Classic Quotations |
Well known quotations with some historic value
 | Art is long, life is short. Ars longa, vita brevis. — Hippocrates, 460-370 BC, Ancient Greek physician, the “Father of Medicine” 85 likes |
 | God wills. Deus vult. (the motto of the Christian warriors in the Crusades) 71 likes |
 | Seize the day. Carpe diem. 69 likes |
 | Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. — Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher 53 likes |
 | History is written by the winners. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 46 likes |
 | Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 44 likes |
 | I think therefore I exist. Cogito ergo sum. — René Descartes, 1596-1650, French philosopher 41 likes |
 | The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. — Edmund Burke, 1729-1797, British statesman & philosopher 40 likes |
 | I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire, 1694-1778, French philosopher & writer 38 likes |
 | It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. — Charles Darwin, 1809-1882, British scientist 36 likes |
| Hannibal at the gates. Hannibal ad portas. (Roman alert when Hannibal was approaching to Rome, around 217 BC) 34 likes |
| Divide and conquer. Divide ut regnes. 25 likes |
 | Money does not stink. Pecunia non olet. — Vespasian, 9-79 AD, Roman Emperor 25 likes |
 | Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. — Galeazzo Ciano, 1903-1944, Italian politician 24 likes |
 | There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. — Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881, British Prime Minister 23 likes |
 | Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 22 likes |
 | People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election. — Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898, German chancellor 20 likes |
 | Ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies. — Charles Dickens, 1812-1870, British writer 18 likes |
 | If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were. — Khalil Gibran, 1883-1931, Lebanese-American poet & philosopher 16 likes |
| If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. — Voltaire, 1694-1778, French philosopher & writer 15 likes |
 | Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana, 1863-1952, Spanish-American philosopher 15 likes |
 | Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. — Lord Acton, 1834-1902, English historian 14 likes |
 | To “catch” a husband is an art; to “hold” him is a job. — Simone De Beauvoir, 1908-1986, French writer 14 likes |
 | The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. — Pierre de Coubertin, 1863-1937, French, father of the Olympic Games 13 likes |
 | First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win. — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence 13 likes |
 | Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper. — Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher 13 likes |
 | I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him. — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014, Colombian writer 13 likes |
 | Work Hard. Do your best. Keep your word. Never get too big for your britches. Trust in God. Have no fear; and Never forget a friend. — Harry Truman, 1884-1972, American President [1945-1953] 12 likes |
 | Winners never quit and quitters never win. — Vince Lombardi, 1913-1970, American football coach 12 likes |
 | All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. — George Orwell, 1903-1950, British writer 11 likes |
 | The finest trick of the devil is to persuade you that does not exist. — Charles Baudelaire, 1821-1867, French poet 11 likes |
 | Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. — Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet 11 likes |
 | To make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires. — Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 11 likes |
 | The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao-Tzu, 6th cent. BC, Chinese philosopher 10 likes |
 | Religion is the opium of the people. — Karl Marx, 1818-1883, German philosopher 10 likes |
 | What does not kill me, makes me stronger. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 10 likes |
 | Every nation gets the government it deserves. — Joseph De Maistre, 1753-1821, Savoyard diplomat & philosopher 10 likes |
| Knowledge is power. — Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher 9 likes |
| I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection. — Charles Darwin, 1809-1882, British scientist 9 likes |
 | It is never too late to be what you might have been. — George Eliot, 1819-1880, English writer 9 likes |
 | Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god. — Jean Rostand, 1894-1977, French scientist & philosopher 9 likes |
| Vivere pericolosamente. To live dangerously. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher (the phrase in its Italian version was popularized by Mussolini) 8 likes |
| Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made. — Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898, German chancellor 8 likes |
 | War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men. — Georges Clemenceau, 1841-1929, French Prime Minister 8 likes |
