Quotes about tell
page 43

Ernest Belfort Bax photo

“I fear many working men will tell Mrs. Besant that the greatest hindrance to their political and social activity is the apathy of their wives.”

Ernest Belfort Bax (1854–1926) British barrister and journalist

To-Day magazine, October issue ‘No Misogyny But True Equality’ http://historyoffeminism.com/ernest-belfort-bax-no-misogyny-but-true-equality-1887-complete/
‘No Misogyny But True Equality’ (1887)

Diogenes Laërtius photo

“Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he, "That when they speak truth they are not believed."”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers

Aristotle, 9.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 5: The Peripatetics

Miley Cyrus photo
David Lloyd George photo
Akio Morita photo

“We tell our young managers: 'Don't be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure you don't make the same mistake twice.”

Akio Morita (1921–1999) Japanese businessman

Akio Morita, cited in: Nick Lyons (1976) The Sony vision. p. 101.

William Ewart Gladstone photo
Hilaire Belloc photo
Ai Weiwei photo
Jesse Ventura photo
Joe Biden photo

“Let me tell you one or two things about Islam.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2010s
Source: As quoted in "Notable & Quotable" https://web.archive.org/web/20150113053714/http://www.friesian.com/ISLAM.HTM#phobia (23 November 2014), The Wall Street Journal.

Eric Chu photo
Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet photo
Alan Bennett photo
Lionel Richie photo

“Your eyes, your eyes
They tell me how much you care
Ooh yes, you will always be
My endless love.”

Lionel Richie (1949) American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor

Endless Love (1981).
Song lyrics

Yasser Arafat photo
Bill Fagerbakke photo
Thomas Henry Huxley photo
Ben Carson photo

“I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed… I'm telling you there is a reason these dictatorial people take the guns first.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

As quoted in "Ben Carson explains Holocaust comments" http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/08/politics/ben-carson-gun-control-2016-election/, CNN, (October 9, 2015)

Alastair Reynolds photo
Haruki Murakami photo
James Beattie photo

“Ah, who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame’s proud temple shines afar?”

James Beattie (1735–1803) Scottish poet, moralist and philosopher

Book i. Stanza 1.
The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

Orson Scott Card photo

“Everybody thinks they want to see the truth,” said Tenkswa-Tawa. “That’s one of the lies we tell ourselves.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, The Crystal City (2003), Chapter 16 “Labor” (p. 307).

Nicholas Sparks photo
David Attenborough photo
Fred Dibnah photo

“The thing is nowadays, you'll have 20 men working, yet 60 men telling them 'You can't do that, you ain't got a tin hat on'.”

Fred Dibnah (1938–2004) English steeplejack and television personality, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering

Unsourced

Hugh Thompson, Jr. photo

“Thompson landed again. Glenn and I got out of the aircraft, took out the guns. Hugh walked over to this lieutenant [Brooks], and I could tell they were in a shouting match. I thought they were going to get in a fist fight. He told me later what they said. Thompson: 'Let's get these people out of this bunker and get 'em out of here.' Brooks: 'We'll get 'em out with hand grenades.' Thompson: 'I can do better than that. Keep your people in place. My guns are on you.”

Hugh Thompson, Jr. (1943–2006) United States helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War

Hugh was outranked, so this was not good to do, but that's how committed he was to stopping it.
Thompson's gunner, Spec. Lawrence Colburn http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2002/0310/cover.html
Quotes of others about Thompson

Charlie Huston photo
Donald J. Trump photo

“You guys know what this represents? Maybe it's the calm before the storm. [Reporter: What's the storm? ] Could be the calm, the calm, before the storm. [Reporter: What storm Mr. President? ] We have the world's great military people in this room, I'll tell you that, and we're going to have a great evening. [Reporter: What storm Mr. President? ] You'll find out.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Speaking during a photo op at the White House https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/06/trump-gathers-with-military-leaders-says-maybe-its-the-calm-before-the-storm/ (6 October 2017)
2010s, 2017, October

Norodom Ranariddh photo

“I would like to tell you that I no longer call Marie ‘Ranariddh.’ She can use Norodom. I don’t permit her to use [the name Ranariddh] because she has gone to, frankly speaking, she has gone to the traitors’ group. I am finished with her.”

