Writer

Explore 5101 quotes by Writers

When the sun sets, shadows, that showed at noon
But small, appear most long and terrible.

Nathaniel Lee

More information about this quote

Topic

Shadows The sun

Speaker

Oedipus

Author

Nathaniel Lee

Source

Oedipus: A Tragedy

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1679 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lee, Nathaniel and John Dryden. Oedipus: A Tragedy. London: R. Bentley and M. Magnes, 1679, act 4, sc. 1.

To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.

G.K. Chesterton

More information about this quote

Topic

Moral theory Can vs. should Morality

Author

G.K. Chesterton

Source

A Short History of England

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Chesterton, G.K. "A Short History of England." The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton. Vol. 20, Ignatius Press, 2002. Originally published by William Clowes and Sons, 1917.

As civilisation advances, poetry almost necessarily declines... In proportion as men know more and think more, they look less at individuals and more at classes. They therefore make better theories and worse poems.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

More information about this quote

Topic

Poetry Downsides of progress

Author

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Source

Milton Edinburgh Review

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1825 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Macaulay, Thomas Babington. "Milton." Edinburgh Review, 1825.

And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.

Thomas Hardy

More information about this quote

Topic

Disaster Foreboding

Author

Thomas Hardy

Source

The Convergence of the Twain

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1912 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hardy, Thomas. "The Convergence of the Twain." Souvenir Programme for the Titanic Disaster Fund, 1912, st. 8.

Current Citation

Hardy, Thomas. "The Convergence of the Twain." Thomas Hardy: Selected Poems, edited by Robert Mezey. Penguin Classics, 1998, st. 8.

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

Douglas Adams

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

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More information about this quote

Topic

Origin of the universe Beginning of time Creation of the world The universe

Author

Douglas Adams

Source

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Medium

Radio broadcast Novel

Genre

Science fiction

Statement Type

Opening lines Joke

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Douglas. "Fit the Fifth." The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Primary Phase. BBC Radio 4, London, England, UK, 5 Apr. 1978.

Current Citation

Adams, Douglas. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Pan Books, 1980, ch. 1.

Believe it or not-and I know that most people do not-violence has declined over long stretches of time, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species' existence.

Steven Pinker

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

More information about this quote

Topic

Advance of civilization Social progress Progress

Author

Steven Pinker

Source

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

Genre

Sociology

Language

English

Time

2011 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pinker, Steven. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. Viking Books, 2011, preface.

A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast
And fills the white and rustling sail
And bends the gallant mast.

Allan Cunningham

More information about this quote

Topic

Sailing Ocean and sea

Author

Allan Cunningham

Source

A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea

Medium

Song

Language

English

Time

1850 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cunningham, Allan. A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea. Performed by Mr. Howard. Baltimore: Howard. G. Willig Jr., 1850, I. 1.

Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Susan Ertz

More information about this quote

Topic

Spending time Rainy days Sunday Eternal life

Author

Susan Ertz

Source

Anger in the Sky

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ertz, Susan. Anger in the Sky. Harper & Brothers/Hodder & Stoughton, 1943.

He likes the country, but in truth must own,
Most likes it, when he studies it in town.

William Cowper

More information about this quote

Topic

Rural vs. urban

Author

William Cowper

Source

Retirement Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1782 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cowper, William. "Retirement." Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. London: J. Johnson, 1782.

Then be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.

Robert Herrick

More information about this quote

Topic

Marriage Lost youth Youth

Author

Robert Herrick

Source

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1648 1640s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Herrick, Robert. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." Hesperides; or the Works both Human and Divine of Robert Herrick Esq. London: John Williams, 1648.

Current Citation

Herrick, Robert. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." The Cavalier Poets: An Anthology, edited by Thomas Crofts. Dover Publications, 1995.

There is surely a peece of Divinity in us, something that was before the Elements, and owes no homage unto the Sun.

Sir Thomas Browne

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Read Religio Medici at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Man and nature God and man Human nature

Author

Sir Thomas Browne

Source

Religio Medici

Genre

Autobiography and memoir Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1643 1640s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Browne, Thomas, Sir. Religio Medici. London, 1643, pt. 2, sect. 11.

Current Citation

Browne, Thomas, Sir. "Religio Medici (1643)." Thomas Browne: Selected Writings, edited by Kevin Killeen. Oxford University Press, 2018, pt. 2, sect. 11.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

W.H. Auden

Read Funeral Blues at allpoetry.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Lost love Broken heart Love

Author

W.H. Auden

Source

Funeral Blues Another Time

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Auden, W. H. "Funeral Blues." The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts. Faber & Faber, 1936.

Words being arbitrary must owe their power to association, and have the influence, and that only, which custom has given them. Language is the dress of thought.

Samuel Johnson

Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

More information about this quote

Topic

Meaning of words Words Language

Author

Samuel Johnson

Source

Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1779 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. "Cowley." Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. London, c. 1779.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. "Cowley." The Lives of the Poets: A Selection, edited by Roger Lonsdale. Oxford University Press, 2009.

What is love? There is nothing in the world, neither man nor Devil nor any thing, that I hold as suspect as love, for it penetrates the soul more than any other thing. Nothing exists that so fills and binds the heart as love does. Therefore, unless you have those weapons that subdue it, the soul plunges through love into an immense abyss.

Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose

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More information about this quote

Topic

Dangers of love Nature of love Love

Author

Umberto Eco

Source

The Name of the Rose

Medium

Novel

Language

Italian

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Eco, Umberto. Il nome della rosa [The Name of the Rose]. Bompiani, 1980.

Current Citation

Eco, Humberto. The Name of the Rose, translated by William Weaver. HarperVia, 2014.

Are all men in disguise except those crying?

Dannie Abse

More information about this quote

Topic

Crying Masculinity Vulnerability Authenticity

Author

Dannie Abse

Source

Encounter at a Greyhound Bus Station

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1986 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Abse, Dannie. "Encounter at a Greyhound Bus Station." Ask the Moon. Hutchinson, 2014.

Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it.

Margaret Drabble

More information about this quote

Topic

Feeling seen Connecting with others

Author

Margaret Drabble

Source

A Summer Bird-Cage

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Drabble, Margaret. A Summer Bird-Cage. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1963, ch. 7.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

C. Northcote Parkinson

The Economist

More information about this quote

Topic

Work

Author

C. Northcote Parkinson

Source

Parkinson's Law The Economist

Medium

Essay Newspaper

Genre

Economic literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Parkinson, C. Northcote. Parkinson's Law: The Pursuit of Progress. John Murray, 1958, ch. 1. Originally published in The Economist, Nov. 1955.

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning

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More information about this quote

Topic

Meaning of life Life The human condition

Author

Viktor Frankl

Source

Man's Search for Meaning

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

German

Time

1946 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Frankl, Victor. …trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager [Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy]. Verlag für Jugend und Volk, 1946.

Current Citation

Frankl, Victor. Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press, 2006.

Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up.

Studs Terkel

More information about this quote

Topic

Hope Political progress Politics

Author

Studs Terkel

Source

Hope Dies Last

Genre

Historical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Terkel, Studs. Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Difficult Times. New Press, 2003.

A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one.

Marjorie Rawlings

The Yearling

More information about this quote

Topic

Men and women

Speaker

Grandma Hutto

Author

Marjorie Rawlings

Source

The Yearling

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1938 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rawlings, Marjorie. The Yearling. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1938, ch. 12.