The Quotes canon
Sourced and curated.
Every quote has been curated by hand and carefully authenticated.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Fantasy6 quotes
Not all those who wander are lost. — J.R.R. Tolkien · 1954All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. — J.R.R. Tolkien · 1954I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil. — J.R.R. Tolkien · 1955We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them. — J.R.R. Tolkien · 1937Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill. — J.R.R. Tolkien · 1954Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. — J.R.R. Tolkien · 1954Autobiography and memoir5 quotes
Thou hast the keys of Paradise, oh just, subtle, and mighty opium. — Thomas De Quincey · 1821A duller spectacle this earth of ours has not to show than a rainy Sunday in London. — Thomas De Quincey · 1821I never shied away from love's hugeness but I had no idea that love could be as reliable as the sun. The daily rising of love. — Jeanette Winterson · 2011Justice and judgment lie often a world apart. — Emmeline Pankhurst · 1914We are here not because we are law-breakers. We are here in our efforts to become law-makers. — Emmeline Pankhurst · 1914Philosophical literature4 quotes
We are paternalists when we make someone act in his own interests. — Derek Parfit · 1984On all plausible theories, everyone’s well-being consists at least in part in being happy, and avoiding suffering. — Derek Parfit · 2011Life can be wonderful as well as terrible, and we shall increasingly have the power to make life good. Since human history may be only just beginning, we can expect that future humans, or supra-humans, may achieve some great goods that we cannot now even imagine. In Nietzsche’s words, there has never been such a new dawn and clear horizon, and such an open sea. — Derek Parfit · 2017The part of our moral theory... That covers how we affect future generations... Is the most important part of our moral theory, since the next few centuries will be the most important in human history. — Derek Parfit · 1984Scientific literature3 quotes
What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?...Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? — Stephen Hawking · 1988If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason-for then we would know the mind of God. — Stephen Hawking · 1988In effect, we have redefined the task of science to be the discovery of laws that will enable us to predict events up to the limits set by the uncertainty principle. — Stephen Hawking · 1988Political literature2 quotes
It is humbling to reflect, that in those countries in which the fondness for the mere persons of women is carried to the highest excess, they are slaves; and that their moral and intellectual degradation increases in direct proportion to the adoration which is paid to mere external charms. — Hannah More · 1799Never lose your temper with the Press or the public is a major rule of political life. — Christabel Pankhurst · 1959Political speech2 quotes
For the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. — Neville Chamberlain · 1938In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers. — Neville Chamberlain · 1938Religious literature2 quotes
Whether a Million of Angels may not sit upon a needle's point? — William Chillingworth · 1637Whether we consider the manual industry of the poor, or the intellectual exertions of the superior classes, we shall find that diligent occupation, if not criminally perverted from its end, is at once the instrument of virtue and the secret of happiness. Man cannot be safely trusted with a life of leisure. — Hannah More · 1813