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Explore 5101 quotes by Writers

I love such mirth as does not make friends ashamed to look upon one another next morning.

Izaak Walton

The Compleat Angler

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Topic

Having fun

Author

Izaak Walton

Source

The Compleat Angler

Medium

Treatise

Language

English

Time

1653 1650s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. London: Richard Marriot, 1653, pt. 1, ch. 5.

Current Citation

Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler, edited by Marjorie Swann. Oxford University Press, 2014, pt. 1, ch. 5.

It strikes me that this may be one of the differences between youth and age: when we are young, we invent different futures for ourselves; when we are old, we invent different pasts for others.

Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending

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Topic

Youth vs. old age Youth Old age

Author

Julian Barnes

Source

The Sense of an Ending

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

2011 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending. Jonathan Cape/Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, ch. 2.

Man must work by the sweat of his brow whatever his class, and that should make up the whole meaning and purpose of his life and happiness and contentment.

Anton Chekhov

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Topic

Work Purpose of life

Speaker

Irina Sergeyevna Pozorova

Author

Anton Chekhov

Source

The Three Sisters

Medium

Play

Language

Russian

Time

1901 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Chekhov, Anton. Три сeстры́ [Three Sisters]. Directed by Knostatin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. 31 Jan. 1901, Moscow Art Theatre, Moscow, Russia, act 1.

Current Citation

Chekhov, Anton. "Three Sisters." Plays: Ivanov; The Seagull' Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; The Cherry Orchard, translated by Peter Carson. Penguin Classics, 2002, act 1.

Fear prophets, Adso, and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them.

Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose

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Topic

Fanaticism

Speaker

William

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.

Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience. He that travelleth into a country before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel.

Francis Bacon

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Topic

Travel

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

Of Travel Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral

Medium

Essay

Genre

Travel writing

Language

English

Time

1625 1620s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

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

Current Citation

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

We never reach a point at which our lives lie before us as a clearly marked open road, never have and never should expect a map to the years ahead, never do close those circles that seem, at thirteen and fourteen and nineteen, so urgently in need of closing.

Joan Didion

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Topic

Nature of life The human condition

Author

Joan Didion

Source

Pacific Distances After Henry

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Didion, Joan. "Pacific Distances." After Henry. Simon & Schuster, 1992.

Current Citation

Didion, Joan. "Pacific Distances." Joan Didion: The 1980s & 90s, edited by David L. Ulin. Library of America, 2021.

True kindness presupposes the faculty of imagining as one's own the sufferings and joys of others.

Andre Gide

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Topic

Kindness Empathy

Author

Andre Gide

Language

French

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gide, Andre. "Portraits and Aphorisms: An Unprejudiced Mind." Pretexts: Reflections on Literature and Morality, edited by Justin O'Brien. Secker & Warburg/Meridian Books, 1959.

Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs.

Noel Coward

Private Lives

More information about this quote

Topic

Gender relations Men and women Women

Speaker

Elyot Chase

Author

Noel Coward

Source

Private Lives

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play) Comedy of manners Comedy

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

English

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Coward, Noël. Private Lives. Directed by Noël Coward. Performed by Noël Coward and Adrianne Allen and Gertrude Lawrence and Laurence Olivier. 1930, King's Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland, act 3.

Current Citation

Coward, Noël. Private Lives. Methuen Drama, 2023, act 3.

Of all days, the one most surely wasted is the one on which one has not laughed.

Nicolas Chamfort

More information about this quote

Topic

Laughter

Author

Nicolas Chamfort

Source

Maximes et Pensées

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1796 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chamfort, Nicolas. Maximes et Pensees. c. 1796, no. 48.

If the heart of a man is depressed with cares,
The mist is dispelled when a woman appears.

John Gay

The Beggar's Opera

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Topic

New love Men and women

Speaker

Macheath

Author

John Gay

Source

The Beggar's Opera

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1728 1720s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gay, John. The Beggar's Opera. 1728, Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London, England, UK, act 2, sc. 1, air 21.

Current Citation

Gay, John. "The Beggar's Opera." The Beggar's Opera and Polly, edited by Hal Gladfelder. Oxford University Press, 2013, act 2, sc. 1, air 21.

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse... It is often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place.

Washington Irving

More information about this quote

Topic

Change New experiences

Author

Washington Irving

Language

English

Time

1824 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Irving, Washington. "To the Reader." Tales of a Traveller. London: John Murray/Philadelphia: H.C. Cary & I. Lee, 1824.

A trip through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat.

Wilson Mizner

On Hollywood.

More information about this quote

Topic

Hollywood

Speaker

Wilson Mizner

Source

The Legendary Mizners

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mizner, Wilson. Quoted in The Legendary Mizners, written by Alva Johnston. Farrar, Straus and Young, 1953, ch. 4.

How often do we tell our own life story? How often do we adjust, embellish, make sly cuts? And the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our life. Told to others, but—mainly—to ourselves.

Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending

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Topic

Stories

Author

Julian Barnes

Source

The Sense of an Ending

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

2011 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending. Jonathan Cape/Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, ch. 2.

Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
When our Victory is ultimately won.

Noel Coward

More information about this quote

Topic

World War II Magnanimity in war

Speaker

Noel Coward

Medium

Song

Language

English

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Coward, Noel. Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans. Warner Chappell Music, 1943.

No matter how long you have been here, you are a New Yorker the first time you say, That used to be Munsey's, or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge... You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.

Colson Whitehead

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Topic

New York City

Author

Colson Whitehead

Source

The Colossus of New York

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Whitehead, Colson. The Colossus of New York. Doubleday, 2003, pt. 1.

No one in this world, so far as I know...has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

H.L. Mencken

More information about this quote

Topic

The masses

Author

H.L. Mencken

Source

Notes on Journalism Chicago Tribune

Medium

Article Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Mencken, Henry Louis. "Notes on Journalism." Chicago Tribune, 19 Sept. 1926.

A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.

Jack London

More information about this quote

Topic

Charity Sacrifice

Author

Jack London

Source

My Confession The Road

Medium

Short story

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

London, Jack. "My Confession." The Road. MacMillan & Company, 1907.

Current Citation

London, Jack. "My Confession." The Road. Dover Publications, 2016.

Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through.

R.D. Laing

More information about this quote

Topic

Genius and insanity Insanity Creativity Innovation Ideas

Author

R.D. Laing

Source

The Politics of Experience

Language

English

Time

1967 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Laing, Ronald David. The Politics of Experience. Penguin Books, 1967, ch. 6.

You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.

Norman Douglas

More information about this quote

Topic

National character Advertising and marketing

Speaker

Bishop South Wind

Author

Norman Douglas

Source

South Wind

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Douglas, Norman. South Wind. Martin Secker, 1917, ch. 6.

It's no disgrace t'be poor, but it might as well be.

Frank McKinney Hubbard

More information about this quote

Topic

Poverty Dignity

Author

Frank McKinney Hubbard

Source

Short Furrows

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1911 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hubbard, Kin. "Short Furrows." News, c. 1911.