Europe

Explore 4622 quotes by people from Europe

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

Samuel Smiles

More information about this quote

Topic

Singlemindedness Focus

Author

Samuel Smiles

Source

Self-Help

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Smiles, Samuel. Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct. London: John Murray, 1859, ch. 8.

Current Citation

Smiles, Samuel. Self-Help, edited by Peter W. Sinnema. Oxford University Press, 2008, ch. 8.

Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.

Samuel Butler (Novelist)

The Way of All Flesh

Buy The Way of All Flesh at Amazon Buy The Way of All Flesh at Amazon
Read The Way of All Flesh at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Artistic expression

Author

Samuel Butler (Novelist)

Source

The Way of All Flesh

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1902 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh. Grant Richards, 1903, ch. 14.

Current Citation

Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh. Everyman's Library, 1993, ch. 14.

Were I a nightingale, I would sing like a nightingale; were I a swan, like a swan. But as it is, I am a rational being, therefore I must sing hymns of praise to God.

Epictetus

Discourses

Buy Discourses at Amazon Buy Discourses at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Praising God Fulfilling one's nature

Author

Epictetus

Source

Discourses

Medium

Lecture

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

108 100s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Epictetus. Ἐπικτήτου διατριβαί, Epiktētou diatribai [The Discourses of Epictetus]. c. 108, bk. 1, ch. 16.

Current Citation

Epictetus. "The Discourses." Discourses and Other Writings, edited and translated by Robert Dobbin. Penguin Classics, 2008, bk. 1, ch. 16.

Prosperity is the Blessing of the Old Testament; Adversity is the Blessing of the New.

Francis Bacon

Buy Francis Bacon's Major Works at Amazon Buy Francis Bacon's Major Works at Amazon
Read Of Adversity at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Old vs. New Testament Christianity

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

Of Adversity Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1625 1620s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis. "Of Adversity." Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall. London: John Haviland, 1625.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "Essays, or Counsels, Civil and Moral (1625): Of Adversity." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008.

I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

W.H. Auden

Read September 1, 1939 at poets.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Cycle of violence Eye for an eye Human nature

Author

W.H. Auden

Source

September 1, 1939 Another Time

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Auden, W. H. "September 1, 1939." Another Time. Faber and Faber/Random House, 1940. Originally published in The New Republic, 18 Oct. 1939.

What is Hope? nothing but the paint on the face of Existence; the least touch of truth rubs it off, and then we see what a hollow-cheeked harlot we have got hold of.

Lord Byron

More information about this quote

Topic

Hope

Author

Lord Byron

Source

Letters of Lord Byron

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1815 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Lord Byron. Letter To Thomas Moore. 28 Oct. 1815.

Current Citation

Lord Byron. Byron's Letters and Journals: A New Selection, edited by Richard Lansdown. Oxford University Press, 2015, ch. 5.

Reach for the book: It is a weapon.

Bertolt Brecht

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of literature Books

Author

Bertolt Brecht

Source

In Praise of Learning

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Advice

Language

German

Time

1935 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Brecht, Bertolt. Die Mutter. Lebed der Revolutionärin Pelagea Wlassowa aus Twer. [The mother. Life of the Revolutionary Pelagea Vlassova from Tver.] 17 Jan. 1932, omödienhaus am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin, Germany.

Current Citation

Brecht, Bertolt. The Mother. Grove Press, 1994.

A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified.

Leon Trotsky

More information about this quote

Topic

End justifies the means Justifications and rationales

Author

Leon Trotsky

Source

Their Morals and Ours Socialist Workers' Party's New International Magazine

Medium

Essay Magazine

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1938 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Trotsky, Leon. "Their Morals and Ours." The New International, June 1938.

Since those whose duty it was to hold the sword of France have let it fall, I have picked up its broken point.

Charles de Gaulle

More information about this quote

Topic

French Resistance World War II

Speaker

Charles de Gaulle

Medium

Radio broadcast

Language

French

Time

1940 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

De Gaulle, Charles. Address on the Eve of France's National Day. 13 July 1940. France. Radio address.

Current Citation

De Gaulle, Charles. "July 13, 1940." The Speeches of General de Gaulle. Oxford University Press, 1944.

The idea that the poor should have leisure has always been shocking to the rich.

Bertrand Russell

Buy In Praise of Idleness at Amazon Buy In Praise of Idleness at Amazon
Read In Praise of Idleness at harpers.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Rich vs. poor Leisure Equality

Author

Bertrand Russell

Source

In Praise of Idleness Harper's Magazine

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Russell, Bertrand. "In Praise of Idleness." In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays. George Allen & Unwin, 1935. Originally published in Harper's Magazine, Oct. 1932.

