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Explore 4660 quotes by people from Europe

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

Adam Smith

The Wealth of Nations

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Topic

Self-interest Free market Capitalism

Author

Adam Smith

Source

The Wealth of Nations

Genre

Economic literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. Vol. 1, London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Current Citation

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, edited by Edwin Cannan. The Modern Library, bk. 1, ch. 2.

There is grandeur in this view of life...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

Charles Darwin

On the Origin of Species

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Topic

Human evolution Creation of man Evolution Human origins

Author

Charles Darwin

Source

On the Origin of Species

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray, 1859, ch. 14.

Current Citation

Darwin, Charles. The Origin of the Species, edited by William Bynum. Penguin, 2009, ch. 14.

God is dead: but as the human race is constituted, there will perhaps be caves for millenniums yet, in which people will show his shadow.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science

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Topic

Existence of God God Decline of religion Atheism Human nature

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

The Gay Science

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Die fröhliche Wissenschaft. [The Gay Science]. 1882. Translated by Walter Kaufman, Vintage Books, March 1974.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science. Translated by Walter Kaufman, Vintage Books, 1974, aphorism, 261.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.

George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four

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Topic

Surveillance Oppression Dystopian future

Author

George Orwell

Source

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Medium

Novel

Genre

Dystopian fiction

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Secker & Warburg, 1949, pt. 1, ch. 1.

The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Revolution Class conflict Oppression Politics

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei. [The Communist Manifesto]. 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.

Socrates

Quoted in Theaetetus, by Plato

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Topic

Curiosity Wonder Philosophy

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Theaetetus

Medium

Philosophical dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Plato. Theatetus. c. 400 B. C., l. 155d.

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky.

John Lennon

Imagine

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Topic

Heaven Hell Existence of God

Speaker

John Lennon

Source

Imagine

Medium

Song

Genre

Pop music

Language

English

Time

1971 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Lennon, John. "Imagine." Imagine. Apple, 1971.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

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Topic

Philosophy Introspection Self-criticism Self-knowledge Wisdom

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Apology. 399 BC, 38a.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo. Translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones. And William Preddy. Harvard UP, 2017, 38a5-6.

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Class conflict Oppression History

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei. [The Communist Manifesto]. 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain... And the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

State of nature Anarchy Government

Author

Thomas Hobbes

Source

Leviathan

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1651 1650s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. 1651.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Penguin, 2017.

And with the guts of the last priest
Let's wring the neck of the last king.

Denis Diderot

More information about this quote

Topic

Anti-clericalism Anti-monarchism Revolution

Author

Denis Diderot

Source

Les Eleutheromanes

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1772 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Diderot, Denis. Les Eleutheromanes. 1772.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.

W.B. Yeats

The Second Coming

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Topic

Dissolution Decline of civilization Societal collapse Political polarization Politics

Author

W.B. Yeats

Source

The Second Coming

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." The Dial, Nov. 1919.

Current Citation

Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." The Major Works. Oxford UP, 2008.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Being true to oneself Authenticity Personal integrity

Speaker

Lord Polonius

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 4.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of literature

Speaker

Cardinal Richelieu

Author

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Source

Richelieu

Medium

Play

Genre

History play

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1839 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. Richelieu. 1839, act 2, sc. 2.

There are many wonderful things, and nothing is more wonderful than man.

Sophocles

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Topic

Nature of man Man and animals

Author

Sophocles

Source

Antigone

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragic play Greek theater

Language

Greek

Time

441 BC 440s 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Sophocles. Antigone. 441 BC, l 333.

Current Citation

Sophocles. "Ajax." The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin, 2000, l. 333.

Man is the measure of all things.

Protagoras

Quoted in Theaetetus, by Plato

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Topic

Nature of man

Speaker

Protagoras

Author

Plato

Source

Theaetetus

Medium

Philosophical dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

420 BC 420s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Theatetus. c. 400 B. C., l. 152a.

Current Citation

Plato. Theatetus. Translated by Robin H. Waterfield. Penguin, 1987, l. 152a.

Democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Winston Churchill

More information about this quote

Topic

Democracy Government Politics

Speaker

Winston Churchill

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1947 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Churchill, Winston. House of Commons. 11 Nov. 1947. The Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK. Address.

Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Topic

Freedom Liberation The human condition

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Source

The Social Contract

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1762 1760s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Du contrat social; ou Principes du droit politique [The Social Contract]. 1762.

Current Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Of the Social Contract." Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings. Translated by Quintin Hoare. Penguin, 2012.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the end of Being and ideal Grace.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

More information about this quote

Topic

Being in love Love

Author

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Source

Sonnets from the Portuguese

Medium

Sonnet Poem

Statement Type

Profession of love Question

Language

English

Time

1850 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Sonnets from the Portuguese. 1850, sonnet XLIII.

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs!

Karl Marx

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More information about this quote

Topic

Redistribution of wealth Socialism Communism Political theory Politics

Author

Karl Marx

Source

Critique of the Gotha Programme

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

German

Time

1891 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl. Kritik des Gothaer Programms [Critique of the Gotha Programme]. 1891, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl. Critique of the Gotha Program. Translated by Kevin B. Anderson. PM P, 2022, pt. 1.