Famous Quotations / Quotes
Famous Quotes
 

 Click on the name to open the full quote and the details about the quote's origin. Quotes are also grouped by Category and Author.  
 


The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

A classic since 1953 with over 20,000 quotes from over 3,000 authors.


Famous Last Words

Apt Observations, Pleas, Curses, Benedictions, Sour Notes, Bons Mots, and Insights from People on the Brink of Departure


Stretch Your Wings

Famous Black Quotations for the Young


American Quotations

An exhaustive collection of profound quotes from the founding fathers, presidents, statesmen, scientists, constitutions, court decisions


The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations


Last Words of Saints and Sinners

700 Final Quotes from the Famous, the Infamous, and the Inspiring Figures of History


America's God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations

Contains over 2,100 profound quotations from founding fathers, presidents, constitutions, court decisions and more


The Law

This 1850 classic is an absolute must read for anyone interested in law, justice, truth, or liberty. A most compelling and revolutionary look at The Law.


Bartlett's Familiar Quotations

A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (17th Edition)


The Stupidest Things Ever Said by Politicians

Rise up, America -- and laugh out loud at the greatest gaffes that no spin doctor could possibly fix!


The 776 Even Stupider Things Ever Said

Another great collection of stupidity


Quotable Quotes

Wit and Wisdom for All Occasions from America's Most Popular Magazine


The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time

You don't have to be a genius to sound like one. Here's a collection of the most profound and provocative wit and wisdom in the English language in two lines or less.


2,715 One-Line Quotations for Speakers, Writers & Raconteurs

Invaluable sampler of witticisms, epigrams, sayings, bon mots, platitudes and insights chosen for their brevity and pithiness.


Phillips' Book of Great Thoughts Funny Sayings

A stupendous collection of quotes, quips, epigrams, witticisms, and humorous comments for personal enjoyment and ready reference.


Quick Quips and Quotes; 532 Things I Wish I Had Said

Quick Quips and Quotes is the Ultimate Collection of one liners.


Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes

The ultimate anthology of anecdotes, now revised with over 700 new entries.


Quotations for Public Speakers

A Historical, Literary, and Political Anthology


Liberty - The American Revolution

This compelling series traces the events leading up to the war and America's fight for freedom.


Founding Fathers

The story of how these disparate characters fomented rebellion in the colonies, formed the Continental Congress, fought the Revolutionary War, and wrote the Constitution


Libertarianism: A Primer

David Boaz, director of the Cato Institute, has written a simple introduction to Libertarianism inteneded to appeal to disgruntled Democrats and Republicans everywhere.


