1980s

Explore 532 quotes from the 1980s

Because violence can only breed more violence and suffering, our struggle must remain nonviolent and free of hatred. We are trying to end the suffering of our people, not to inflict suffering on others.

Dalai Lama

More information about this quote

Topic

Reducing suffering Cycle of violence

Speaker

Dalai Lama

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lama, Dalai. Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. 10 Dec. 1989, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

They come from the end of the line, most of 'em—small towns you never heard of: Pulaski, Tennessee; Brandon, Mississippi; Pork Bend, Utah; Wampum, Pennsylvania. Two years' high school's about it. Maybe if they're lucky, a job waiting for them back in a factory. But most of 'em got nothing. They're poor. They're the unwanted. Yet they're fighting for our society and our freedom. It's weird, isn't it? At the bottom of the barrel, they know it. Maybe that's why they call themselves "grunts", 'cause a grunt can take it—can take anything.

Platoon

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Topic

Soldiers Vietnam War

Speaker

Chris

Actor

Charlie Sheen

Source

Platoon

Medium

Film

Genre

War (film) War

Language

English

Time

1986 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Platoon. Directed by Oliver Stone, Hemdale Film Corporation, 1986.

Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.

Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

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More information about this quote

Topic

Love Melancholy

Author

Milan Kundera

Source

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Medium

Novel

Language

Czech

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kundera, Milan. L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être [The Unbearable Lightness of Being]. Gallimard, 1984.

Current Citation

Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, translated by Michael Henry Heim. Harper Perennial, 2009.

Nothing is worse than having an itch you can never scratch!

Blade Runner

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Topic

Powerlessness

Speaker

Leon Kowalski

Actor

Brion James

Source

Blade Runner

Medium

Film

Genre

Dystopian (film) Science fiction (film) Dystopian Science fiction

Language

English

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott, The Ladd Company/Blade Runner Partnership/Shaw Brothers Studio, 1982.

There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.

Orson Welles

More information about this quote

Topic

Flying

Speaker

Orson Welles

Source

The Times

Medium

Interview Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Welles, Orson. Interview to celebrate his 70th birthday. The Times, 6 May 1985.

I love anything full contact. I need a few more scars on my face.

Bloodsport

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Topic

Willingness to fight

Speaker

Jackson

Actor

Donald Gibb

Source

Bloodsport

Medium

Film

Genre

Martial arts (film) Action (film) Martial arts Action

Language

English

Time

1988 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bloodsport. Directed by Newt Arnold, Cannon Films, 1988.

In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenity that, as far as we know, is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.

Ralphie Parker

A Christmas Story

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More information about this quote

Topic

Swearing

Speaker

Ralphie Parker

Actor

Peter Billingsley

Source

A Christmas Story

Medium

Film

Genre

Christmas movie Comedy (film) Christmas Comedy

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

A Christmas Story. Directed by Bob Clark, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1983.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

Thich Nhat Hanh

More information about this quote

Topic

Open-mindedness Revelation Acceptance

Author

Thich Nhat Hanh

Source

Being Peace

Genre

Religious literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hanh, Thich Nhat. Being Peace. Parallax Press, 1987.

We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.

The Breakfast Club

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Topic

Idiosyncrasies Feeling different

Speaker

Andrew Clark

Actor

Emilio Estevez

Source

The Breakfast Club

Medium

Film

Genre

Teen (film) Coming of age (film) Teen Coming of age

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Breakfast Club. Directed by John Hughes, A&M Films/Channel Productions, 1985.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.

Barbara W. Tuchman

More information about this quote

Topic

Books

Author

Barbara W. Tuchman

Source

The Washington Post

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tuchman, Barbara. "Papyrus to Paperbacks: The World that Books Made." The Washington Post, 30 Dec. 1979.

I woke up in a great mood. I don’t know what happened.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

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Topic

Good mood Optimism

Speaker

Mike Damone

Actor

Robert Romanus

Source

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Comedy (drama) Coming of age Comedy drama

Language

English

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Directed by Amy Heckerling,Refugee Films, 1982.

Fashion is more usually a gentle progression of revisited ideas.

Bruce Oldfield

More information about this quote

Topic

Fashion

Author

Bruce Oldfield

Source

Independent

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Oldfield, Bruce. The Independent. 9 Sept. 1989.

It's an odd feeling, farewell. There is some envy in it. Men go off to be tested, for courage. And if we're tested at all, it's for patience, for doing without, but for how well we can endure loneliness.

Out of Africa

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Topic

Saying goodbye War

Speaker

Karen

Actor

Meryl Streep

Source

Out of Africa

Medium

Film

Genre

Romantic drama (film) Epic (film) Romantic drama Epic

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Out of Africa. Directed by Sydney Pollack, Mirage Enterprises, 1985.

A cult is a religion with no political power.

Tom Wolfe

More information about this quote

Topic

Cults Religion

Author

Tom Wolfe

Source

In Our Time

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wolfe, Tom. "Entr'actes and Canapes." In Our Time. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1980.

I always say, religion is a fine thing, taken in moderation.

Trading Places

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More information about this quote

Topic

Religion

Speaker

Coleman

Actor

Denholm Elliott

Source

Trading Places

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy

Language

English

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Trading Places. Directed by John Landis, Paramount Pictures Studios/Cinema Group Ventures, 1983.

A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the Dark Side. Anger, fear, aggression. The Dark Side of the force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.

Yoda

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

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More information about this quote

Topic

Temptation of evil The Dark Side Decisions and choices

Speaker

Yoda

Actor

Frank Oz

Source

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Medium

Film

Genre

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

Language

English

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. Directed by Richard Marquand, Lucasfilm Ltd., 1983.

The horse was watching, out there past men's knowing, where stars are drowning and whales ferry their vast souls through the black and seamless sea.

Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West

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Author

Cormac McCarthy

Source

Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West

Medium

Novel

Genre

Western literature

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West. Random House, 1985, ch. 21.

Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.

Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West

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Topic

Man and the universe

Author

Cormac McCarthy

Source

Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West

Medium

Novel

Genre

Western literature

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West. Random House, 1985, ch. 14.

Best advice I ever got was an old friend mine, a black friend, who said you have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all.

James Baldwin

More information about this quote

Topic

Following your heart Being true to oneself Authenticity Life

Speaker

James Baldwin

Source

Village Voice

Medium

Interview Newspaper

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Baldwin, James. Quoted in "Go the Way Your Blood Beats." Interviewed by Richard Goldstein. Village Voice, 26 June 1984.

Current Citation

Baldwin, James. "Go the Way Your Blood Beats." James Baldwin: The Last Interview and Other Interviews. Melville House, 2014.

A new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn. For in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like the leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree.

George H.W. Bush

Inaugural Address of George H.W. Bush

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Topic

Cold War Soviet Union

Speaker

George H.W. Bush

Source

Inaugural Address of George H.W. Bush Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bush, George H. W. "Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1989, West Front, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.