20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

Private beneficence is totally inadequate to deal with the vast numbers of the city's disinherited.

Jane Addams

More information about this quote

Topic

Poverty Political theory Role of government Charity

Author

Jane Addams

Source

Twenty Years at Hull House

Genre

Sociology

Language

English

Time

1910 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Addams, Jane. Twenty Years at Hull House. The Macmillan Company, 1910.

"If you believe," he shouted to them, "clap your hands; don't let Tink die."

James M. Barrie

Peter Pan

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Topic

Fairies

Speaker

Peter Pan

Author

James M. Barrie

Source

Peter Pan

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1904 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Barrie, James M. Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Performed by Gerald du Maurier, Nina Boucicault, Joan Burnett, Christine Silver, A.W. Baskcomb, and Alice DuBarry. 27 Dec. 1904, Duke of York's Theatre, Westminster, London, England, UK, act 4.

The bourgeois prefers comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and a pleasant temperature to the deathly inner consuming fire.

Hermann Hesse

Steppenwolf

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Topic

Bourgeoisie Middle class values

Author

Hermann Hesse

Source

Steppenwolf

Medium

Novel

Language

German

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hesse, Herman. Der Steppenwolf [The Steppenwolf]. S. Fischer Verlag, 1927.

Current Citation

Hesse, Herman. Steppenwolf, translated by Basil Creighton. Picador, 2002.

The business world contains plenty of successful men who have no brains.

Abraham Cahan

The Rise of David Levinsky

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Read The Rise of David Levinsky at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Success in business Success Business

Author

Abraham Cahan

Source

The Rise of David Levinsky

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cahan, Abraham. The Rise of David Levinsky. Harper & Brothers, 1917.

Current Citation

Cahan, Abraham. The Rise of David Levinsky. Dover Publications, 2002.

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

Douglas Adams

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

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Topic

Purpose of life Meaning of life The universe

Author

Douglas Adams

Source

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Medium

Novel

Genre

Science fiction

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Adams, Douglas. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Pan Books, 1980, introductory paragraph.

The whole human memory can be, and probably in a short time will be, made accessible to every individual.

H.G. Wells

More information about this quote

Topic

The internet Man and machine Technological progress

Author

H.G. Wells

Source

Harper's Magazine

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1937 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wells, H. G. "The Idea of a Permanent World Encyclopaedia." Harper's Magazine, Apr. 1937.

Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience.

Rebecca West

More information about this quote

Topic

Artist and audience Art

Author

Rebecca West

Source

The Court and the Castle

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

West, Rebecca. The Court and the Castle. Yale University Press, 1957.

My whole life, people have been telling me what I could do and couldn't do. I’ve always listed to ’em, believed in what they said. I don’t wanna do that anymore.

Rudy

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Topic

Believing in oneself

Speaker

Daniel E. 'Rudy' Ruettiger

Actor

Sean Astin

Source

Rudy

Genre

Sports (film) Biography (film) Sports Biography

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rudy. Directed by David Anspaugh, TriStar Pictures, 1993.

Tyranny is always better organized than freedom.

Charles Peguy

More information about this quote

Topic

Tyranny Threats to freedom

Author

Charles Peguy

Source

Basic Verities

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Peguy, Charles. Basic Verities: Prose and Poetry, translated by Ann and Julian Green. Pantheon Books, 1943.

Public opinion's always in advance of the law.

John Galsworthy

More information about this quote

Topic

Public opinion Law and culture Legal theory Law

Speaker

Mr. March

Author

John Galsworthy

Source

Windows

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Galsworthy, John. Windows. 1922, Royal Court Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1.

Tragedy plus time equals comedy.

Steve Allen

More information about this quote

Topic

Comedy Humor

Author

Steve Allen

Source

Cosmopolitan

Medium

Magazine

Statement Type

Definition

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Allen, Steve. "Steve Allen's Almanac." Cosmopolitan Magazine, Feb. 1957.

Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.

Fernando Pessoa

More information about this quote

Topic

Literature

Author

Fernando Pessoa

Source

The Book of Disquiet

Language

Portuguese

Time

1935 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

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

To me old age is always fifteen years older than I am.

Bernard Baruch

Quoted in Newsweek

More information about this quote

Topic

Old age Perspective Relativism

Speaker

Bernard Baruch

Source

Newsweek

Medium

Magazine

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Baruch, Bernard M. Quoted in Newsweek. 29 Aug. 1955.

For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph—a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning, that all glory is fleeting.

Patton

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More information about this quote

Topic

Sic transit gloria Glory The human condition

Speaker

General George S. Patton

Actor

George C. Scott

Source

Patton

Medium

Film

Genre

Biography (film) War (film) Biography War

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Patton. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox, 1969.

What an odd thing tourism is. You fly off to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home, and then expend vast quantities of time and money in a largely futile attempt to recapture the comforts that you wouldn't have lost if you hadn't left home in the first place.

Bill Bryson

Neither Here Nor There

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More information about this quote

Topic

Tourism Travel

Author

Bill Bryson

Source

Neither Here Nor There

Genre

Travel writing

Statement Type

Irony

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bryson, Bill. Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe. Secker & Warbug, 1991.

I wanted only to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult?

Hermann Hesse

Demian

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More information about this quote

Topic

Being true to oneself Authenticity

Author

Hermann Hesse

Source

Demian

Medium

Novel

Genre

Coming of age story

Language

German

Time

1919 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hesse, Herman. Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclairs Jugend [Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth]. Fischer Verlag, 1919.

Current Citation

Hesse, Herman. Demian, translated by Damion Searls. Penguin Classics, 2013.

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.

Hermann Hesse

Demian

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More information about this quote

Topic

Self-hatred Hate

Speaker

Pistorius

Author

Hermann Hesse

Source

Demian

Medium

Novel

Genre

Coming of age story

Language

German

Time

1919 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hesse, Herman. Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclairs Jugend [Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth]. Fischer Verlag, 1919.

Current Citation

Hesse, Herman. Demian, translated by Damion Searls. Penguin Classics, 2013.

We hear war called murder. It is not: it is suicide.

Ramsay MacDonald

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of war War

Author

Ramsay MacDonald

Source

Observer

Medium

Newspaper

Statement Type

Definition

Language

English

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

MacDonald, Ramsay. Observer. 4 May 1930.

How alike are the groans of love, to those of the dying.

Malcolm Lowry

More information about this quote

Topic

Sex

Author

Malcolm Lowry

Source

Under the Volcano

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1947 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lowry, Malcolm. Under the Volcano. Reynal & Hitchcock/Jonathan Cape, 1947, ch. 12.

Many people apparently don't trust their reactions to art or to music unless there is a verbal explanation for it. In music the only thing that matters is whether you feel it or not.

Ornette Coleman

More information about this quote

Topic

Music

Author

Ornette Coleman

Language

English

Time

1960 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Coleman, Ornette. Change of the Century. Atlantic Records, 1960, liner notes.