20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

To be a Negro is to participate in a culture of poverty and fear that goes far deeper than any law for or against discrimination... After the racist statues are all struck down, after legal equality has been achieved in the schools and in the courts, there remains the profound institutionalized and abiding wrong that white America has worked on the Negro for so long.

Michael Harrington

The Other America

Buy The Other America at Amazon Buy The Other America at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of racism Black experience

Author

Michael Harrington

Source

The Other America

Genre

Sociology Political literature

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Harrington, Michael. The Other America: Poverty in the United States. Macmillan Publishing Company, 1962, ch. 4.

The last time I see Paris will be on the day I die. The city was inexhaustible, and so is its memory.

Elliot Paul

More information about this quote

Topic

Paris

Author

Elliot Paul

Source

The Last Time I Saw Paris

Genre

Travel writing

Language

English

Time

1942 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Paul, Elliot. The Last Time I Saw Paris. ‎Random House, 1942, pt. 2, ch. 23.

At first it was a giant column that soon took the shape of a supramundane mushroom.

William L. Laurence

The New York Times

Reporting on the first detonation of an atomic bomb which occurred in New Mexico on July 16th, 1945.

More information about this quote

Topic

Nuclear weapons

Author

William L. Laurence

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Laurence, William L. "Drama of the Atomic Bomb Found Climax in July 16 Test; Drama of the Atomic Bomb Found Climax in New Mexico Test Caravan of Scientists by Night Directions for Observers' Safety Roar Reverberations Over Desert." The New York Times, 26 Sept. 1945.

The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but that is the way to bet.

Hugh Keough

More information about this quote

Topic

Winners and losers

Author

Hugh Keough

Language

English

Time

1919 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Keough, Hugh. Quoted in Collier's. Feb. 1919.

Laissez faire does not mean: Let soulless mechanical forces operate. It means: Let each individual choose how he wants to cooperate in the social division of labor; let the consumers determine what the entrepreneurs should produce. Planning means: Let the government alone choose and enforce its rulings by the apparatus of coercion and compulsion.

Ludwig von Mises

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics

More information about this quote

Topic

Free market Capitalism

Author

Ludwig von Mises

Source

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics

Genre

Economical literature Political literature

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Von Mises, Ludwig. Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. Yale University Press, 1949, ch. 27.

For the middle class, the police protect property, give directions, and help old ladies. For the urban poor, the police are those who arrest you. In almost any slum there is a vast conspiracy against the forces of law and order.

Michael Harrington

The Other America

Buy The Other America at Amazon Buy The Other America at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Police

Author

Michael Harrington

Source

The Other America

Genre

Sociology Political literature

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Harrington, Michael. The Other America: Poverty in the United States. Macmillan Publishing Company, 1962, ch. 1.

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Lewis Allan

Buy Strange Fruit at Amazon Buy Strange Fruit at Amazon
Read the lyrics of Strange Fruit at genius.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Lynching Black experience

Author

Lewis Allan

Source

Strange Fruit

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1937 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Allan, Lewis. "Strange Fruit." Performed by Billie Holiday. Commodore Records, 1939.

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

George Bernard Shaw

Buy Man and Superman at Amazon Buy Man and Superman at Amazon
Read Man and Superman at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Living life to the fullest Going for it

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, "epistle dedicatory." Originally published by Archibald and Constable & Co., Ltd, 1903.

Perhaps patriarchy's greatest psychological weapon is simply its universality and longevity... Patriarchy has a still more tenacious or powerful hold through its successful habit of passing itself off as nature.

Kate Millett

Sexual Politics

More information about this quote

Topic

Patriarchy

Author

Kate Millett

Source

Sexual Politics

Genre

Feminist literature

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. Doubleday, 1970, ch. 2.

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England.

