20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that.

Richard Nixon

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Topic

Vietnam War War American politics

Speaker

Richard Nixon

Source

Silent Majority Speech on the War in Vietnam

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nixon, Richard. Televised address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam. 3 Nov. 1969, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Nixon, Richard. Richard Nixon: Speeches, Writings, Documents, edited by Rick Perlstein. Princeton University Press, 2008, ch. 19.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down and that foot is me.

Animal House

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Topic

Discipline

Speaker

Dean Vernon Wormer

Actor

John Vernon

Source

Animal House

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Animal House. Directed by John Landis, Universal Pictures, 1978.

But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal-there is one human institiution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockeffeler, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court.

Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

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Topic

Courts Equality

Speaker

Atticus Finch

Author

Harper Lee

Source

To Kill a Mockingbird

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1960 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1960, ch. 20.

Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?

The Karate Kid

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More information about this quote

Topic

Fear

Speaker

Kreese

Actor

Martin Kove

Source

The Karate Kid

Medium

Film

Genre

Martial arts (film) Drama (film) Martial arts Drama

Language

English

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Karate Kid. Directed by John G. Avildsen, Delphi II Productions/Jerry Weintraub Productions, 1984.

We lack, at some core level, meaning in our individual lives and meaning collectively-that sense that our lives are part of some greater effort, that we are connected to one another... We need a new politics of meaning. We need a new ethos of individual responsibility and caring. We need a new definition of civil society which answers the unanswerable questions posed by both the market forces and the governmental ones, as to how we can have a society that fills us up again and makes us feel that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Speech at the University of Texas, April 7, 1993

More information about this quote

Topic

American politics Meaninglessness

Speaker

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Source

Speech at the University of Texas, April 7, 1993

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Clinton, Hillary. Speech at the University of Texas at Austin. Liz Carpenter Lecture Series. 7 Apr. 1993, Austin, TX, USA.

When the first President, George Washington, placed his hand upon the Bible, he stood less than a single day's journey by horseback from raw, untamed wilderness. There were 4 million Americans in a union of 13 States. Today, we are 60 times as many in a union of 50 States. We've lighted the world with our inventions, gone to the aid of mankind wherever in the world there was a cry for help, journeyed to the Moon and safely returned. So much has changed, and yet we stand together as we did two centuries ago.

Ronald Reagan

Second Inaugural Address of Ronald Reagan

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Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

More information about this quote

Topic

American expansion America

Speaker

Ronald Reagan

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Ronald Reagan Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Reagan, Ronald. "Second Inaugural Address." 21 Jan. 1985, United States Capitol rotunda, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

You’re rather...attractive, for a beautiful girl with a great body.

Caddyshack

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More information about this quote

Topic

Beautiful women Beauty

Speaker

Ty Webb

Actor

Chevy Chase

Source

Caddyshack

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Statement Type

Compliment

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Caddyshack. Directed by Harold Ramis, Orion Pictures, 1980.

Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.

Malcom Wallace

Braveheart

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Topic

Following your heart

Speaker

Malcom Wallace

Actor

Sean Lawlor

Source

Braveheart

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) Historical drama (film) Epic Historical drama

Language

English

Time

1995 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Braveheart. Directed by Mel Gibson, Icon Productions/The Ladd Company, 1995.

It isn't what you earn but how you spend it that fixes your class.

Sinclair Lewis

It Can't Happen Here

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Topic

Social class

Speaker

Doremus Jessup

Author

Sinclair Lewis

Source

It Can't Happen Here

Medium

Novel

Genre

Dystopian fiction

Language

English

Time

1935 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lewis, Sinclair. It Can't Happen Here. Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1935, ch. 20.

Nothing matters very much and very few things matter at all.

Arthur James Balfour

More information about this quote

Topic

Things that don't matter

Speaker

Arthur James Balfour

Source

Discreet Memoirs

Language

English

Time

1931 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Balfour, Arthur James. Quoted in Discreet Memoirs, written by Lady Clodagh Anson. G. Bateman Blackshaw, 1931.

When the imagination sleeps, words are emptied of their meaning.

Albert Camus

Reflections on the Guillotine

More information about this quote

Topic

Imagination

Author

Albert Camus

Source

Reflections on the Guillotine

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

French

Time

1957 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Camus, Albert and Arthur Koestler. "Réflexions sur la peine Capitale [Reflections on Capital Punishment]." Gallimard, 1957.

Uh-oh. Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.

Office Space

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Topic

Alienating work Alienation Work

Speaker

Female Temp

Actor

Jennifer Jane Emerson

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.

It is the masculine values that prevail... This is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing room.

Virginia Woolf

A Room of One's Own

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Topic

Societal values Gender relations

Author

Virginia Woolf

Source

A Room of One's Own

Medium

Essay

Genre

Feminist literature

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. Hogarth Press/Harcourt Brace & Co., 1929, ch. 4.

Current Citation

Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. Mariner Books, 2005, ch. 4.

But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be.

Dead Poets Society

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Topic

Freedom Dreams

Speaker

John Keating

Actor

Robin Williams

Source

Dead Poets Society

Medium

Film

Genre

Teen (film) Drama (film) Teen Drama

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dead Poets Society. Directed by Peter Weir, Touchstone Pictures/Silver Screen Partners IV, 1989.

Clearly, mistakes were made.

George H.W. Bush

Speech to the American Enterprise Institute, December 3, 1986

On the Iran-Contra scandal.

More information about this quote

Topic

Iran-Contra Political scandals American politics

Speaker

George H.W. Bush

Source

Speech to the American Enterprise Institute, December 3, 1986

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1986 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Bush, George H. W. Speech at the American Enterprise Institute. 3 Dec. 1986, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC, USA.

Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose.

White Men Can't Jump

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More information about this quote

Topic

Winning and losing Winning Losing

Speaker

Gloria Clemente

Actor

Rosie Perez

Source

White Men Can't Jump

Medium

Film

Genre

Sports (film) Sports comedy (film) Sports comedy Sports

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

White Men Can't Jump. Directed by Ron Shelton, 20th Century Studios, 1992.

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it… People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.

Alice Walker

The Color Purple

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Topic

Beauty of nature Nature

Speaker

Shug

Author

Alice Walker

Source

The Color Purple

Medium

Novel

Genre

Epistolary novel

Language

English

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.

It is a feeling of relief, almost of pleasure, at knowing yourself at last genuinely down and out. You have talked so often of going to the dogs—and well, here are the dogs, and you have reached them, and you can stand it. It takes off a lot of anxiety.

George Orwell

Down and Out in Paris and London

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Topic

Freedom in poverty Poverty

Author

George Orwell

Source

Down and Out in Paris and London

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1933 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Orwell, George. Down and Out in Paris and London. Victor Gollancz, 1933, ch. 3.

I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.

Andy Warhol

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)

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Topic

Owning land Land Art

Author

Andy Warhol

Source

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Warhol, Andy. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975, ch. 4.

I can actually hear you getting fatter.

Tommy Boy

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More information about this quote

Topic

Gaining weight

Speaker

Richard

Actor

David Spade

Source

Tommy Boy

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Statement Type

Insult

Language

English

Time

1995 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tommy Boy. Directed by Peter Segal, Paramount Pictures, 1995.