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Explore 5101 quotes by Writers

To crave for happiness in this world is simply to be possessed by a spirit of revolt. What right have we to happiness?

Henrik Ibsen

Ghosts

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Topic

Seeking happiness Happiness

Speaker

Pastor Manders

Author

Henrik Ibsen

Source

Ghosts

Medium

Play

Language

Norwegian

Time

1881 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Ibsen, Henrik. Gengangere [Ghosts]. Kobenhavn: Gyldendalske Boghandel, 1881, act 1.

Current Citation

Ibsen, Henrik. "Ghosts." A Doll's House and Other Plays, translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik. Penguin Classics, 2016, act 1.

Whenever your life ends, it is all there. The advantage of living is not measured by length, but by use; some men have lived long, and lived little; attend to it while you are in it. It lies in your will, not in the number of years, for you to have lived enough.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

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Topic

Living life to the fullest

Author

Michel de Montaigne

Source

That to Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die Essays

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Advice

Language

French

Time

1580 1580s 16th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "Que Philosopher C'Est Apprendre a Mourir [That to Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "To Philosophize is to Learn How to Die." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

Quarrels would not last long if the fault were only on one side.

François de La Rochefoucauld

Reflections

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Topic

It takes two to tangle Conflict

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims]. c. 1665.

Current Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, translated by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore and Francine Giguere. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Max stepped into his private boat and waved good-bye and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him and it was still hot.

Maurice Sendak

Where the Wild Things Are

More information about this quote

Topic

Imagination

Author

Maurice Sendak

Source

Where the Wild Things Are

Genre

Children's literature

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. Harper & Row, 1963.

Silence is the best tactic for him who distrusts himself.

François de La Rochefoucauld

Reflections

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Topic

Silence is golden

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims]. c. 1665.

Current Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, translated by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore and Francine Giguere. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.

Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet

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Topic

Facts What really matters

Speaker

Sherlock Holmes

Author

Arthur Conan Doyle

Source

A Study in Scarlet

Medium

Novel Magazine

Genre

Detective fiction

Language

English

Time

1887 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Doyle, Arthur Conan. "A Study in Scarlet." Beeton's Christmas Annual. London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1887.

Current Citation

Doyle, Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet. The Sherlock Holmes Collector's Library. Detective Fiction, 2012, pt. 1, ch. 2.

There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.

George Bernard Shaw

Man and Superman

More information about this quote

Topic

Getting what you want Tragic view of life

Speaker

Mendoza

Author

George Bernard Shaw

Source

Man and Superman

Medium

Play

Genre

Drama (play)

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. "Man and Superman." Man and Superman, John Bull's Other Island, and Major Barbara. Oxford University Press, 2021, act 4. Originally published by Archibald and Constable Co., Ltd., 1903.

Women upset everything. When you let them into your life, you find that the woman is driving at one thing and you're driving at another.

George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion

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Topic

Women Gender relations Men and women

Speaker

Henry Higgins

Author

George Bernard Shaw

Source

Pygmalion

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1913 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion. 16 Oct. 1913, Hofburg Theatre, Vienna, Germany, act. 2.

Current Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion. Penguin, 2005, act 2.

Now it is autumn and the falling fruit
and the long journey towards oblivion.

D.H. Lawrence

Last Poems

More information about this quote

Topic

Autumn

Author

D.H. Lawrence

Source

The Ship of Death Last Poems

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lawrence, D.H. "The Ship of Death." Last Poems, edited by Richard Aldington and Giuseppe Orioli. The Viking Press, 1932, stanza 1.

The great advantage of living in a large family is that early lesson of life's essential unfairness.

Nancy Mitford

More information about this quote

Topic

Unfairness of life

Author

Nancy Mitford

Source

The Pursuit of Love

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mitford, Nancy. The Pursuit of Love. Hamish Hamilton, 1945, ch. 1.

The movement of the progressive societies has hitherto been a movement from Status to Contract.

Henry Maine

More information about this quote

Topic

Progress

Author

Henry Maine

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1861 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Maine, Henry. Ancient Law. London: John Murray, 1861, ch. 5.

Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. And Mrs. Daneeka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father, or brother was killed, wounded, or reported missing in action.

Joseph Heller

Catch-22

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Topic

War Bureaucracy

Author

Joseph Heller

Source

Catch-22

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. Simon & Schuster, 1961, ch. 31.

Treading the soil of the moon, palpating its pebbles, tasting the panic and splendor of the event, feeling in the pit of one's stomach the separation from terre... These form the most romantic sensation an explorer has ever known... This is the only thing I can say about the matter. The utilitarian results do not interest me.

Vladimir Nabokov

More information about this quote

Topic

The moon

Author

Vladimir Nabokov

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Nabokov, Vladimir. Quoted in The New York Times. 21 July 1969.

Most people, no doubt, when they espouse human rights, make their own mental reservations about the proper application of the word "human."

Suzanne LaFollette

The Beginnings of Emancipation

More information about this quote

Topic

Human rights

Author

Suzanne LaFollette

Source

The Beginnings of Emancipation Concerning Women

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

LaFollette, Suzanne. Concerning Women. Albert & Charles Boni, 1926, ch. 1.

I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.

William Faulkner

More information about this quote

Topic

Human nature

Speaker

William Faulkner

Medium

Nobel Prize Lecture Speech

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Faulkner, William. Speech at the Nobel Banquet. Nobel Banquet. 10 Dec. 1950, City Hall, Stockholm, Sweden.

Life Begins at Forty.

Walter B. Pitkin

Title of book.

More information about this quote

Topic

Middle age Aging

Author

Walter B. Pitkin

Language

English

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pitkin, Walter B. Life Begins at Forty. Whittlesey House McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1932.

Whether you are dealing with an animal or a child, to convince is to weaken.

Colette

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More information about this quote

Topic

Persuasion

Author

Colette

Source

The Pure and the Impure

Medium

Novel

Language

French

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Colette. Le Pur et l'impur and Ces Plaisirs [The Pure and the Impure and These Pleasures]. J. Ferenczi & fils, 1932, ch. 9.

Current Citation

Colette. The Pure and the Impure. NYRB Classics, 2000, ch. 9.

Famous remarks are very seldom quoted correctly.

Simeon Strunsky

No Mean City

More information about this quote

Topic

Quotations

Author

Simeon Strunsky

Source

No Mean City

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1944 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Strunsky, Simeon. No Mean City. E.P. Dutton, 1944, ch. 38.

Departure beyond the borders of my country is for me equivalent to death.

Boris Pasternak

More information about this quote

Topic

Travel

Author

Boris Pasternak

Medium

Letter

Language

Russian

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pasternak, Boris. Letter to Nikita Khrushchev. 30 Oct. 1958.

That's the way the ball bounces.

George Mandel

More information about this quote

Topic

Randomness

Author

George Mandel

Language

English

Time

1952 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Mandel, George. Flee the Angry Strangers. Bobbs-Merrill, 1952.