20th century

Explore 4282 quotes from the 20th century

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I See the Promised Land

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Topic

Civil rights Political progress

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

I See the Promised Land

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” 3 Apr. 1968, Mason Temple, Memphis, TN, USA.

Women always ready to settle down. Shit, a woman goes on four good dates, she's like "Why are we bullshittin'? What are you waiting for?" Men—never ready to settle down. Men don't settle down. We surrender.

Chris Rock

Bring the Pain

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Topic

Gender relations Men and women Relationships

Speaker

Chris Rock

Source

Bring the Pain

Medium

Comedy special

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rock, Chris. Chris Rock: Bring the Pain. HBO, 1 June 1996.

The world must be made safe for democracy.

Woodrow Wilson

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Topic

America and the world International politics

Speaker

Woodrow Wilson

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. Address to congress requesting a declaration of war against Germany. Congress meeting. 2 Apr. 1917, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. "Address to a Joint Session of Congress Calling for a Declaration of War." Woodrow Wilson: Essential Writings and Speeches of the Scholar-President, edited by Mario R. DiNunzio. New York University Press, 2006.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

Gil Scott-Heron

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Topic

Revolution

Author

Gil Scott-Heron

Medium

Slogan

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Slogan among the Black Power movements. c. 1960.

I desire to press in my arms the loveliness which has not yet come into the world.

James Joyce

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

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Topic

Desire Hope

Author

James Joyce

Source

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Medium

Novel

Genre

Modernist literature

Language

English

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Joyce, James. "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." The Egoist, 2 Feb. 1914 - 1 Sept. 1915.

Current Citation

Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, edited by Seamus Deane. Penguin Classics, 2003, ch. 5.

We got some platonic friends. I got some, but they're all by accident. Every platonic friend I got is some woman I was tryin' to fuck, I made a wrong turn somewhere, and ended up in the friend zone.

Chris Rock

Chris Rock: Bring the Pain

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Topic

Friendship between men and women

Speaker

Chris Rock

Source

Chris Rock: Bring the Pain

Medium

Comedy special

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rock, Chris. Chris Rock: Bring the Pain. HBO, 1 June 1996.

It is not rebellion itself that is noble, but its aims, even though its achievements are at times ignoble.

Albert Camus

The Rebel

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Topic

Rebellion Resisting authority

Author

Albert Camus

Source

The Rebel

Medium

Novel

Genre

Political literature

Language

French

Time

1947 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Camus, Albert. L'Homme Revolte [The Rebel]. Gallimard, 1951.

Cash rules everything around me
C. R. E. A. M., get the money
Dollar dollar bill, y'all

Wu-Tang Clan

C.R.E.A.M.

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Topic

Accumulation of wealth Money

Speaker

Wu-Tang Clan

Source

C.R.E.A.M. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Medium

Song

Genre

Hip-hop

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wu-Tang Clan. "C.R.E.A.M." Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Loud Records/RCA Records, 1993.

Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son.

Darth Vader

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

To Luke Skywalker.

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Topic

Fathers and sons

Speaker

Darth Vader

Actor

David Prowse

Source

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) Science fiction (film) Epic Science fiction

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Directed by Irvin Kershner, Lucasfilm Ltd., 1980.

Drug dealers don't sell drugs. Drugs sell themselves. It's crack. It's not an encyclopedia. It's not a fuckin' vacuum cleaner. You don't really gotta try to sell crack, ok? I never heard a crack dealer goin' "Man, how'm I gonna get rid of all this crack?!"

Chris Rock

Bring the Pain

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Topic

Selling drugs Drugs

Speaker

Chris Rock

Source

Bring the Pain

Medium

Comedy special

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rock, Chris. Chris Rock: Bring the Pain. HBO, 1 June 1996.

Now, I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard.

Al Pacino

Scent of a Woman

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Topic

Doing the right thing

Speaker

Lt. Col. Frank Slade

Actor

Al Pacino

Source

Scent of a Woman

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Scent of a Woman. Directed by Martin Brest, City Lights Films, 1992.

A bunch of girls like: "You don’t need no man to help you raise no child. You don't need no man." Shut the fuck up with the bullshit. Yeah, you could do it without a man but that don’t mean it’s to be done. Shit, you could drive a car with your feet if you want to. That don’t make it a good fuckin' idea.

Chris Rock

Bigger & Blacker

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Topic

Raising kids Fathers

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.

Terminate...with extreme prejudice.

Apocalypse Now

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Topic

War

Speaker

Civilian

Actor

Jerry Ziesmer

Source

Apocalypse Now

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological drama (film) War (film) Psychological drama War

Statement Type

Orders and commands

Language

English

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Apocolypse Now. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Omni Zoetrope, 1979.

One writes of scars healed, a loose parallel to the pathology of the skin, but there is no such thing in the life of an individual. There are open wounds, shrunk sometimes to the size of a pin-prick but wounds still. The marks of suffering are more comparable to the loss of a finger, or of the sight of an eye. We may not miss them, either, for one minute in a year, but if we should there is nothing to be done about it.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tender is the Night

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Topic

Emotional scars

Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source

Tender is the Night

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1934 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Tender is the Night." Scribner's Magazine, Jan. 1934 - Apr. 1934.

Current Citation

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Tender is the Night. Scribners, 1995, ch. 14.

A most conventional way to rise above the conventional.

Vladimir Nabokov

More information about this quote

Topic

Infidelity

Speaker

Vladimir Nabokov

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Nabokov, Vladimir. Talking about the novel Madame Bovary. c. 1948, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. Lecture.

Current Citation

Nabokov, Vladimir. "Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary." Lectures on Literature, edited by Fredson Bowers. Mariner Books, 2002.

I desire the things which will destroy me in the end.

Sylvia Plath

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-destruction Destructive impulses

Author

Sylvia Plath

Medium

Personal journal

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Plath, Sylvia. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962, edited by Karen V Kukil. Anchor Books, 2000. Originally a journal entry, 29 Mar. 1951.

All the steam in the world could not, like the Virgin, build Chartres.

Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams

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Topic

Technological progress Downsides of progress Disenchanted world

Author

Henry Adams

Source

The Education of Henry Adams

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. 1907, ch. 25.

Current Citation

Adams, Henry. "The Education of Henry Adams." Henry Adams: Democracy, Esther, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, The Education of Henry Adams, edited by Ernest Samuels and Jayne Samuels. Library of America, 1983, ch. 25.

I hope I die before I get old.

The Who

My Generation

More information about this quote

Topic

Old age

Speaker

The Who

Source

My Generation

Medium

Song

Genre

Rock music

Statement Type

Wish

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Townshend, Peter. My Generation. Performed by The Who. Brunswick Records, 1965.

Eventually it comes to you: the thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely.

Lorraine Hansberry

More information about this quote

Topic

Uniqueness of each person

Author

Lorraine Hansberry

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hansberry, Lorraine. Diary entry. 1 May 1962.

In a racially divided society majority rule is not a reliable instrument of democracy.

Lani Guinier

More information about this quote

Topic

Democratic theory Democracy

Author

Lani Guinier

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Guinier, Lani. "Second Proms and Second Primaries." Boston Review, 1 Sept. 1992.