Norodom Ranariddh (1944) Cambodian politician

[LOR CHANDARA, https://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/surprise-start-for-princes-new-party-60399/, Surprise Start For Prince’s New Party, 17 November 2006, 2 August 2015, The Cambodia Daily]

Roger Ebert photo

“Terri (Hilary Duff)'s new roommate is Denise (Dana Davis), who plans to work hard for a scholarship, and resents Terri as a distraction. Sizing up Terri's wardrobe and her smile, she tells her: "You're like some kind of retro Brady Buncher."”

Roger Ebert (1942–2013) American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter

I hate it when a movie contains its own review.
Review http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/raise-your-voice-2004 of Raise Your Voice (8 October 2004)
Reviews, One-star reviews

Eminem photo

“I try to keep it positive and play it cool, shoot up the playground and tell the kids to stay in school.”

Eminem (1972) American rapper and actor

"I'm Shady" (Track 18).
1990s, The Slim Shady LP (1999)

Joanna Newsom photo

“And in an infinite regress:
Tell me, why is the pain of birth
lighter borne than the pain of death?”

Joanna Newsom (1982) American musician

Divers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divers_(Joanna_Newsom_album) (2015)

Sarah Brightman photo

“Sometimes they're grey/green, sometimes they're grey, and some people think they are blue. So, I can't tell you!”

Sarah Brightman (1960) British soprano, musical theatre actress, and dancer

The Straits Times (Singapore) (2001); on the colour of her eyes.

Anil Kumble photo
Chris Matthews photo
Hartley Coleridge photo
Georges Bernanos photo
Sarah Dessen photo

“I was drowning in broad daylight and no one could tell.”

Dreamland (2000)

Kent Hovind photo
Pete Stark photo
James K. Morrow photo
Gary Johnson photo
Ivan Turgenev photo

“"What is Bazarov?" Arkady smiled. "Would you like me to tell you, uncle, what he really is?""Please do, nephew.""He is a nihilist!""What?" asked Nikolai Petrovich, while Pavel Petrovich lifted his knife in the air with a small piece of butter on the tip and remained motionless."He is a nihilist," repeated Arkady."A nihilist," said Nikolai Petrovich. "That comes from the Latin nihil, nothing, as far as I can judge; the word must mean a man who… who recognizes nothing?""Say — who respects nothing," interposed Pavel Petrovich and lowered his knife with the butter on it."Who regards everything from the critical point of view," said Arkady."Isn't that exactly the same thing?" asked Pavel Petrovich."No, it's not the same thing. A nihilist is a person who does not bow down to any authority, who does not accept any principle on faith, however much that principle may be revered.""Well, and is that good?" asked Pavel Petrovich. "That depends, uncle dear. For some it is good, for others very bad.""Indeed. Well, I see that's not in our line. We old-fashioned people think that without principles, taken as you say on faith, one can't take a step or even breathe. Vous avez changé tout cela; may God grant you health and a general's rank, and we shall be content to look on and admire your… what was the name?""Nihilists," said Arkady, pronouncing very distinctly."Yes, there used to be Hegelists and now there are nihilists. We shall see how you will manage to exist in the empty airless void; and now ring, please, brother Nikolai, it's time for me to drink my cocoa."”

Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883) Russian writer

Source: Father and Sons (1862), Ch. 5.

Thomas Frank photo
Kailash Satyarthi photo
Bill O'Reilly photo
Elton John photo
Harry Truman photo

“Tell him to go to hell; I'm for Jimmy Byrnes.”

Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)

Upon hearing that Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted him to be his vice presidential running mate (21 July 1944), as quoted in Choosing Truman : The Democratic Convention of 1944 (1994); also quoted in "Harry S. Truman : America's last great leader?" in USA Today magazine (January 1995) by the Society for the Advancement of Education http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2596_v123/ai_16399945

Gene Wolfe photo
Robert Southey photo

“"You are old, Father William." the young man cried,
"The few locks which are left you are grey;
You are hale, Father William—a hearty old man:
Now tell me the reason, I pray."”