Rupert Brooke

The Soldier

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I

Author

Rupert Brooke

Source

The Soldier

Medium

Poem

Genre

War poetry

Language

English

Time

1914 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Brooke, Rupert. "The Soldier." 1914 and Other Poems. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1915, I. 1.

Current Citation

Brooke, Rupert. "The Soldier." The Poems of Rupert Brooke. Dover Publications, 2020, I. 1.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.

John Masefield

Sea-Fever

Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon
Read this poem at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

Sailing Ocean and sea

Author

John Masefield

Source

Sea-Fever

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1902 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Masefield, John. "Sea-Fever." Salt-Water Ballads. London: Grant Richards, 1902, I. 1.

Current Citation

Masefield, John. "Sea-Fever." Sea Fever: Selected Poems of John Masefield, edited by Philip W. Errington. Carcanet Press, 2005, I. 1.

I like a escalator because a escalator can never break, it can only become stairs. You would never see a "Escalator temporarily out of order" sign, just "Escalator temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience. We apologize for the fact that you can still get up there."

Mitch Hedberg

Strategic Grill Locations

Listen to Strategic Grill Locations at Amazon Listen to Strategic Grill Locations at Amazon

More information about this quote

Speaker

Mitch Hedberg

Source

Strategic Grill Locations

Medium

Comedy album

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Statement Type

Joke

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.

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.

Jack Handey

More information about this quote

Topic

Trees

Author

Jack Handey

Statement Type

Joke

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Saturday Night Live, created by Lorne Michaels, season 17, episode 3, NBC, 12 Oct. 1991.

Man appears to be the missing link between anthropoid apes and human beings.

Konrad Lorenz

More information about this quote

Topic

Man and animals

Speaker

Konrad Lorenz

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Lorenz, Konrad. Quoted in New York Times Magazine. 11 Apr. 1965.

The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy.

Edwin Edwards

More information about this quote

Topic

Political campaigns Political scandals

Speaker

Edwin Edwards

Medium

Speech

Statement Type

Political joke Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Edwards, Edwin. Spoken while campaigning for governor of Louisiana. 1983, LA, USA.

If you removed all of the homosexuals and homosexual influence from what is generally regarded as American culture you would be pretty much left with "Let's Make a Deal."

Fran Lebowitz

The Impact of AIDS on the Artistic Community

More information about this quote

Topic

American culture

Author

Fran Lebowitz

Source

The Impact of AIDS on the Artistic Community The New York Times

Medium

Essay Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lebowitz, Fran. "The Impact of AIDS on the Artistic Community." The New York Times, 13 Sept. 1987.

On the old highway maps of America, the main routes were red and the back roads blue. Now even the colors are changing. But in those brevities just before dawn and a little after dark-times neither day nor night-the old roads return to the sky some of its color. Then, in truth, they cast a mysterious shadow of blue, and it's that time when the pull of the blue highway is strongest, when the open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself.

William Least Heat-Moon

More information about this quote

Topic

The open road Adventure

Author

William Least Heat-Moon

Source

Blue Highways

Genre

Travel writing Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Heat-Moon, William Least. Blue Highways. Fawcett Crest, 1982, preface.

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

Mike Godwin

More information about this quote

Topic

The internet

Author

Mike Godwin

Source

Wired Magazine

Medium

Magazine

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Godwin, Mike. "Meme, Counter-Meme." Wired, 1 Oct. 1994.

If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Eisentadt v. Baird

More information about this quote

Topic

Right to privacy Contraception

Author

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Source

Eisentadt v. Baird

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1972 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Brennan, William J, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Eisentadt v. Baird. United States Reports, vol. 405, 22 Mar. 1972, pp. 438-472. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/405/438/.

To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough, from the standpoint of a stateless eunuch, but merely a provocative epigram for those who must make their arrangements in the world as given.

John Updike

Self-Consciousness

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Author

John Updike

Source

Self-Consciousness

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Updike, John. Self-Consciousness: Memoirs. Alfred A. Knopf, 1989, ch. 4.