20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

I swear to the Lord
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.

Langston Hughes

The Black Man Speaks

More information about this quote

Topic

Jim Crow Black experience

Author

Langston Hughes

Source

The Black Man Speaks

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hughes, Langston. "The Black Man Speaks." Jim Crow’s Last Stand. Negro Publications Society of America, 1943, I. 1.

It is both historically and biologically true that there can be no birth and growth without birth and growing pains. Whenever there is the emergence of the new we confront the recalcitrance of the old. So the tensions which we witness in the world today are indicative of the fact that a new world order is being born and an old order is passing away.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

More information about this quote

Topic

Circle of life Resistance to change Change

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Facing the Challenge of a New Age." First Annual Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change meeting. 3 Dec. 1956, Montgomery, AL, USA.

The ego's relation to the id might be compared with that of a rider to his horse. The horse supplies the locomotive energy, while the rider has the privilege of deciding on the goal and of guiding and powerful animal's movement. But only too often there arises between the ego and the id the not precisely ideal situation of the rider being obliged to guide the horse along the path by which it itself wants to go.

Sigmund Freud

New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

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Author

Sigmund Freud

Source

New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

Genre

Psychological literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

German

Time

1933 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Freud, Sigmund. New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, translated by James Strachey. W. W. Norton & Company, 1990, lecture 31. Originally published as Neue Folge der Vorlesungen zur Einfuhrung in die Psychoanalyse [New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis]. Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1933, lecture 31.

France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war.

Charles de Gaulle

More information about this quote

Topic

French Resistance World War II

Speaker

Charles de Gaulle

Source

To All French

Medium

Poster

Language

French

Time

1940 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

De Gaulle, Charles. A Tous Le Francais [To All Frenchmen]. 3 Aug. 1940.

I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Michael Jordan

More information about this quote

Topic

Success and failure Success Failure

Speaker

Michael Jordan

Medium

TV commercial

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

"Failure." Directed by Mark Romanek. Performed by Michael Jordan. Nike, May 1997.

Peace is much more precious than a piece of land.

Anwar Sadat

More information about this quote

Topic

Israel-Palestine conflict Peace

Speaker

Anwar Sadat

Medium

Interview

Language

Arabic

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Sadat, Anwar. Interview. New York Times, 9 Mar. 1978.

Government action is not the whole answer to the present crisis, but it is an important partial answer. Morals cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. The law cannot make an employer love me, but it can keep him from refusing to hire me because of the color of my skin.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

More information about this quote

Topic

Legality and morality Civil rights

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. Harper & Brothers, 1958, ch. 11.

God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style. He just keeps on trying other things.

Pablo Picasso

More information about this quote

Topic

God and creation

Speaker

Pablo Picasso

Time

1964 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Picasso, Pablo. Quoted in Life with Picasso, written by Francoise Gilot and Carlton Lake. McGraw-Hill, 1964, pt. 1.

The policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science; it is designed to enable a socialist culture to thrive in our land.

Mao Zedong

Read this speech at marxists.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Battle of ideas

Speaker

Mao Zedong

Source

On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Chinese

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Zedong, Mao. "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People." Eleventh Session (Enlarged) of the Supreme State Conference. 27 Feb. 1957, Beijing, China.

Knowledge can be communicated but not wisdom.

Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha

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Read Siddhartha at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Knowledge Wisdom

Speaker

Siddhartha

Author

Hermann Hesse

Source

Siddhartha

Language

German

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha: Eine Indische Dichtung [Siddhartha: An Indian Poetry]. S. Fischer Verlag, 1922.

Current Citation

Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha, translated by Joachim Neugroschel. Penguin Classics, 2002.

Oh yeah, life goes on long after the thrill of livin' is gone.

John Mellencamp

Jack and Diane

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Topic

The best is over Resignation Nature of life

Speaker

John Mellencamp

Source

Jack and Diane American Fool

Medium

Song

Genre

Rock music

Language

English

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mellencamp, John. "Jack and Diane." Performed by John Cougar. American Fool. Riva Records, 1982.

