20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

No man can be fully free while his neighbor is not. To go forward at all is to go forward together. This means black and white together, as one nation, not two. The laws have caught up with our conscience. What remains is to give life to what is in the law: to ensure at last that as all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man.

Richard Nixon

First Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon

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Topic

Interconnectedness of all people Civil rights Equality American politics

Speaker

Richard Nixon

Source

First Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Nixon, Richard. "First Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1969, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Daytime sleep is like the sin of the flesh; the more you have the more you want, and yet you feel unhappy, sated and unsated at the same time.

Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose

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Topic

Naps Sleep

Author

Umberto Eco

Source

The Name of the Rose

Medium

Novel

Language

Italian

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Eco, Umberto. Il nome della rosa [The Name of the Rose]. Bompiani, 1980.

Current Citation

Eco, Humberto. The Name of the Rose, translated by William Weaver. HarperVia, 2014.

Shakespeare-the nearest thing in incarnation to the eye of God.

Laurence Olivier

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Topic

Shakespeare

Speaker

Laurence Olivier

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

1971 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Olivier, Laurence. Interviewed by Kenneth Harris. BBC, c. 1966.

Camp is a vision of the world in terms of style-but a particular kind of style. It is the love of the exaggerated, the "off," of things-being-what-they-are-not... The ultimate Camp statement: it's good because it's awful.

Susan Sontag

Notes on Camp

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Topic

Camp Taste

Author

Susan Sontag

Source

Notes on Camp Against Interpretation

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Definition

Language

English

Time

1964 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sontag, Susan. "Notes on 'Camp.'" Partisan Review, Fall 1964.

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

John Steinbeck

Quoted in Cosmopolitan

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Topic

Ideas Creativity

Speaker

John Steinbeck

Source

Cosmopolitan

Medium

Interview Magazine

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1947 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Steinbeck, John. "Interview with a Best-Selling Author: John Steinbeck." Interviewed by Robert van Gelder. Cosmopolitan, Apr. 1947.

The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

Hannah Arendt

The Life of the Mind

More information about this quote

Topic

Evil Unintended consequences

Author

Hannah Arendt

Source

The Life of the Mind

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Arendt, Hannah. The Life of the Mind. Vol. 1. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977, ch. 18.

You know my name, but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne? Rambo? Marshal Dillon?

Die Hard

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Topic

American culture

Speaker

Hans Gruber

Actor

Alan Rickman

Source

Die Hard

Medium

Film

Genre

Action (film) Thriller (film) Action Thriller

Language

English

Time

1988 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Die Hard. Directed by John McTiernan, Gordon Company/Silver Pictures, 1988.

One legislator accused me of having a nineteenth-century attitude on law and order. That is a totally false charge. I have an eighteenth-century attitude. That is when the Founding Fathers made it clear that the safety of law-abiding citizens should be one of the government's primary concerns.

Ronald Reagan

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Topic

Law and order Crime Purpose of government Government

Speaker

Ronald Reagan

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1973 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Reagan, Ronald. Address to the Republican State Central Committee Convention. Republican State Central Committee Convention. 7 Sept. 1973, USA.

Never give up and good luck will find you.

The NeverEnding Story

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Topic

Persistence Determination Never giving up

Speaker

Falkor

Actor

Alan Oppenheimer

Source

The NeverEnding Story

Medium

Film

Genre

Fantasy (film) Fantasy

Language

English

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The NeverEnding Story. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, Neue Constantin Film/Bavaria Film/Producers Sales Organization, 1984.

You Americans, you're all the same. Always overdressing for the wrong occasions.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

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Topic

Americans

Speaker

Toht

Actor

Ronald Lacey

Source

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Medium

Film

Genre

Action (film) Adventure (film) Action Adventure

Language

English

Time

1981 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Raiders of the Lost Ark. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Lucasfilm Ltd., 1981.

Every piece of business strategy... Must be seen in its role in the perennial gale of creative destruction.