A man of high principle will be ready to sacrifice to the state his wealth, his life, his very nature-everything, indeed, except his honor.

Maximilien Robespierre

More information about this quote

Topic

Citizen and state

Author

Maximilien Robespierre

Medium

Essay

Language

French

Time

1784 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Robespierre, Maximilien. Discours sur les peines infamantes [Discorse on Infamous]. 1784, The Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Arras, Arras, France.

Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence only increases in an arithmetical ratio.

Thomas Robert Malthus

Read An Essay on the Principle of Population at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Population growth

Author

Thomas Robert Malthus

Source

Essay on the Principle of Population

Genre

Economic literature

Language

English

Time

1798 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Malthus, Thomas [published anonymously]. An Essay on the Principle of Population. London: J. Johnson, 1798, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Malthus, Thomas. "An Essay on the Principle of Population." An Essay on the Principle of Population and Other Writings, edited by Robert Mayhew. Penguin Classics, 2015, ch. 1.

O, my son's my son till he gets him a wife,
But my daughter's my daughter all her life.

Dinah Craik

More information about this quote

Topic

Mothers and sons Mothers and daughters

Speaker

Fea

Author

Dinah Craik

Source

Magnus and Morna

Language

English

Time

1881 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Craik, Dinah Mulock. "Magnus and Morna." Thirty Years: Being Poems, New and Old. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1881, sc. 2.

I am not over-fond of resisting temptation.

William Beckford

Vathek

More information about this quote

Topic

Temptation

Speaker

Vathek

Author

William Beckford

Source

Vathek

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1786 1780s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Beckford, William [published anonymously]. An Arabian Tale, From an Unpublished Manuscript, translated by Samuel Henley. London: J. Johnson, 1786.

Current Citation

Beckford, William. Vathek, translated by Samuel Henley. Oxford University Press, 2013.

The greatest heroes that the world can know,
To women their original must owe.

Mary Collier

More information about this quote

Topic

Mothers and children Mothers Women

Author

Mary Collier

Source

The Three Wise Sentences

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1740 1740s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Collier, Mary. "The Three Wise Sentences, from the First Book of Esdras." The Woman's Labour: an Epistle to Mr. Stephen Duck: in Answer to His Late Poem, Called The Thresher's Labour. To which are Added, The Three Wise Sentences, Taken from the First Book of Esdras, Ch. III. and IV. London, 1739.

Current Citation

Collier, Mary. "The Three Wise Sentences Taken from The First Book of Esdras." The Woman's Labour and Other Poems. Renard Press, 2021.

From wine what sudden friendship springs!

John Gay

Fables (Part 2)

More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of alcohol

Author

John Gay

Source

Fables (Part 2)

Language

English

Time

1732 1730s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gay, John. "The Squire and his Cur." Fables. London: John Knapton, Paul Knapton, and T. Cox, 1738, pt. 2. 1738.

Prosperity doth best discover Vice; But Adversity doth best discover Vertue.

Francis Bacon

Buy Francis Bacon's Major Works at Amazon Buy Francis Bacon's Major Works at Amazon
Read Of Adversity at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Corrosive effects of wealth Downsides of wealth Overcoming adversity Personal growth Adversity

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

Of Adversity Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1625 1620s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis. "Of Adversity." Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall. London: John Haviland, 1625.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "Essays, or Counsels, Civil and Moral (1625): Of Adversity." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Nothing in progression can rest on its original plan. We may as well think of rocking a grown man in the cradle of an infant.

Edmund Burke

More information about this quote

Topic

Progress The only constant is change

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Letters of Edmund Burke

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1777 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. A Letter to John Farr and John Harris, Esqs., Sheriffs of the City of Bristol, on the Affairs of America. London: J. Dodsley, 3 Apr. 1777.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "A Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol on the Affairs of America." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.

Gerard de Nerval

More information about this quote

Topic

Flowers

Author

Gerard de Nerval

Source

Golden Lines

Medium

Poem

Language

French

Time

1843 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Nerval, Gerard De. Vers Dores. c. 1843, l. 8.

We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.

Karl Popper

Buy The Open Society and Its Enemies at Amazon Buy The Open Society and Its Enemies at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Intolerance

Author

Karl Popper

Source

The Open Society and Its Enemies

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Popper, Karl. The Open Society and Its Enemies. Vol. 1, Routledge, 1995, notes to the chapters, ch. 7, note 4.