There ain't a white man in this room that would change places with me. None of ya! None of ya would change places with me...and I'm rich! That's how good it is to be white.

Chris Rock

Bigger & Blacker

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Read the full transcript of this special at scrapsfromtheloft.com

More information about this quote

Topic

White privilege

Speaker

Chris Rock

Source

Bigger & Blacker

Medium

Comedy special

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rock, Chris. Bigger & Blacker. HBO, 10 July 1999.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"

John F. Kennedy

More information about this quote

Topic

Cold War

Speaker

John F. Kennedy

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kennedy, John F. "Ich bin ein Berliner." 26 June 1963, Rathaus Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany.

A single sentence will suffice for modern man: he fornicated and read the papers.

Albert Camus

The Fall

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More information about this quote

Topic

Modern life

Author

Albert Camus

Source

The Fall

Medium

Novel

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Camus, Albert. La Chute [The Fall]. Editions Gallimard, 1956.

You could be the baddest mama on earth. I don’t give a fuck how good you are. Ain't nothing you can say more powerful than, "I’m gonna tell your daddy."

Chris Rock

Bigger & Blacker

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Read the full transcript of this special at scrapsfromtheloft.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Fathers and children

Speaker

Chris Rock

Source

Bigger & Blacker

Medium

Comedy special

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rock, Chris. Bigger & Blacker. HBO, 10 July 1999.

This war did not bear the characteristics of the previous conflicts among the European nations to which we were accustomed. To an ever increasing degree it began to be generally realized that the reasons for this conflict were no longer to be sought in the usual interests even if plausible of the various nations, but that in reality it was one of those elementary struggles which shaking the foundations of the world but once in a thousand years, introduce a new millennium.

Adolf Hitler

Speech to the Reichstag, April 26, 1942

More information about this quote

Topic

World War II

Speaker

Adolf Hitler

Source

Speech to the Reichstag, April 26, 1942

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

German

Time

1942 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Hitler, Adolf. Speech to the Reichstag. 26 Apr. 1942, Kroll Opera House, Berlin, Germany.

I propose to consider the question, "Can machines think?"

Alan Turing

Computing Machinery and Intelligence

More information about this quote

Topic

Artificial intelligence

Author

Alan Turing

Source

Computing Machinery and Intelligence

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Turing, Alan. "Computing Machinery and Intelligence." Mind. Oxford University Press, 1950.

The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man.

Jose Ortega y Gasset

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Topic

Language

Author

Jose Ortega y Gasset

Medium

Essay

Language

Spanish

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Ortega y Gasset, Jose. La deshumanización del Arte e Ideas sobre la novela [The Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel]. Revista de Occidente, 1925.

Current Citation

Ortega y Gasset, Jose. "The Dehumanization of Art." The Dehumanization of Art, and Other Essays on Art, Culture, and Literature, translated by Helene Weyl. Princeton University Press, 2019.

The bonds between ourselves and another person exist only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by which we want to be duped and which, out of love, friendship, politeness, deference, duty, we dupe other people, we exist alone. Man is the creature who cannot escape from himself, who knows other people only in himself, and when he asserts the contrary, he is lying.

Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time

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Topic

Existential solitude Connecting with others Isolation The human condition

Author

Marcel Proust

Source

The Fugitive In Search of Lost Time

Medium

Novel

Genre

Modernist literature

Language

French

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Proust, Marcel. Albertine disparue [Albertine Gone]. Paris: Gallimard, 1927.

Current Citation

Proust, Marcel. The Fugitive, edited and translated by Peter Collier. Penguin Classics, 2021.

In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for victory.

Douglas MacArthur

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Speaker

Douglas MacArthur

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

MacArthur, Douglas. Address to a Joint Meeting of Congress. House of Representatives. 19 Apr. 1951, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.