Joseph Schumpeter

Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

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Topic

Business strategy Capitalism

Author

Joseph Schumpeter

Source

Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

Genre

Economic literature Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1942 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Schumpeter, Joseph Alois. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. Harper & Brothers, 1942, pt. 2, ch. 7.

Rob him of his illusions, and man would perish of very weariness and despair.

Anatole France

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Topic

Lies Delusion Human nature

Author

Anatole France

Source

The Bloom of Life

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

French

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

France, Anatole. La Vie en Fleur [The Bloom of Life]. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1923, epilogue.

England is not the jewelled isle of Shakespeare's much-quoted passage, nor is it the inferno depicted by Dr Goebbels. More than either it resembles a family, a rather stuffy Victorian family, with not many black sheep in it but with all its cupboards bursting with skeletons... A family with the wrong members in control.

George Orwell

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Topic

England

Author

George Orwell

Source

England Your England The Lion and the Unicorn

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1941 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Orwell, George. "England Your England." The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius. Searchlight Books, edited by T. R. Fyvel and George Orwell. Secker & Warburg, 1941, pt. 1, sec. 3.

Current Citation

Orwell, George. "The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius." The Collected Essays, Journalism And Letters Of George Orwell, vol. 2: My Country Right or Left 1940-1943, edited by Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus. David R. Godine, 2007, no. 17, pt. 1, sec. 3.

I stand for the square deal, But when I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Topic

Equality of opportunity Equality

Author

Theodore Roosevelt

Source

The New Nationalism

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1910 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr. "The New Nationalism." 31 Aug. 1910, Osawatomie, KS, USA.

Current Citation

Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr. "The New Nationalism." Selected Speeches and Writings of Theodore Roosevelt, edited by Gordon Hutner. Vintage, 2014.

Surely civilization is old enough, surely mankind is mature enough so that we ought in our own lifetime to find a way to permanent peace.

Herbert Hoover

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover

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Topic

End of war Peace

Speaker

Herbert Hoover

Source

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hoover, Herbert. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1929, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Don't be afraid, my son. No one is more powerful than God.

A Bronx Tale

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Topic

God's power Nature of God

Speaker

Priest

Actor

Richard DeDomenico

Source

A Bronx Tale

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Crime (film) Coming of age Crime

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

A Bronx Tale. Directed by Robert De Niro, Price Entertainment/TriBeCa Productions, 1993.

I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come in tomorrow.

Office Space

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Topic

Shitty jobs Work

Speaker

Bill Lumbergh

Actor

Gary Cole

Source

Office Space

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Office Space. Directed by Mike Judge, Judgemental Films, 1999.

You see, I believe in the voters. They understand that elections aren't just popularity contests. They know this country was built by people just like me who work very hard and don't have everything handed to them on a silver spoon.

Election

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Topic

Elections Democracy

Speaker

Tracy Flick

Actor

Reese Witherspoon

Source

Election

Medium

Film

Genre

Black comedy Drama (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Election. Directed by Alexander Payne. MTV Productions and Bona Fide Productions, 1999.

Kitsch excludes everything from its purview which is essentially unacceptable in human existence.

Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

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Topic

Kitsch

Author

Milan Kundera

Source

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Medium

Novel

Language

Czech

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kundera, Milan. L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être [The Unbearable Lightness of Being]. Gallimard, 1984.

Current Citation

Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, translated by Michael Henry Heim. Harper Perennial, 2009.

I'm smart, you're dumb, I'm big, you're little, I'm right, you're wrong, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Matilda

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Topic

Might makes right

Speaker

Harry Wormwood

Actor

Danny DeVito

Source

Matilda

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Era

These lines do not appear in the book, and it was produced in 1996, after his death in 1990. I left the year as 1996. -AAM

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Matilda. Directed by Danny DeVito. Based on Matilda by Roald Dahl. TriStar Pictures/Jersey Films, 1996.