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Ogilvy, David. Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum, 1963, ch. 5.

This whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, "Is there a meaning to music?" My answer to that would be, "Yes." And "Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?" My answer to that would be, "No." Therein lies the difficulty.

Aaron Copland

What to Listen for in Music

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Topic

Music

Author

Aaron Copland

Source

What to Listen for in Music

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Copland, Aaron. What to Listen for in Music. McGraw-Hill, 1939, ch. 2.

The effect of boredom on a large scale in history is underestimated. It is a main cause of revolutions, and would soon bring to an end all the static Utopias and the farmyard civilization of the Fabians.

William Ralph Inge

More information about this quote

Topic

Forces of history History Boredom

Author

William Ralph Inge

Source

End of an Age

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Inge, William Ralph. The End of an Age and Other Essays. Putnam, 1948, ch. 6.

I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable, established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.

William Tyler Page

More information about this quote

Topic

America

Author

William Tyler Page

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Page, William Tyler. "The American's Creed." House of Representatives meeting. 3 Apr. 1918, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA. Originally, a submission to a nationwide patriotic contest. c. 1917.

Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end.

Douglas Haig

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I No surrender War

Author

Douglas Haig

Source

Special Order of the Day

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Haig, Douglas. "Special Order of the Day." 11 Apr. 1918, Great Britain, UK.

The weakness of American civilization, and perhaps the chief reason why it creates so much discontent, is that it is so curiously abstract. It is a bloodless extrapolation of a satisfying life... You dine off the advertiser's "sizzling" and not the meat of the steak.

J.B. Priestley

More information about this quote

Topic

Criticism of America America

Author

J.B. Priestley

Source

New Statesman

Medium

Magazine

Language

English

Time

1971 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Priestley, J. B. New Statesman. 10 Dec. 1971.

Love wants to enjoy in other ways the human being whom it has enjoyed in bed; it looks forward to having breakfast. But in the morning Lust is always furtive.

Henry Fairlie

More information about this quote

Topic

Sex Nature of love

Author

Henry Fairlie

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fairlie, Henry. "Lust or Luxuria." The Seven Deadly Sins Today. New Republic Books, 1978.

The people will live on.
The learning and blundering people will live on.
They will be tricked and sold and again sold
And go back to the nourishing earth for rootholds.

Carl Sandburg

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Topic

Societal collapse The human condition

Author

Carl Sandburg

Source

The People, Yes

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

English

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sandburg, Carl. The People, Yes. Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1936, no. 107.

There is no human being on earth who is capable of declaring who he is, with certainty. No one knows what he has come to this world to do, to what his acts, feelings, ideas correspond, or what his real name is, his imperishable Name in the registry of Light.

Leon Bloy

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-knowledge The human condition

Author

Leon Bloy

Source

The Soul of Napoleon

Language

French

Time

1912 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Bloy, Leon. L'ame de Napoleon [The Soul of Napoleon]. 1912, introduction.

What fairy story, what tale from the Arabian Nights of the jinns, is a hundredth part as wonderful as this true fairy story of simians! It is so much more heartening, too, than the tales we invent. A universe capable of giving birth to many such accidents is-blind or not-a good world to live in, a promising universe.... We once thought we lived on God's footstool; it may be a throne.

Clarence S. Day

This Simian World

More information about this quote

Topic

Human evolution Human origins

Author

Clarence S. Day

Source

This Simian World

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Day, Clarence. This Simian World. Alfred A. Knopf, 1920, ch. 19.

As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy.

Christopher Dawson

More information about this quote

Topic

End justifies the means Justifications and rationales

Author

Christopher Dawson

Source

The Judgment of the Nations

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1942 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dawson, Christopher. The Judgment of the Nations. Sheed & Ward, 1942, pt. 1, ch. 1.

I think all men recognize that in time of war the citizen must surrender some rights for the common good which he is entitled to enjoy in time of peace. But, sir, the right to control their own government according to constitutional forms is not one of the rights that the citizens of this country are called upon to surrender in time of war.

Robert M. La Follette Sr.

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Speaker

Robert M. La Follette Sr.

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

La Follette, Robert M, Sr. Quoted in The Senate, 1789-1989, written by Robert C. Byrd. U.S. Senate Historical Office, 1988. Originally an address called "Free Speech in Wartime." Senate meeting. 6 Oct. 1917, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

The scientist does not study nature because it is useful to do so. He studies it because he takes pleasure in it, and he takes pleasure in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and life would not be worth living.

Henri Poincaré

Science and Method

More information about this quote

Topic

Beauty of nature Nature

Author

Henri Poincaré

Source

Science and Method

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

French

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Poincare, Henri. Science et methode [Science and Method]. Flammarion, 1914, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Out of a few misunderstandings with reality we construct beliefs and hopes, and we live on these crusts, which we call bread, just like poor children who play at being happy.

Fernando Pessoa

More information about this quote

Topic

Erroneous beliefs Worldview

Author

Fernando Pessoa

Source

The Book of Disquiet

Language

Portuguese

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pessoa, Fernando (published as Bernardo Soares). Livro do Desassossego [The Book of Disquiet]. Attica, 1982.

There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop!

Mario Savio

More information about this quote

Topic

Rebellion Protest The man

Speaker

Mario Savio

Source

Operation of the Machine (Speech)

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1964 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Savio, Mario. "Operation of the Machine." 2 Dec. 1964, Sproul Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. Address.

It is closing time in the gardens of the West and from now on an artist will be judged only by the resonance of his solitude or the quality of his despair.

Cyril Connolly

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of the West Decline of civilization Western Civilization

Author

Cyril Connolly

Source

Horizon

Medium

Magazine

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Connolly, Cyril. Quoted in Horizon. Dec. 1949 - Jan. 1950.

I consider your crime worse than murder... Who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal, you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country.

Irving R. Kaufman

More information about this quote

Topic

Treason Cold War

Speaker

Irving R. Kaufman

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kaufman, Irving R. Remarks sentencing Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for espionage of atomic bomb secrets. 5 Apr. 1951, New York, NY, USA.

The Law is the killy-loo bird of the sciences. The killy-loo, of course, was the bird that insisted on flying backward because it didn't care where it was going but was mightily interested in where it had been... Only The Law, inexorably devoted to all its most ancient principles and precedents, makes a vice of innovation and a virtue of hoariness.

Fred Rodell

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of law Law

Author

Fred Rodell

Source

Woe Unto You, Lawyers!

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rodell, Fred. Woe Unto You, Lawyers! Reynal & Hitchcock, 1939, ch. 2.