20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

If

Read If- at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Opportunities

Author

Rudyard Kipling

Source

If

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1910 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "If—". Rewards and Fairies. Macmillan and Co., 1910, st. 4.

Current Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "If—". Rudyard Kipling: Stories and Poems, edited by Daniel Karlin. Oxford University Press, 2015, st. 4.

You can break a man's skull, you can arrest him, you can throw him into a dungeon. But how do you control what's up here? How do you fight an idea?

Ben-Hur

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Topic

Freedom of thought Power of ideas The mind

Speaker

Sextus

Actor

André Morell

Source

Ben-Hur

Medium

Film

Genre

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

Language

English

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ben-Hur. Directed by William Wyler, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1959.

Just old age. It's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, you don't look forward to being cured of.

Citizen Kane

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Topic

Old age Fear of death Death

Speaker

Mr. Bernstein

Actor

Everett Sloane

Source

Citizen Kane

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1941 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Citizen Kane. Directed by Orson Welles. RKO Radio Pictures/Mercury Productions, 1941.

You got strange powers.

The Magnetic Fields

Strange Powers

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Read the lyrics to "Strange Powers" at genius.com

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Topic

Being in love

Speaker

The Magnetic Fields

Source

Strange Powers

Medium

Song

Genre

Indie music

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Magnetic Fields. "Strange Powers." Holiday. Feel Good All Over, 1994.

We're all gonna have so much fucking fun we're gonna need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles!

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

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Topic

Having fun Smiling

Speaker

Clark Griswold

Actor

Chevy Chase

Source

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Medium

Film

Genre

Christmas (film) Comedy (film) Christmas Comedy

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik, Hughes Entertainment, 1989.

Will you still love me when I'm in my carbohydrate, sequined-jumpsuit, young-girls-in-white-cotton-panties, waking-up-in-a-pool-of-your-own-vomit, bloated-purple-dead-on-a-toilet phase?

Wayne Campbell

Wayne's World

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Topic

Love

Speaker

Wayne Campbell

Actor

Mike Myers

Source

Wayne's World

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wayne's World. Directed by Penelope Spheeris, Paramount Pictures, 1992.

Just 'cause you're beautiful, that doesn't mean that you can treat people like they don't matter.

10 Things I Hate About You

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Topic

Beautiful women

Speaker

Cameron James

Actor

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Source

10 Things I Hate About You

Medium

Film

Genre

Teen (film) Romantic comedy (film) Teen Romantic comedy

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ten Things I Hate About You. Directed by Gil Junger, Touchstone Pictures, 1999.

The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Topic

Great Depression New Deal American politics

Speaker

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. Address at Oglethorpe University. 22 May 1932, Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Well, what Jesus fails to appreciate is it's the meek who are the problem.

Monty Python's Life of Brian

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Topic

Meekness Beatitudes

Speaker

Reg

Actor

John Cleese

Source

Monty Python's Life of Brian

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Monty Python's Life of Brian. Directed by Terry Jones, Handmade Films/Python (Monty) Pictures, 1979.

America seeks no earthly empire built on blood and force. No ambition, no temptation, lures her to thought of foreign dominions.

Calvin Coolidge

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge

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Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

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Topic

American imperialism America and the world

Speaker

Calvin Coolidge

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Coolidge, Calvin. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1925, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

There is a sense in which we are all each other's consequences.

Wallace Stegner

All the Little Live Things

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Topic

Interconnectedness of all people Man as social animal Relationships

Author

Wallace Stegner

Source

All the Little Live Things

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1967 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Stegner, Wallace. All the Little Live Things. Penguin Publishing Group, 1991.

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion and medicine, law, business, engineering. These are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

Dead Poets Society

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Topic

Poetry Purpose of life Life

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.

Radical Chic, after all, is only radical in style; in its heart it is part of Society and its traditions.

Tom Wolfe

Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers

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Topic

Radicalism Elites

Author

Tom Wolfe

Source

Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wolfe, Tom. "Radical Chic." Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970. Originally an essay called "These Radical Chic Evenings." New York Magazine, June 1970.

When I search for man in the technique and the style of Europe, I see only a succession of negations of man, and an avalanche of murders.

Frantz Fanon

The Wretched of the Earth

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Topic

European imperialism Europe

Author

Frantz Fanon

Source

The Wretched of the Earth

Genre

Anti-colonial literature Political literature

Language

French

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fanon, Frantz. Les Damnes de la Terre [The Wretched of the Earth]. Francois Maspero, 1961, conclusion.

The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent.

Stanley Kubrick

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of the universe The universe

Speaker

Stanley Kubrick

Source

Playboy

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kubrick, Stanley. "Playboy Interview: Stanley Kubrick." Interviewed by Eric Norden. Playboy, Sept. 1968.

Just as I am - without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Charlotte Elliott

Just as I Am

Read the lyrics to this hymn at hymnary.org

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Topic

God and man Forgiveness of sins

Author

Charlotte Elliott

Source

Just as I Am

Medium

Hymn Song

Language

English

Time

1834 1830s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Elliott, Charlotte. "Just as I am." Christian Remembrancer, c. 1835.

I can remember absolutely everything, young man, that's my curse. That's one of the greatest curses ever inflicted on the human race, memory.

Citizen Kane

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Topic

Memory

Speaker

Jedediah Leland

Actor

Joseph Cotten

Source

Citizen Kane

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1941 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Citizen Kane. Directed by Orson Welles. RKO Radio Pictures/Mercury Productions, 1941.

Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.

Josephine Hart

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Topic

Suffering Adversity Survival

Speaker

Anna

Author

Josephine Hart

Source

Damage

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hart, Josephine. Damage. Alfred A. Knopf/Chatto & Windus, 1991, ch. 12.

He felt the loyalty we all feel to unhappiness—the sense that that is where we really belong.

Graham Greene

The Heart of the Matter

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Topic

Unhappiness Melancholy Depression

Author

Graham Greene

Source

The Heart of the Matter

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Greene, Graham. The Heart of the Matter. William Heinemann/The Viking Press, 1948, bk. 2, pt. 2, sec. 1.

Man, it’s the same bullshit they tried to pull in my day. You know, if it ain’t that piece of paper, there’s some other choice they’re gonna try and make for you. You gotta do what Randall "Pink" Floyd wants to do, man. Let me tell you this: the older you do get, the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’, man, L-I-V-I-N.

Dazed and Confused

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Topic

Following your heart Society and the individual The man

Speaker

David Wooderson

Actor

Matthew McConaughey

Source

Dazed and Confused

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Comedy (film) Coming of age Comedy

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dazed and Confused. Directed by Richard Linklater, Detour Filmproduction/Alphaville Films, 1993.