Explore well-known and useful English quotes, phrases and sayings. Quotes in English with translations.
“The sadness will last forever.”
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)
Attributed to Vincent, as quoted by Theo van gogh in his letter from Paris, to Elisabeth van Gogh, 5 August 1890 http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/21/etc-Theo-Lies.htm <br class="br">Some of the last words Vincent said to Theo, while dying <br class="br">1890s
“I believe that if you focus on what you should do, the road ahead will open up naturally.”
Yuzuru Hanyu (1994) Japanese figure skater (1994-)
Other quotes, 2016 <br class="br">Original: (ja) 自分がすべきことを集中してやっていけば、自ずと道は開かれてくると信じているので。 <br class="br">Source: Interview at the arrival in Marseille ahead of the Grand Prix Final 2016, published 7 December 2016 by テレビ朝日 フィギュアスケート https://twitter.com/figureskate5ch/status/806400507698876416 (TV Asahi Figure Skate on Twitter). (Retrieved 11 September 2020)
“Communication is an essential factor in any type of relationship; friend, romantic, or business.”
Paul J. Alessi (1968) Actor / Producer
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/communication-is-an-essential-factor-in-any-type-of-relationship-friend-romantic-or-business-paul-j-alessi-q--10696117851703955/?mt=login
Source: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1568493/bio?ref_=nm_dyk_qt_sm#quotes
“The first true love is always the last one.”
Andrzej Majewski (1966) Polish writer and photographer
Aphorisms. Magnum in Parvo (2000)
“Breathe. It’s only a bad day, not a bad life.”
Johnny Depp (1963) American actor, film producer, and musician
“We all have two lives. The second begins when you realize you only have one.”
Tom Hiddleston (1981) English actor, producer and musical performer
“The noblest art is that of making others happy”
P.T. Barnum (1810–1891) American showman and businessman
“I am a hard person to love but when I love, I love really hard.”
Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor
“Don't live to fight, fight to live.”
Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor
Source: Resurrection, 1971-1996
“You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
“Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
“Always tell the truth. That way, you don't have to remember what you said.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
“He that is giddy thinks the world turns round.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English playwright and poet
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
Variant: He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.
“The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher
“A man's growth is seen in the successive choirs of his friends”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“Love has no age, no limit; and no death.”
John Galsworthy (1867–1933) English novelist and playwright
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher
“We know the truth, not only by the reason, but by the heart.”
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher
“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge.”
Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004) American historian
“I love you the more in that I believe you had liked me for my own sake and for nothing else.”
John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.”
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“Fear grows in darkness; if you think theres a bogeyman around, turn on the light.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster
“The more you care, the stronger you can be.”
Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American motivational speaker
“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.”
Seneca the Younger (-4–65 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist
“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
“The exercise of an extraordinary gift is the supremest pleasure in life.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) English writer, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
Isocrates (-436–-338 BC) ancient greek rhetorician
Variant: True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher
“We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English playwright and poet
“Criticism is something you can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
“Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.”
Phil Jackson (1945) basketball player and coach from the United States
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“It's easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.”
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
“The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher
“From wonder into wonder existence opens.”
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“A thing long expected takes the form of the unexpected when at last it comes.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“The world is but a canvas to the imagination.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.”
Karl Menninger (1893–1990) American psychiatrist
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher
“It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.”
George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
“Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
“A man is great by deeds, not by birth.”
Chanakya (-375–-283 BC) Ancient Indian statesman and philosopher
“Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom.”
Plato (-427–-347 BC) Classical Greek philosopher
“Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.”
Baltasar Gracián (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher
“We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher
“I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) French writer and aviator
“He who is contented is rich.”
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.”
H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer
Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from A Separate Reality (Chapter 6)
Cyrus the Great (-600–-530 BC) King and founder of the Achaemenid Empire
After being suggested by Artembares, grandfather of Artayctes, to abandon the rocky land of Persia Proper for a better region in the empire. <br class="br">Source: As quoted by Herodotus, in the final section of The Histories; cited in https://books.google.com/books?id=2fZmqKcsf-wC&pg=PT362&lpg=PT362
“Criticize by category — praise by name.”
Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
[CNCB's Becky Quick interviews Warren Buffett (2/25/19), February 25, 2019, CNBC Television, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqc56crs56s] (quote at 48:00 of 2:00:00)
“What you do and what you love just becomes a part of you, if you're lucky.”
