20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

We have to live without sympathy, don't we? That's impossible of course. We act it to one another, this hardness; but we aren't like that really. I mean... One can't be out in the cold all the time; one has to come in from the cold... Do you see what I mean?

John le Carré

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

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Topic

Vulnerability

Speaker

Control

Author

John le Carré

Source

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Medium

Novel

Genre

Spy novel Spy

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Carré, John le. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Victor Gollancz & Pan, 1963, ch. 2.

Difficulties are just things to overcome after all.

Ernest Shackleton

More information about this quote

Topic

Adversity

Author

Ernest Shackleton

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Shackleton, Ernest. Diary entry. 11 Dec. 1908.

Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima... The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.

Harry Truman

More information about this quote

Topic

Nuclear weapons World War II

Speaker

Harry Truman

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Truman, Harry S. First announcement of the atomic bomb. 6 Aug. 1945, The White House, Washington, DC, USA.

In other words, the First Amendment has a penumbra where privacy is protected from governmental intrusion.

William O. Douglas

Grisworld v. Connecticut

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

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Topic

First Amendment Constitutional law

Author

William O. Douglas

Source

Grisworld v. Connecticut

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Douglas, William O. United States, Supreme Court. Griswold v. Connecticut. United States Reports, vol. 381, 7 June 1965, pp. 479–531. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/381/479/.

If you had a friend who was a tightrope walker and you were walking down the sidewalk with him and he fell, that would be completely unacceptable.

Mitch Hedberg

Strategic Grill Locations

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Speaker

Mitch Hedberg

Source

Strategic Grill Locations

Medium

Comedy album

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hedberg, Mitch. Strategic Grill Locations. 7 Sept. 1999, The Laff Stop Comedy Club, Houston, Texas, USA.

The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors?... It is according to the dictate of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unavoidable and suffering what is insufferable.

Emperor Hirohito

More information about this quote

Topic

Nuclear weapons World War II

Speaker

Emperor Hirohito

Medium

Radio broadcast Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

Japanese

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Emperor Hirohito. The Jewel Voice. 15 Aug. 1945, Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan. Broadcast.

If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. I think that the worst you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever.

Woody Allen

Love and Death

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Topic

Nature of God Existence of God God

Speaker

Boris Grushenko

Actor

Woody Allen

Source

Love and Death

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Love and Death. Directed by Woody Allen, Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions, 1975.

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.

Aldous Huxley

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from the past History repeating itself History Human nature

Author

Aldous Huxley

Source

A Case of Voluntary Ignorance Esquire

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Huxley, Aldous. "A Case of Voluntary Ignorance." Collected Essays. Harper & Brothers, 1959. Originally published Esquire, 1 Oct. 1956.

Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.

Robert Frost

More information about this quote

Topic

Home

Author

Robert Frost

Source

The Death of the Hired Man

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Definition

Language

English

Time

1914 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Frost, Robert. "The Death of the Hired Man." North of Boston. David Nutt, 1914.

Current Citation

Frost, Robert. "The Death of the Hired Man." Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays, edited by Richard Poirier and Mark Richardson. Library of America, 1995.

Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things.

Rodgers and Hammerstein

More information about this quote

Topic

The little things

Author

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Source

My Favorite Things The Sound of Music

Medium

Song Musical

Genre

Great American songbook

Language

English

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hammerstein, Oscar, II. "My Favorite Things." The Sound of Music. Composed by Richard Rodgers. 1959, Shubert Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them.

Charles J. Sykes

More information about this quote

Topic

Nerds

Author

Charles J. Sykes

Source

San Diego Union-Tribune

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Sykes, Charles J. San Diego Union-Tribune. 19 Sept. 1996.

Scepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer.

George Santayana

More information about this quote

Topic

Doubt and skepticism

Author

George Santayana

Source

Scepticism and Animal Faith

Language

English

Time

1923 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Santayana, George. Scepticism and Animal Faith. Charles Scribner's Sons/Constable And Company, 1923, ch. 9.

Love your solitude and bear with sweet-sounding lamentation the suffering it causes you.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Letters to a Young Poet

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Topic

Solitude

Author

Rainer Maria Rilke

Source

Letters to a Young Poet

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Advice

Language

German

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letter to Franz Kappus. 16 July 1903.

Current Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letters to a Young Poet, translated by Charlie Louth. Penguin Classics, 2014.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.

Edward Abbey

Desert Solitaire

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from adversity

Author

Edward Abbey

Source

Desert Solitaire

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Statement Type

Wish

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. McGraw-Hill, 1968, preface.

"Beauty" is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the West it is the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact.

Naomi Wolf

The Beauty Myth

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Topic

Patriarchy Beauty

Author

Naomi Wolf

Source

The Beauty Myth

Genre

Sociology

Language

English

Time

1990 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. Chatto & Windus, 1990.

In a burning building...I would save a cat before a Rembrandt.

Alberto Giacometti

More information about this quote

Topic

Value of life Hypothetical situations Relative value Cats Art

Speaker

Alberto Giacometti

Genre

Biography

Language

Unclear

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lord, James. Giacometti: A Biography. Macmillan, 1997, ch. 44.

The law must be stable, and yet it cannot stand still.

Roscoe Pound

More information about this quote

Topic

Legal theory Law

Speaker

Roscoe Pound

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Pound, Roscoe. Lecture delivered before Trinity College. Lent Term, 1922, Trinity College, Cambridge, England, UK.

Current Citation

Pound, Roscoe. Interpretations of Legal History. Cambridge University Press, 2013, ch. 1.

Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge
I'm tryin' not to lose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

The Message

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Topic

Inner city issues

Speaker

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Source

The Message

Medium

Song

Genre

Hip hop

Language

English

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The Message. Sugar Hill Records, 1982.

Yeah, I try to leave out the parts that people skip.

Elmore Leonard

On his writing.

More information about this quote

Topic

Writing

Author

Elmore Leonard

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Leonard, Elmore. Spoken during Book-of-the-Month Club luncheon. Luncheon. c. 1985, USA.

I like to find
what's not found
at once, but lies
within something of another nature
in repose, distinct.

Denise Levertov

Pleasures

More information about this quote

Topic

Seeking

Author

Denise Levertov

Source

Pleasures

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Levertov, Denise. "Pleasures." With Eyes at the Back of Our Heads. New Directions Publishing, 1959, I. 1.