Robert Southey (1774–1843) British poet

The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Southey/the_old_man's_comforts.htm, st. 1 (1799).

Miriam Makeba photo

“I'm not a political singer. I don't know what the word means. People think I consciously decided to tell the world what was happening in South Africa. No! I was singing about my life, and in South Africa we always sang about what was happening to us — especially the things that hurt us.”

Miriam Makeba (1932–2008) South African singer and civil rights activist

Interview with Robin Denselow (May 2008)
Source: Denselow, Robin, http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2280144,00.html, Robin Denselow talks to African superstar and activist Miriam Makeba, The Guardian, 15, London, 16 May 2008, 18 November 201

Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood photo
Koichi Tohei photo
Evo Morales photo

“I learned that the political is above the legal, that’s why when my advisors tell me, Evo, what you are doing is illegal, I say, if it is illegal, then do it legal, you have studied for that”

Evo Morales (1959) Bolivian politician

Press conference Digital Journals in Spanish such as La Razón citing the article "Cuando la ley se convierte en una piedra en el zapato" or Libertad Digital "Evo Morales confiesa que da "pasos ilegales" en Bolivia para aplicar sus reformas."

Arthur Waley photo
Nikolai Gogol photo

“She was no breath freshener, I can tell you that right now.”

Radio From Hell (April 20, 2007)

Lew Rockwell photo
Licio Gelli photo

“It is not up to us to deliver judgments. Only God will be able to tell the truth.”

Licio Gelli (1919–2015) Italian financier, liaison with Nazi Germany, P2 grandmaster, involved in many scandals

[Hooper, John, Licio Gelli obituary, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/29/licio-gelli, 16 August 2018, The Guardian, December 29, 2015]

Sam Harris photo

“Honesty is a gift we can give to others. It is also a source of power and an engine of simplicity. Knowing that we will attempt to tell the truth, whatever the circumstances, leaves us with little to prepare for. We can simply be ourselves.”

Sam Harris (1967) American author, philosopher and neuroscientist

Cf. Mark Twain: "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
2010s, Lying (2011)

Bernie Sanders photo
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston photo

“I am sure every Englishman who has a heart in his breast and a feeling of justice in his mind, sympathizes with those unfortunate Danes (cheers), and wishes that this country could have been able to draw the sword successfully in their defence (continued cheers); but I am satisfied that those who reflect on the season of the year when that war broke out, on the means which this country could have applied for deciding in one sense that issue, I am satisfied that those who make these reflections will think that we acted wisely in not embarking in that dispute. (Cheers.) To have sent a fleet in midwinter to the Baltic every sailor would tell you was an impossibility, but if it could have gone it would have been attended by no effectual result. Ships sailing on the sea cannot stop armies on land, and to have attempted to stop the progress of an army by sending a fleet to the Baltic would have been attempting to do that which it was not possible to accomplish. (Hear, hear.) If England could have sent an army, and although we all know how admirable that army is on the peace establishment, we must acknowledge that we have no means of sending out a force at all equal to cope with the 300,000 or 400,000 men whom the 30,000,000 or 40,000,000 of Germany could have pitted against us, and that such an attempt would only have insured a disgraceful discomfiture—not to the army, indeed, but to the Government which sent out an inferior force and expected it to cope successfully with a force so vastly superior. (Cheers.) … we did not think that the Danish cause would be considered as sufficiently British, and as sufficiently bearing on the interests and the security and the honour of England, as to make it justifiable to ask the country to make those exertions which such a war would render necessary.”

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) British politician

Speech at Tiverton (23 August 1864) on the Second Schleswig War, quoted in ‘Lord Palmerston At Tiverton’, The Times (24 August 1864), p. 9.
1860s

Patrick Modiano photo
Philip Johnson photo
Judith Sheindlin photo

“Let me tell you something. This is my playpen, and I get the last word.”

Judith Sheindlin (1942) American lawyer, judge, television personality, and author

Quotes from Judge Judy cases, Being cocky
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xn3kw50kS0&feature=related

Ai Weiwei photo

“Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.”

