1950s

Explore 388 quotes from the 1950s

America, I've given you all and now I'm nothing.

Allen Ginsberg

America (poem)

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Topic

American life America American politics

Author

Allen Ginsberg

Source

America (poem)

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Lament

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Ginsberg, Allen. "America." Howl and Other Poems. City Lights, 1956.

Don't be in a hurry. You'll miss the best parts in life.

Around the World in 80 Days

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Topic

Slowing down Purpose of life Life

Speaker

Saloon hostess

Actor

Marlene Dietrich

Source

Around the World in 80 Days

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) Adventure comedy (film) Epic Adventure comedy

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Around the World in 80 Days. Directed by Michael Anderson, Michael Todd Company, 1956.

We must make an idol of our fear, and that idol we shall call god.

The Seventh Seal

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Topic

Fear Nature of God God

Speaker

Antonius Block

Actor

Max von Sydow

Source

The Seventh Seal

Medium

Film

Genre

Fantasy drama (film) Drama (film) Fantasy drama Drama

Language

Swedish

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Det sjunde inseglet [The Seventh Seal]. Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Svensk Filmindustri, 1957.

As it happens, there are particular aspects of my life to which I would like to maintain sole and exclusive rights and privileges.

All About Eve

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Topic

Privacy

Speaker

Margo

Actor

Bette Davis

Source

All About Eve

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

All About Eve. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 20th Century Fox, 1950.

Rest and be kind, you don't have to prove anything.

Jack Kerouac

The Dharma Bums

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Topic

Nothing to prove Self-acceptance Kindness

Author

Jack Kerouac

Source

The Dharma Bums

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. Viking Press, 1958, ch. 11.

Death visited me this morning. We are playing chess together.

The Seventh Seal

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Topic

Grim reaper Death Chess

Speaker

Antonius Block

Actor

Max von Sydow

Source

The Seventh Seal

Medium

Film

Genre

Fantasy drama (film) Drama (film) Fantasy drama Drama

Language

Swedish

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Det sjunde inseglet [The Seventh Seal]. Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Svensk Filmindustri, 1957.

To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.

Theodor Adorno

Kulturkritik und Gesellschaft

More information about this quote

Topic

Poetry Auschwitz The Holocaust

Author

Theodor Adorno

Source

Kulturkritik und Gesellschaft

Medium

Essay

Language

German

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Adorno, Theodor. "Kulturkritik und Gesellschaft [An Essay on Cultural Criticism and Society]." Prismen, GS 10.1, 1955. Reprinted in Prisms, translated by Samuel and Shierry Weber. MIT Press, 1967.

The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her.

North by Northwest

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Topic

Beautiful women Pursuing women

Speaker

Roger Thornhill

Actor

Cary Grant

Source

North by Northwest

Medium

Film

Genre

Spy (film) Thriller (film) Spy Thriller

Language

English

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

North by Northwest. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1959.

McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeves rolled.

Joseph McCarthy

More information about this quote

Topic

Red Scare Cold War Communism American politics

Speaker

Joseph McCarthy

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1952 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

McCarthy, Joseph. Speech in Wisconsin. c. 1952. Wisconsin, USA.

Every man's ready for marriage when the right girl comes along.

Rear Window

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Topic

Marriage Men and women

Speaker

Stella

Actor

Thelma Ritter

Source

Rear Window

Medium

Film

Genre

Mystery (film) Thriller (film) Mystery Thriller

Language

English

Time

1954 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rear Window. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Patron Inc., 1954.

Funny how gentle people get with you once you're dead.

Sunset Boulevard

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Topic

Speaking ill of the dead Death

Speaker

Joe Gillis

Actor

William Holden

Source

Sunset Boulevard

Medium

Film

Genre

Film noir Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sunset Boulevard. Directed by Billy Wilder, Paramount Pictures, 1950.

If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose—because it contains all the others—the fact that they were the people who created the phrase 'to make money.' No other language or nation had ever used these words before... Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created.

Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged

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Topic

American character Americans

Speaker

Francisco d'Anconia

Author

Ayn Rand

Source

Atlas Shrugged

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. Random House, 1957, pt. 2, ch. 2.

For all at last returns to the sea...the beginning and the end.

Rachel Carson

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Topic

Ocean and sea Circle of life

Author

Rachel Carson

Source

The Sea Around Us

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Carson, Rachel. The Sea Around Us. Oxford University Press, 1951, pt. 3.

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

Ernest Hemingway

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Topic

Paris Expatriates Memories

Author

Ernest Hemingway

Medium

Remark

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hemingway, Ernest. Remark to Aaron Hotchner. c. 1950.

Current Citation

Hemingway, Ernest. Quoted in A Moveable Feast. Scribners, 2010, foreword.

I love mankind…it's people I can't stand!!

Linus

Quoted in Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz

More information about this quote

Topic

Misanthropy

Speaker

Linus

Author

Charles M. Schulz

Source

Peanuts

Medium

Comic strip

Language

English

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Schulz, Charles M. Peanuts. Comic strip. 12 Nov. 1959.

Noble life demands a noble architecture for noble uses of noble men.

Frank Lloyd Wright

More information about this quote

Topic

Architecture

Author

Frank Lloyd Wright

Source

The Living City

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wright. Frank Lloyd. The Living City. Horizon Press, 1958.

The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.

Vladimir Nabokov

Speak, Memory

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Topic

The human condition Brevity of life Nature of life

Author

Vladimir Nabokov

Source

Speak, Memory

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Nabokov, Vladimir. Speak, Memory. Victor Gollancz, 1951, ch. 1.

When the rich wage war it's the poor who die.

Jean-Paul Sartre

More information about this quote

Topic

War Rich vs. poor

Speaker

Nasti

Author

Jean-Paul Sartre

Source

The Devil and the Good Lord

Medium

Play

Statement Type

Irony

Language

French

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Sartre, Jean-Paul. Le Diable et le be Dieu [The Devil and the Good Lord]. Directed by Louis Jouvet. 7 June 1951, Théâtre Antoine, Paris, France.

Current Citation

Sartre, Jean-Paul. "The Devil & the Good Lord." The Devil & the Good Lord and Two Other Plays, translated by Kitty Black. Vintage, 1962.

If I had one day when I didn't have to be all confused and I didn't have to feel that I was ashamed of everything. If I felt that I belonged someplace.

Rebel Without a Cause

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Topic

Alienation Belonging

Speaker

Jim Stark

Actor

James Dean

Source

Rebel Without a Cause

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rebel Without a Cause. Directed by Nicholas Ray, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1955.

There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself.

Raymond Chandler

The Long Goodbye

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More information about this quote

Topic

Self-sabotage

Author

Raymond Chandler

Source

The Long Goodbye

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chandler, Raymond. The Long Goodbye. Hamish Hamilton/Houghton Mifflin, 1953, ch. 12.