19th century

Explore 1787 quotes from the 19th century

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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Topic

Simple living Introspection Life lessons Purpose of life

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Where I Lived, And What I Lived For Walden

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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Topic

Being true to oneself Taking a different path Individual vs. the collective

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Conclusion Walden

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Conclusion." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Conclusion." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

Always do what you are afraid to do.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays: First Series (Emerson)

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Topic

Facing one's fears Fear Taking risks

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Heroism Essays: First Series (Emerson)

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Heroism." Essays: First Series. Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1841.

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Heroism." The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, edited by Brooks Atkinson. Modern Library, 2000.

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.

Soren Kierkegaard

The Concept of Anxiety

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Topic

Anxiety Freedom

Author

Soren Kierkegaard

Source

The Concept of Anxiety

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Danish

Time

1844 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kierkegaard, Soren. Begrebet Angest [The Concept of Anxiety]. C. A. Reitzel, 1844.

Current Citation

Kierkegaard, Soren. The Concept of Anxiety, translated by Jeanette B L Knox. Mercer University Press, 2008.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for any one else.

Charles Dickens

Our Mutual Friend

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Topic

Helping others

Speaker

The Secretary

Author

Charles Dickens

Source

Our Mutual Friend

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Dickens, Charles. "Our Mutual Friend." All the Year Round. London: Chapman and Hall, May 1865, pt. 13, bk. 3, ch. 9.

Current Citation

Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend, edited by Adrian Poole. Penguin, 1998, bk. 3, ch. 9.

Loyalty to petrified opinions never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.

Mark Twain

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Topic

Conservatism Progress

Speaker

Mark Twain

Source

Consistency (speech) Speeches of Mark Twain

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1884 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Twain, Mark. "Consistency." Hartford Monday Evening Club. 5 Dec. 1884, Hartford, CT, USA.

Current Citation

Twain, Mark. "The Czar's Soliloquy." Collected Nonfiction of Mark Twain. Vol. 1, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2016.

It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.

Abraham Lincoln

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Slavery American Civil War American politics

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him; they crush those beneath them.

Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights

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Topic

Shit rolls downhill Human nature

Speaker

Heathcliff

Author

Emily Brontë

Source

Wuthering Heights

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1847 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Brontë, Emily, [published as Ellis Bell]. Wuthering Heights. Vol. 1, London: Thomas Cautley Newby, 1847, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights, edited by Alexandra Lewis. W. W. Norton & Company, 2019, ch. 11.

Great things are done when men and mountains meet.

William Blake

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Topic

Man and nature Spending time in nature Nature

Author

William Blake

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1807 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Blake, William. The Notebook of William Blake. c. 1811.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "Great things are done when Men & Mountains meet." The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. University of California Press, 2008.

There is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.

Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

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Topic

Man and animals

Author

Herman Melville

Source

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. London: Richard Bentley/New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851, ch. 87.

Current Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick or, The Whale. Penguin Classics, 2002, ch. 87.

I am ashes where once I was fire.

Lord Byron

More information about this quote

Topic

Aging Burnout Loss of passion Passion

Author

Lord Byron

Source

To the Countess of Blessington

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1824 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lord Byron. "To the Countess of Blessington." Letters and Journals. London: J. Johnson, c. 1830.

Current Citation

Lord Byron. "To the Countess of Blessington." Byron: Poems. Everyman's Library, 1994.

All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

Edgar Allan Poe

More information about this quote

Topic

Appearance vs. reality Dreams

Author

Edgar Allan Poe

Source

A Dream within a Dream The Flag of Our Union

Medium

Poem Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1849 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Poe, Edgar Allan. "A Dream Within a Dream." The Flag of Our Union, 31 March 1849, I. 10.

Current Citation

Poe, Edgar Allan. "A Dream Within a Dream." Edgar Allen Poe: Poetry and Tales, edited by Patrick Quinn. Library of America, 1984, l. 10.

Life, what is it but a dream?

Lewis Carroll

Through the Looking-Glass

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Topic

Nature of life

Author

Lewis Carroll

Source

Through the Looking-Glass

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1871 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Carroll, Lewis. Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. London: Macmillan, 1871, ch. 12.

Current Citation

Carroll, Lewis. "Through the Looking-Glass." Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass. Macmillan Collector's Library, 2016, ch. 12.

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

Abraham Lincoln

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

American Civil War God's will Slavery American politics God and America

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.

Susan B. Anthony

More information about this quote

Topic

Women's rights Women's equality Men and women

Author

Susan B. Anthony

Source

The Revolution

Medium

Motto Newspaper

Statement Type

Motto

Language

English

Time

1868 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Anthony, Susan B. The Revolution. 15 Jan. 1868.

Take up the White Man's burden —
Send forth the best ye breed —
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need.

Rudyard Kipling

The White Man's Burden

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Topic

Imperialism

Author

Rudyard Kipling

Source

The White Man's Burden

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1899 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "The White Man's Burden." The Times, 4 Feb. 1899, I. 1.

Current Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "The White Man's Burden." Rudyard Kipling: Stories and Poems, edited by Daniel Karlin. Oxford University Press, 2015, I. 1.

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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Topic

Following your dreams Taking risks Courage Success

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Conclusion Walden

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Conclusion." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Conclusion." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

It is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

Frederick Douglass

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

More information about this quote

Topic

American slavery American Civil War

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Source

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Speech to the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. 5 July 1852, Corinthian Hall, Rochester, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? An Address." Frederick Douglass: Speeches & Writings, edited by David W. Blight. Library of America, 2022.

The State is not "abolished", it withers away.

Friedrich Engels

Anti-Duhring

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Topic

Political theory Communism Government Politics

Author

Friedrich Engels

Source

Anti-Duhring

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Bad predictions Prophecies and predictions

Language

German

Time

1878 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Engels, Frederick. "Herrn Eugen Dührings Umwälzung der Wissenschaft [Herr Eugen Dühring's Revolution in Science]." Vorwärts, 1878.

Current Citation

Engels, Frederick. "Anti-During." Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: Collected Works. Vol. 25, Int Pub Co Inc, 1987, pt. 3, ch. 2.

Our country is the world — our countrymen are all mankind.

William Lloyd Garrison

Quoted in The Liberator

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Topic

Citizens of the world Globalism

Speaker

William Lloyd Garrison

Source

The Liberator

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1837 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Garrison, William Lloyd. Motto of The Liberator. 1831.