The Libertarian Reader

Classic and Contemporary Writings from Lao-Tzu to Milton Friedman


Thomas Paine: Collected Writings

All the classics: Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters

 
Willa CatherThe revolt against individualism naturally calls artists severely to account, because the artist is of all men the most individual; those who were not have been long forgotten. 
Catherine of SienaEvery evil, harm and suffering in this life comes from the love of riches. 
CatoBy Liberty I understand the Power which every Man has over his own Actions, and his Right to enjoy the Fruits of his Labour, Art, and Industry, as far as by it he hurts not the Society, or any Members of it, by taking from any Member, or by hindering him from enjoying what he himself enjoys. The Fruits of a Man's honest Industry are the just Rewards of it, ascertained to him by natural and eternal Equity, as is his Title to use them in the Manner which he thinks fit: And thus, with the above Limitations, every Man is sole Lord and Arbitrer of his own private Actions and Property. 
Cato...I know not what treason is, if sapping and betraying the liberties of a people be not treason... 
CatoWithout freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech. 
CatoWhoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing Freedom of Speech... Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech... 
CatoI must own, I know not what Treason is, if sapping and betraying the liberties of a people be not treason, in the eternal and original Nature of Things. 
Cato the YoungerI would not be beholden to a tyrant, for his acts of tyranny. For it is but usurpation in him to save, as their rightful lord, the lives of men over whom he has no title to reign. 
Carrie Chapman CattThere are two kinds of restrictions on human liberty -- the restraint of law and that of custom. No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion. 
Dennis CauchonMost reporters are very sympathetic to gun-control agendas and will skew or lie outright about facts to promote them. 
Domingo CavalloEach peso [or dollar] is a contract between the government and the peso holder. That contract guarantees that each peso -- as a unit of value that the holder has worked hard to get -- will be worth as much tomorrow as today. If the government breaks the contract, it's breaking the law. The only role of government in the economy should be to guarantee the integrity of market transactions. 
Dick CavettThere’s so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the streets? 
Dick CavettAs long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it. 
Neil CavutoIt's about food. It’s about your home. It’s about your life. The government is worried about all of the above. All I’m saying is you should be worried they’re worried. Here’s why: They’re telling you that you can’t take care of yourself. You can’t be trusted with what you put in your mouth or what you sign on the mortgage dotted line. So they’ll tell you what to put in your mouth and they’ll save you from what you signed on that dotted line. Does anyone see a trend here? Personal responsibility has now become government responsibility. 
Les CelbYou had me on (before) to talk about the new world order ... I talk about it all the time ... It's one world now ... The council (Council on foreign Relations) can find, nurture and begin to put people in the kinds of jobs this country needs. And that's going to be one of the major enterprises of the Council under me.. 
CervantesLiberty is one of the choicest gifts that heaven hath bestowed upon man, and exceeds in value all the treasures which the earth contains within its bosom, or the sea covers. Liberty, as well as honor, man ought to preserve at the hazard of his life, for without it life is insupportable. 
Aimè CèsaireThere's room for everyone at the rendezvous of victory. 
Zechariah Chafee, Jr.Your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man's nose begins.  
Zechariah Chafee, Jr.The real value of freedom is not to the minority that wants to talk but to the majority that does not want to listen. 
Zechariah Chafee, Jr.You make men love their government and their country by giving them the kind of government and the kind of country that inspire respect and love; a country that is free and unafraid, that lets the discontented talk in order to learn the causes of their discontent and end those causes, that refuses to impel men to spy on their neighbors, that protects its citizens vigorously from harmful acts while it leaves the remedies for objectionable ideas to counter-argument and time. 
Zechariah Chafee, Jr.Freedom from something is not enough. It should also be freedom for something. Freedom is not safety but opportunity. Freedom ought to be a means to enable the press to serve the proper functions of communication in a free society. 
Zechariah Chafee, Jr.The real value of freedom is not to the minority that wants to talk, but to the majority that does not want to listen. 
Edmund B. ChaffeeThe majority of us are for free speech when it deals with subjects concerning which we have no intense feelings. 
W. H. ChamberlinOne of the most insidious consequences of the present burden of personal income tax is that it strips many middle-class families of financial reserves. [It] has made the individual vastly more dependent on the State. 
W. H. ChamberlinOne of the most insidious consequences of the present burden of personal income tax is that it strips many middle class families of financial reserves & seems to lend support to campaigns for socialized medicine, socialized housing, socialized food, socialized every thing. The personal income tax has made the individual vastly more dependent on the State & more avid for state hand-outs. It has shifted the balance in America from an individual-centered to a State-centered economic & social system. 
Whittaker ChambersThe rub is that the pursuit of happiness, as an end in itself, tends automatically, and widely, to be replaced by the pursuit of pleasure with a consequent general softening of the fibers of will, intelligence, spirit. 
Nicolas-Sebasstien ChamfortOnly the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes. 
John ChancellorNow the 21st century approaches and with it the inevitability of change. We must wonder if the American people will find renewal and rejuvenation within themselves, will discover again their capacity for innovation and adaptation. If not, alas, the nation's future will be shaped by sightless forces of history over which Americans will have no control. 
Otis ChandlerOnce we start to worry too often and too deeply about what certain individuals and what certain groups think about us, then we might start selling our souls for the sake of expediency. 
Raymond ChandlerThe law isn't justice. It's a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be. 
Raymond ChandlerHe didn't know the right people. That's all a police record means in this rotten crime-ridden country. 
Gabrielle ChanelMoney for me has only one sound: liberty. 
William Ellery ChanningThe only freedom worth possessing is that which gives enlargement to a people's energy, intellect, and virtues. 
William Ellery ChanningThe spirit of liberty is not merely, as multitudes imagine, a jealousy of our own particular rights, but a respect for the rights of others, and an unwillingness that any man, whether high or low, should be wronged and trampled under foot. 
William Ellery ChanningThe cry has been that when war is declared, all opposition should therefore be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country could hardly be propagated. If the doctrine be admitted, rulers have only to declare war and they are screened at once from scrutiny. 
William Ellery ChanningI call the mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers, which calls no man master, which does not content itself with a passive or hereditary faith... 
William Ellery ChanningKnowledge is essential to freedom. 
William Ellery ChanningThe worst tyrants are those which establish themselves in our own breasts. 
William Ellery ChanningUndoubtedly a man is to labor to better his condition, but first to better himself. 
