20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

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Topic

Freedom of speech and expression Freedom

Speaker

Jefferson Smith

Actor

Jimmy Stewart

Source

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Medium

Film

Genre

Political (film) Comedy drama (film) Political Comedy drama

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Directed by Frank Capra, Columbia Pictures, 1939.

Sadness is but a wall between two gardens.

Kahlil Gibran

Read Sand and Foam at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Sadness

Author

Kahlil Gibran

Source

Sand and Foam

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Gibran, Khalil. Sand and Foam. Alfred A. Knopf, 1926.

Current Citation

Gibran, Khalil. Sand and Foam. Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.

You mean, you’ll put down your rock and I’ll put down my sword, and we’ll try and kill each other like civilized people?

The Princess Bride

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Topic

Weapons Dueling

Speaker

The Man in Black

Actor

Cary Elwes

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.

Listen, when women go wrong, men go right after them.

Lady Lou

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More information about this quote

Topic

Men and women

Speaker

Lady Lou

Actor

Mae West

Source

She Done Him Wrong

Medium

Film

Genre

Romantic comedy (film) Romantic comedy

Language

English

Time

1933 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

She Done Him Wrong. Directed by Lowell Sherman, Paramount Pictures, 1933.

It is only in his music, which Americans are able to admire because a protective sentimentality limits their understanding of it, that the Negro in America has been able to tell his story. It is a story which otherwise has yet to be told and which no American is prepared to hear.

James Baldwin

Notes of a Native Son

More information about this quote

Topic

Black music Race relations

Author

James Baldwin

Source

Notes of a Native Son

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Baldwin, James. "Many Thousands Gone." Partisan Review, Nov. 1951 - Dec. 1951.

Current Citation

Baldwin, James. "Many Thousands Gone." James Baldwin: Collected Essays, edited by Toni Morrison. Library of America, 1998.

What I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to sport.

Albert Camus

More information about this quote

Topic

Sports Morality

Speaker

Albert Camus

Source

La belle époque RUA Magazine

Language

French

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Camus, Albert. "La Belle Époque [The Beautiful Era]." RUA Magazine, 15 Apr. 1953.

We have a beautiful mother
Her green lap immense
Her brown embrace eternal
Her blue body everything
We know.

Alice Walker

More information about this quote

Topic

Mother earth The earth

Author

Alice Walker

Source

We Have a Beautiful Mother Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Walker, Alice. "We Have a Beautiful Mother." Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991, I. 23.

Government is not the problem, and Government is not the solution. We—the American people—we are the solution. Our Founders understood that well and gave us a democracy strong enough to endure for centuries, flexible enough to face our common challenges and advance our common dreams in each new day.

Bill Clinton

Second Inaugural Address of Bill Clinton

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Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory American politics

Speaker

Bill Clinton

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Bill Clinton Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Clinton, William J. "Second Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1997, West Front, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.

Albert Einstein

Read Einstein on the Atomic Bomb at theatlantic.com

More information about this quote

Topic

War International politics

Speaker

Albert Einstein

Source

Einstein on the Atomic Bomb Atlantic Monthly

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Einstein, Albert. "Einstein on the Atomic Bomb." Interviewed by Raymond Swing. Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 1945.

Current Citation

Einstein, Albert. Einstein on Politics: His Private Thoughts and Public Stands on Nationalism, Zionism, War, Peace, and the Bomb. Princeton University Press, 2013, ch. 8.

The trick to falling asleep is trying to stay awake.

Saving Private Ryan

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Topic

Falling asleep Sleep

Speaker

T, 4 Medic Wade

Actor

Giovanni Ribisi

Source

Saving Private Ryan

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) War (film) Epic War

Language

English

Time

1998 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Saving Private Ryan. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures/Mutual Film Company, 1998.

Aw fuck it, Dude, let's go bowling.

The Big Lebowski

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Topic

Who cares

Speaker

Walter Sobchak

Actor

John Goodman

Source

The Big Lebowski

Medium

Film

Genre

Crime comedy (film) Comedy (film) Crime comedy Comedy

Language

English

Time

1998 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Big Lebowski. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Working Title Films, 1998.

When you love someone, you've gotta trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point?

Casino

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Topic

Trusting others Love

Speaker

Sam 'Ace' Rothstein

Actor

Robert De Niro

Source

Casino

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) Crime (film) Epic Crime

Language

English

Time

1995 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Casino. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Syalis D. A./Legende Entreprises De Fina/Cappa, 1995.

I really do have love to give. I just don't know where to put it.

Magnolia

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More information about this quote

Topic

Love

Speaker

Quiz Kid Donnie Smith

Actor

William H. Macy

Source

Magnolia

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological drama (film) Drama (film) Psychological drama Drama

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Magnolia. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Ghoulardi Film Company/JoAnne Sellar Productions, 1999.

Knowing who you are is good for one generation only.

Flannery O'Connor

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-knowledge

Speaker

Julian

Author

Flannery O'Connor

Source

Everything That Rises Must Converge

Medium

Short story

Language

English

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

O'Connor, Flannery. "Everything That Rises Must Converge." New World Writing, 1961.

All our food: pizza, calzone, buffalo mozzarella, olive oil. These fucks had nothin'. They ate pootsie before we gave them the gift of our cuisine.

Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri

The Sopranos

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More information about this quote

Topic

Cultural appropriation Food American culture

Speaker

Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri

Actor

Tony Sirico

Source

The Sopranos

Medium

TV program

Genre

Crime (TV) Drama (TV) Crime Drama

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"46 Long." The Sopranos, written by David Chase, directed by Dan Attias, season 1, episode 2, Chase Films and Home Box Office, 1999.

Women. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

The Shining

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Topic

Men and women

Speaker

Lloyd

Actor

Joe Turkel

Source

The Shining

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological horror (film) Horror (film) Psychological horror Horror

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Shining. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, The Producer Circle Company/Peregrine Productions/Hawk Films, 1980.

The distinction between past, present and future is only an illusion, however persistent.

Albert Einstein

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of time Time

Author

Albert Einstein

Source

Letters of Albert Einstein

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Einstein, Albert. Quoted in Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology, by Max Jammer. Princeton University Press, 1999. Originally from Letter to Michaelangelo Besso, 21 Mar. 1955.

My calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you’re gonna see some serious shit.

Back to the Future

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More information about this quote

Topic

Time travel

Speaker

Dr. Emmett Brown

Actor

Christopher Lloyd

Source

Back to the Future

Medium

Film

Genre

Science fiction (film) Science fiction

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Back to the Future. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Amblin Entertainment, 1985.

Love commingled with hate is more powerful than love. Or hate.

Joyce Carol Oates

More information about this quote

Topic

Love and hate Love Hate

Author

Joyce Carol Oates

Source

On Boxing

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Oates, Joyce Carol. On Boxing. Dolphin/Doubleday, 1987.

The Godhead is broken like bread. We are the pieces.

W.H. Auden

Herman Melville

More information about this quote

Topic

God and man

Author

W.H. Auden

Source

Herman Melville

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Auden, W. H. "Herman Melville." Another Time. Faber and Faber/Random House, 1940.