Europe

Explore 4622 quotes by people from Europe

Time, the devourer of all things.

Ovid

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Topic

Effects of time Relentlessness of time Time

Author

Ovid

Source

Metamorphoses

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Latin

Time

8 0s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Ovid. Metamorphōsēs [Metamorphoses]. c. 8 CE, bk. 15, l. 234.

Current Citation

Ovid. Metamorphoses, translated by David Raeburn. Penguin Classics, 2004, bk. 15, l. 234.

Then one day there really was a wolf but when the boy shouted, they didn't believe him.

Aesop

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

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Topic

False alarms Alarmism

Author

Aesop

Source

The Boy Who Cried Wolf Aesop's Fables

Medium

Fable and fairytale

Genre

Children's literature

Language

Greek

Time

6th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Aesop. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." Aesop's Fables. c. 600.

Current Citation

Aesop. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." Aesop's Fables. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.

Aristotle

Politics

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Topic

Economic inequality Decline of democracy Tyranny

Author

Aristotle

Source

Politics

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

350 BC 350s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Aristotle. Politics. 4th century BC, bk. 4.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Politics, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 4.

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

William Blake

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

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Topic

Elegance of nature Birds Nature Limitations and constraints Human potential

Author

William Blake

Source

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1793 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Blake, William. "The Argument." The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. c. 1790.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, edited by David V. Erdman. University of California Press, 2008.

Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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Topic

Military strategy

Author

Napoleon Bonaparte

Source

History of Europe

Language

French

Time

1805 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bonaparte, Napoleon. Quoted in History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815, written by Archibald Alison. Vol. 5, Paris: Baudry's European Library, 1841.

Moreover, in a system of two bodies mutually acting upon each other, since the differences between their centres and the common centre of gravity of both are reciprocally as the bodies, the relative motions of those bodies, whether of approaching to or of receding from that centre, will be equal junong themselves. Therefore since the changes which happen to motions are equal and directed to contrary parts.

Isaac Newton

Principia

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Topic

Cause and effect Laws of physics Physics Science

Author

Isaac Newton

Source

Principia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Latin

Time

1687 1680s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axiomata sive Leges Motus: [Axioms, or Laws of Motion]." Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy], vol. 1. London: Josephi Streater, 1687, law 3.

Current Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axioms, or the Laws of Motion." The Principia, translated by Andrew Motte. Prometheus, 1995, law 3.

My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

Thomas Paine

Rights of Man

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Topic

Citizens of the world Religion

Author

Thomas Paine

Source

Rights of Man

Genre

Philosophical literature Political literature

Language

English

Time

1792 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Paine, Thomas. Rights of man. Part the second. London: J. S. Jordan, 1792.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "Rights of Man Part the second." Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, edited by Mark Philp. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world…it is the opium of the people.

Karl Marx

Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of religion Religion

Author

Karl Marx

Source

Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl. Zur Kritik der Hegelschen Rechtspilosophie [On the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law]. Frankfurt, 1927.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl. A Critique of Hegel's "Philosophy of Right". Cambridge University Press, 2009.

This is hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

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Topic

Generosity Nature of love

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

German

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen [Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1884, pt. 2.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Nietzsche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, edited by Robert Pippin, translated by Adrian Del Caro. Cambridge University Press, 2006, pt. 2.

If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?

Voltaire

Candide

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Topic

Problem of evil

Author

Voltaire

Source

Candide

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Statement Type

Question

Language

French

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 6.

Between us and excellence, the gods have placed the sweat of our brows.

Hesiod

Works and Days

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Topic

Hard work Excellence Character Virtue The human condition

Author

Hesiod

Source

Works and Days

Medium

Poem

Genre

Didactic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Hesiod. Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι [Works and Days]. c. 700 BC, l. 289.

Current Citation

Hesiod. "Works and Days." Theogony and Works and Days, translated by M. L. West. Oxford University Press, 2009, l. 289.

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable; in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god: the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals-And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Man Human nature The human condition

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 2, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 2.

Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Happiness Freedom Courage

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

Only two things does he anxiously wish for-bread and circuses.

Juvenal

Satires

On the modern (at that time) Roman citizen.

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Topic

The masses Entertainment Purpose of life Decline of civilization

Author

Juvenal

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

127 120s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Juvenal. Satirae [Satires]. c. 127, satire 10.

Current Citation

Juvenal. The Satires, translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford University Press, 2008, satire 10.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Apostle Paul

Romans 10:13

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Topic

Seeking God Salvation

Author

Apostle Paul

Source

Romans The Bible

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Greek

Time

56 50s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (Romans 10:13).

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities

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Topic

Looking back

Author

Charles Dickens

Source

A Tale of Two Cities

Medium

Novel

Genre

Historical literature

Statement Type

Opening lines

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Dickens, Charles. "A Tale of Two Cities." London: Chapman & Hall. April-Nov. 1859. Weekly serial.

Current Citation

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities, edited by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst. W. W. Norton & Company, 2019, bk. 1, ch. 1.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Beyond Good and Evil

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Topic

Dangerous ideas Power of ideas

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

Beyond Good and Evil

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

German

Time

1886 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Jenseits von Gut und Böse: Vorspiel einer Philosophie der Zukunft [Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future]. Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1886, ch. 4, no. 146.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil, translated by R. J. Hollingdale. Penguin Classics, 2003, ch. 4, no. 146.

The traveler with nothing on him sings in the robber’s face.

Juvenal

Satires

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Topic

Traveling lightly Travel

Author

Juvenal

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

Latin

Time

2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Juvenal. Satirae [Satires]. c. 127, satire 10.

Current Citation

Juvenal. The Satires, translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford University Press, 2008, satire 10.

Eureka!

Archimedes

Quoted in De Architectura, by Vitruvius

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Topic

Discovery

Speaker

Archimedes

Author

Vitruvius

Source

De Architectura

Language

Greek

Time

212 BC 210s BC 3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Archimedes. Stated this after stepping into a bath and noticed that the water level rose. c. 212 BC.

Current Citation

Archimedes. Quoted in Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius, translated by Morris Hicky Morgan. Dover Publications, 1960.

All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.

Voltaire

Candide

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Topic

Problem of evil Nature of the world The world

Speaker

Pangloss

Author

Voltaire

Source

Candide

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

French

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 1.