William Ellery ChanningProgress, the growth of power, is the end and boon of liberty; and, without this, a people may have the name, but want the substance and spirit of freedom. 
Edwin Hubbel ChapinNo more duty can be urged upon those who are entering the great theater of life than simple loyalty to their best convictions. 
E. H. ChapinAt the bottom of a good deal of bravery... lurks a miserable cowardice. Men will face powder and steel because they cannot face public opinion. 
John Jay ChapmanAttack another’s rights and you destroy your own. 
Pierre Teilhard de ChardinOur duty, as men and women is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in creation. 
Mona Charen[T]he sprawl of government into every conceivable realm of life has caused the withering of traditional institutions. Fathers become unnecessary if the government provides Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Church charities lose their mission when the government provides food, shelter and income to the poor. And the non-poor no longer feel pressed to provide aid to those in need, be they aged parents or their unfortunate neighbors—“compassion” having become the province of the state. 
Charles IThe people's liberties strengthen the king's prerogative, and the king's prerogative is to defend the people's liberties. 
Charles INever make a defence or apology before you be accused. 
Alexander ChaseThe peak of tolerance is most readily achieved by those who are not burdened by convictions. 
Mary Ellen ChaseManual labor to my father was not only good and decent for it's own sake but, as he was given to saying, it straightened out one's thoughts. 
Justice Salmon ChaseThe legal tender quality [of money] is only valuable for the purposes of dishonesty. 
Salmon P. ChaseIf Congress sees fit to impose a capitation, or other direct tax, it must be laid in proportion to the census; if Congress determines to impose duties, imposts, and excises, they must be uniform throughout the United States. These are not strictly limitations of power. They are rules prescribing the mode in which it shall be exercised. ... This review shows that personal property, contracts, occupations, and the like have never been regarded by Congress as proper subjects of direct tax. 
Samuel ChaseThe jury has the right to determine both the law and the facts. 
Samuel ChaseThe jury has the right to determine both the law and the facts. 
Stuart ChaseFor those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible. 
Dick Cheney (False)It will be necessary for us to be a nation of men, and not laws. 
Dick CheneyThe Middle East, with two-thirds of the world’s oil and lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies. 
Nien Cheng[A]fter unleashing the Red Guards … to serve his political purposes, Mao Zedong was no longer able to control them. 
Nien ChengDay and night the city resounded with the loud noise of drums and gongs … looting and the ransacking of private homes … The violence of the Red Guards seemed to have escalated. … Articles in the newspapers … encouraged the Red Guards and congratulated them on their vandalism. They were … exhorted to be fearless in their work of toppling the old world and building a new one based on Mao’s teachings.  
Nien ChengThe newspaper announced that the mission of the Red Guards was to rid the country of the ‘Four Olds’: old culture, old customs, old habits, and old ways of thinking. There was no clear definition of ‘old’; it was left to the Red Guards to decide. First of all, they changed street names. 
Lord ChesterfieldArbitrary power has seldom... been introduced in any country at once. It must be introduced by slow degrees, and as it were step by step. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonIt was the mystical dogma of Bentham and Adam Smith and the rest, that some of the worst of human passions would turn out to be all for the best. It was the mysterious doctrine that selfishness would do the work of unselfishness. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonThe Byzantines hammered away at their hard and orthodox symbols, because they could not be in a mood to believe that men could take a hint. The moderns drag out into lengths and reels of extravagance their new orthodoxy of being unorthodox, because they also cannot give a hint -- or take a hint. Yet all perfect and well-poised art is really a hint. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonJournalism only tells us what men are doing; it is fiction that tells us what they are thinking, and still more what they are feeling. If a new scientific theory finds the soul of a man in his dreams, at least it ought not to leave out his day-dreams. And all fiction is only a diary of day-dreams instead of days. And this profound preoccupation of men's minds with certain things always eventually has an effect even on the external expression of the age. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonIn the end it will not matter to us whether we fought with flails or reeds. It will matter to us greatly on what side we fought. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonA puritan is a person who pours righteous indignation into the wrong things. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonWhen men have come to the edge of a precipice, it is the lover of life who has the spirit to leap backwards, and only the pessimist who continues to believe in progress. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonThe last few decades have been marked by a special cultivation of the romance of the future. We seem to have made up our minds to misunderstand what has happened; and we turn, with a sort of relief, to stating what will happen-which is apparently much easier...The modern mind is forced towards the future by a certain sense of fatigue, not unmixed with terror, with which it regards the past. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonThe Party System was founded on one national notion of fair play. It was the notion that folly and futility should be fairly divided between both sides. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonBut those dealing in the actual manufacture of mind are dealing in a very explosive material. The material is not merely the clay of which man is master, but the truths or semblances of truth which have a certain mastery over man. The material is explosive because it must be taken seriously. The men writing books really are throwing bombs. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonIt is the beginning of all true criticism of our time to realize that it has really nothing to say, at the very moment when it has invented so tremendous a trumpet for saying it. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonThis is the perpetual and pitiful tragedy of the practical man in practical affairs. He always begins with a flourish of contempt for what he calls theorizing and what people who can do it call thinking. He will not wait for logic--that is, in the most exact sense, he will not listen to reason. It will therefore appear to him an idle and ineffectual proceeding to say that there is a reason for his present failure. Nevertheless, it may be well to say it, and to try and make it clear even to him. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonIt is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonHe is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonWhat is education? Properly speaking, there is no such thing as education. Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. Whatever the soul is like, it will have to be passed on somehow, consciously or unconsciously, and that transition may be called education. ... What we need is to have a culture before we hand it down. In other words, it is a truth, however sad and strange, that we cannot give what we have not got, and cannot teach to other people what we do not know ourselves. 
Gilbert Keith ChestertonThe whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. 


Daily Quotes
Ready to be inspired?
Sign up for a daily dose of Liberty Quotes!
Leave us your email address to subscribe.
Email:

Here's the Daily Quote history.

Quotes
Here's our full collection of famous quotations.

Categories
Browse quotes by category.

Authors
Browse quotes by Author or Speaker.








(c) Copyright 1999-2024