Paul McCartney (1942) English singer-songwriter and composer
Source: Paul McCartney: The Waterstones Interview
December 2021
https://youtu.be/chROemnJfIo?t=2916
“Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.”
Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) Italian Dominican saint
quoted in [LifeSite, The heart of the Catholic Church's current crisis is the abandonment of law and doctrine - LifeSite, 2022-06-07, 2022-05-05, https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/the-heart-of-the-catholic-churchs-current-crisis-is-the-abandonment-of-law-and-doctrine/] <br class="br">Variant versions: <br class="br">I see the world is rotten because of silence … speak the truth in a million voices. It is silence that kills. (quoted at 0:23 of [Randall Terry, The Silence That Kills, 2022-06-07, 2020-10-19, 23:29, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql2ncPIgui0]) <br class="br">Original Italian: Oimé, non più tacere! Gridate con centomiglia di lingue. Veggo che, per lo tacere, el mondo è guasto, la Sposa di Cristo è impalidita ( Lettera 16, "A uno grande prelato" http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/it/eki.htm#q) <br class="br">lit.: "O alas, be silent no more! Shout with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that, through silence, the world is broken, the Bride of Christ is impaled"
George Orwell (1903–1950) English author and journalist
Letter to Frank Barber (15 December 1944)
The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters, George Orwell: As I Please, 1943-1945, Editors: Sonia Orwell, Ian Angus. p. 292.
“From error to error, one discovers the entire truth.”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian neurologist known as the founding father of psychoanalysis
“Out of clutter, find simplicity.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Speech made in honor of Thomas Mann in January 1939, when Mann was given the Einstein Prize given by the Jewish Forum. Quoted in Einstein Lived Here by Abraham Pais (1994), p. 214 http://books.google.com/books?id=u_9QAAAAMAAJ&q=%22becomes+lack+of+power%22#search_anchor <br class="br">1930s <br class="br">Context: The standard bearers have grown weak in the defense of their priceless heritage, and the powers of darkness have been strengthened thereby. Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character; it becomes lack of power to act with courage proportionate to danger. All this must lead to the destruction of our intellectual life unless the danger summons up strong personalities able to fill the lukewarm and discouraged with new strength and resolution.
“Friendship is really the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.”
Jane Austen book Northanger Abbey
Variant: Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.
Source: Northanger Abbey
“Broadly speaking, short words are best, and the old words, when short, are best of all.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Speech on receiving the London Times Literary Award November 2, 1949
Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches, Hyperion (2003), p. 453 ISBN ISBN 1401300561
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Source: Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches
“A great man is always willing to be little.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), Compensation
Context: Our strength grows out of our weakness. The indignation which arms itself with secret forces does not awaken until we are pricked and stung and sorely assailed. A great man is always willing to be little. Whilst he sits on the cushion of advantages, he goes to sleep. When he is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits, on his manhood; he has gained facts; learns his ignorance; is cured of the insanity of conceit; has got moderation and real skill. The wise man throws himself on the side of his assailants. It is more his interest than it is theirs to find his weak point. The wound cicatrizes and falls off from him like a dead skin, and when they would triumph, lo! he has passed on invulnerable. Blame is safer than praise. I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success. But as soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies. In general, every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor.
“Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.”
Paulo Coelho book By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Source: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
“The truth is not for all men but only for those who seek it.”
Variant: The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them (pg. 52).
Source: Anthem
Charles Bukowski book Factotum
Source: Factotum (1975), Ch. 17
Context: I got into bed, opened the bottle, worked the pillow into a hard knot behind my back, took a deep breath, and sat in the dark looking out of the window. It was the first time I had been alone for five days. I was a man who thrived on solitude; without it I was like another man without food or water. Each day without solitude weakened me. I took no pride in my solitude; but I was dependent on it. The darkness of the room was like sunlight to me. I took a drink of wine.
“Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing, and you'll never be criticized.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul
John North Willys (as reprinted in Elbert Hubbard's Selected Writings, Part 2 (1998), pp. 331–337, Roycrofters, 1922).
Pamphlets
Source: Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Vol. 3: American Statesmen
“Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.”
William Blake book The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Source: 1790s, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793), Proverbs of Hell, Line 41
“Is sex dirty? Only if it's done right.”
Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972)