Ai Weiwei (1957) Chinese concept artist

Ai Weiwei, " interview for Unilever Series at the Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/video/ai-weiwei-conversation," at tate.org.uk, October 12, 2010.
2010-, 2010

Miguel de Cervantes photo

“I can tell where my own shoe pinches me; and you must not think, sir, to catch old birds with chaff.”

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright

Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part I, Book IV, Ch. 5.

Blackie Lawless photo
Paul A. Samuelson photo

“I tell no secret when I repeat that fame and reputation are much a matter of luck and chance.”

Paul A. Samuelson (1915–2009) American economist

Samuelson's Economics at Fifty: Remarks on the Occasion of the Anniversary of Publication (1998)
1980s–1990s

Owen Lovejoy photo
Gustave Courbet photo

“I must explain to you what I recently had the occasion to tell the congress at Antwerp: I do not have, I cannot have, pupils.”

Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) French painter

1860s, Realist Manifesto' - an open letter, 1861

Jalal Talabani photo

“I always tell the Kurds who defend independence: Let's say we declared the independent Kurdish state and Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey imposed sanctions on us, without waging a war. How would we survive under those circumstances?”

Jalal Talabani (1933–2017) Iraqi politician

Turkish Daily News staff (September 14, 2007) "Talabani: War against Turkey equal to war against democracy", Turkish Daily News.

James K. Morrow photo
Margaret Thatcher photo

“I am not sure what is meant by those who say that the Party should return to something called "One Nation Conservatism". As far as I can tell by their views on European federalism, such people's creed would be better described as "No Nation Conservatism".”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Keith Joseph Memorial Lecture (11 January 1996) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108353
Post-Prime Ministerial

Edgar Rice Burroughs photo
Noam Chomsky photo
Melanie Joy photo
Elizabeth May photo
Harriet Harman photo

“While the happy couple are enjoying the thrill of the rose garden, the in-laws are saying that they are just not right for each other. We keep telling them that they cannot pay couples to stay together, and it is clear that it will take more than a three-quid-a-week tax break to keep this marriage together.”

Harriet Harman (1950) British politician

During the Queen's Speech Debate, on the newly formed Coalition Government and their policy to provide a tax break to married couples http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100525/debtext/100525-0002.htm#10052511000378, 25 May 2010.

Sri Aurobindo photo
William Luther Pierce photo
Alan M. Dershowitz photo
Ryan Adams photo

“If I could tell you something, I would tell you it all”

Ryan Adams (1974) American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter

Cracks in the Photograph
29 (2005)

Pope Benedict XVI photo
Sara Bareilles photo

“Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare
Tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?”

Sara Bareilles (1979) American pop rock singer-songwriter and pianist

"King of Anything"
Lyrics, Kaleidoscope Heart (2009)

Gwyneth Paltrow photo
Stella Adler photo

“The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation.”

Stella Adler (1901–1992) American actress and teaching coach

Quoted in Joan E. Kole, "Theatre and Aging" (2009), p. 1

“That is the best story he could find in his life, never mind if it's the truest: an artist's duty is always to tell the best story.”

Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) English-American novelist and essayist

"V. S. Pritchett: Midnight Oil," p. 227
The Good Word & Other Words (1978)

Rose Wilder Lane photo
Rand Paul photo
George W. Bush photo

“I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq… And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by God I'm gonna do it.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

According to Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath, said by Bush to him, apparently in the same June 2003 meeting, as reported by BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4317498.stm. Shaath later clarified this with "We understood that he was illustrating [in his comments] his strong faith and his belief that this is what God wanted." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4320586.stm, i.e. Shaath didn't take Bush's statement literally.
Denied by White House spokesperson Scott McClellan, October 6, 2005. Denied also by Mahmoud Abbas, who attended the meeting in question. Abbas said "This report is not true. I have never heard President Bush talking about religion as a reason behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush has never mentioned that in front of me on any occasion and specifically not during my visit in 2003." http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/abbas-denies-bushs-mission-from-god-remark/2005/10/08/1128563027485.html.
Attributed, Disputed

John McCain photo