 | Nations have no friends, only interests. — Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970, French President 8 likes |
 | This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper. — T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948 8 likes |
| It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own. — Harry Truman, 1884-1972, American President [1945-1953] 8 likes |
 | The medium is the message. — Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980, Canadian academic & media theorist 8 likes |
| If you love something, let it go. If it is yours, it will come back. — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014, Colombian writer 8 likes |
 | Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. — Anonymous (attributed to various authors but the origin of this saying is unknown) 7 likes |
 | Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. — Henry Kissinger, 1923-2023, American politician 7 likes |
| I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 7 likes |
 | To be, or not to be: that is the question. — William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ Hamlet 7 likes |
 | Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. — Thomas Edison, 1847-1934, American inventor 7 likes |
 | I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. — Martin Luther King, 1929-1968, American leader in the Civil Rights Movement 7 likes |
| Poetry is what gets lost in translation. — Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet 7 likes |
 | A young man who isn't a socialist hasn't got a heart; an old man who is a socialist hasn't got a head. — David Lloyd George, 1863-1945, British Prime Minister [1916-1922] 7 likes |
| One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. — Simone De Beauvoir, 1908-1986, French writer 7 likes |
 | Art for art’s sake! — Théophile Gautier, 1811-1872, French poet & writer ( l'art pour l'art – used in the preface to his 1835 book, Mademoiselle de Maupin.) 7 likes |
 | Travelers, there is no path, paths are made by walking. — Antonio Machado, 1875-1939, Spanish poet & playwright 7 likes |
 | L' etat c'est moi. I myself am the state. — Louis XIV of France, 1638-1715, King of France (le Roi Soleil) 6 likes |
 | Nothing succeeds like success. — Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870, French writer 6 likes |
 | God doesn't play dice with the world. — Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German-Jewish physicist 6 likes |
 | If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. — Bernard Baruch, 1870-1965, American businessman & statesman 6 likes |
 | Elementary, my dear Watson. Purely elementary. — from the film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) 5 likes |
 | If you gain, you gain all. If you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation, that He exists. — Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, French thinker 5 likes |
| Time is money. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 5 likes |
 | Those who can bear all can dare all. — Vauvenargues, 1715-1747, French author of maxims 5 likes |
 | Go ahead, make my day. — from the film Sudden Impact (1983) 5 likes |
 | Don't one of you fire until you see the whites of their eyes. — William Prescott, 1726-1795, American colonel 5 likes |
 | Plans are nothing; planning is everything. — Dwight Eisenhower, 1890-1969, American general & President 5 likes |
| Let us not be deceived — we are today in the midst of a cold war. — Bernard Baruch, 1870-1965, American businessman & statesman (he was the first to use the term “cold war”) 5 likes |
 | Ask not what your country can do for you… ask what you can do for your country. — John Kennedy, 1917-1963, American President [1961-1963] 4 likes |
 | The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. — Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher 4 likes |
 | All children, except one, grow up. — James Barrie, 1860-1937, English writer ‐ Peter Pan 4 likes |
 | He serves his party best who serves the country best. — Rutherford B. Hayes, 1822-1893, American President [1877-1881] 3 likes |
 | If you can dream it, you can do it. — Walt Disney, 1901-1966, American businessman & cartoonist 3 likes |
 | Property is theft! — Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, 1809-1865, French anarchist 3 likes |
 | War is the continuation of politics by other means. — Carl von Clausewitz, 1780-1831, Prussian military theorist 3 likes |
 | Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939, Irish poet, Nobel 1923 3 likes |
 | The house is a machine for living in. — Le Corbusier, 1887-1965, Swiss-French architect 3 likes |
 | This is more than a crime. It is a mistake. — Prince Metternich, 1773-1859, Austrian statesman 3 likes |
 | All is fair in love and war. — John Lyly, 1554-1606, English writer 2 likes |
 | I would always rather be happy than dignified. — Charlotte Brontë, 1816-1855, English novelist & poet 2 likes |
| Don't judge a book by its cover. |
 | We'd all like to vote for the best man but he's never a candidate. |
 | You can not walk the path unless you become the path. |
 | Revolutions are not made with rose water. |
