The Quotes canon
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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.
Jesus138 quotes
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. — Jesus · 90It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. — Jesus · 60Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. — Jesus · 60So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. — Jesus · 60And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. — Jesus · 60But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. — Jesus · 60All 138 quotes →Muhammad29 quotes
No compulsion is there in religion. — Muhammad · 632In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. — Muhammad · 632God is enough for me: there is no God but He. In him I have put my trust. — Muhammad · 632And do not say, regarding anything, "I am going to do that tomorrow," but only, "If God will." — Muhammad · 632Walk not on the earth exultantly; certainly thou wilt never tear the earth open, nor attain the mountains in height. — Muhammad · 632Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, though you be in raised-up towers. — Muhammad · 632All 29 quotes →Confucius16 quotes
Moral force never dwells in solitude; it will always bring neighbors. — Confucius · 221 BCI for my part am not one of those who have innate knowledge. I am simply one who loves the past and who is diligent in investigating it. — Confucius · 221 BCIs Goodness indeed so far away? If we really wanted Goodness, we should find that it was at our very side. — Confucius · 221 BCIf you desire what is good, the people will be good. The character of a ruler is like wind and that of the people is like grass. In whatever direction the wind blows the grass always bends. — Confucius · 221 BCAt fifteen my mind was set on learning. At thirty my character had been formed. At forty I had no more perplexities. At fifty I knew the Mandate of Heaven. At sixty I was at ease with whatever I heard. At seventy I could follow my heart's desire without transgressing moral principles. — Confucius · 221 BCA gentleman is ashamed to let his words outrun his deeds. — Confucius · 221 BCAll 16 quotes →Rudyard Kipling14 quotes
East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. — Rudyard Kipling · 1889Take up the White Man's burden —
Send forth the best ye breed —
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need. — Rudyard Kipling · 1899They change their skies above them,
But not their hearts that roam! — Rudyard Kipling · 1895If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied. — Rudyard Kipling · 1919I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who. — Rudyard Kipling · 1902This is a great and terrible world. I never knew there were so many men alive in it. — Rudyard Kipling · 1901All 14 quotes →Lao Tzu11 quotes
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCThe sage does not accumulate for himself.
The more he uses for others, the more he has himself.
The more he gives to others, the more he possesses of his own.
The Way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.
The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCHe who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCDo you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? — Lao Tzu · 400 BCIf you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCAll 11 quotes →Mencius10 quotes
The great man is the one who does not lose his [originally good] child's heart. — Mencius · 300 BCThe tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. — Mencius · 300 BCThe root of the kingdom is the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head. — Mencius · 300 BCThe great man is he who does not lose his child's heart. — Mencius · 300 BCThe people turn to a benevolent rule as water flows downwards, and as wild beasts fly to the wilderness. — Mencius · 300 BCWhen one by force subdues men, they do not submit to him in heart. They submit, because their strength is not adequate to resist. — Mencius · 300 BCAll 10 quotes →Arundhati Roy9 quotes
If you're happy in a dream... does that count? — Arundhati Roy · 1997Ammu said that human beings were creatures of habit, and it was amazing the kind of things they could get used to. — Arundhati Roy · 1997And the Air was full of Thoughts and Things to Say. But at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. Big Things lurk unsaid inside. — Arundhati Roy · 1997This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt. — Arundhati Roy · 1997He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair. — Arundhati Roy · 1997But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there was a snuffling in the hollows at the base of a lovely throat. Only that a hard honey-colored shoulder had a semicircle of teethmarks on it. Only that they held each other close, long after it was over. Only that what they shared that night was not happiness, but hideous grief. Only that once again they broke the Love Laws. That lay down who should be loved. And how. And how much. — Arundhati Roy · 1997All 9 quotes →Mahatma Gandhi7 quotes
Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good. But in the past, non-cooperation has been deliberately expressed in violence to the evildoer. I am endeavoring to show to my countrymen that violent non-cooperation only multiples evil and that evil can only be sustained by violence. — Mahatma Gandhi · 1922Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed. — Mahatma Gandhi · 1922Civil disobedience... Becomes a sacred duty when the State has become lawless, or... Corrupt. — Mahatma Gandhi · 1922In my humble opinion, non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good. — Mahatma Gandhi · 1922A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. — Mahatma Gandhi · 1922In reality there are as many religions as there are individuals. — Mahatma Gandhi · 1909All 7 quotes →Mao Zedong7 quotes
Every Communist must grasp the truth: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." — Mao Zedong · 1938A revolution is not the same as inviting people to dinner, or writing an essay, or painting a picture... A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another. — Mao Zedong · 1927The policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science; it is designed to enable a socialist culture to thrive in our land. — Mao Zedong · 1957Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress in the arts and the sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land. — Mao Zedong · 1957Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed. — Mao Zedong · 1938The atom bomb is a paper tiger which the United States reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn't... All reactionaries are paper tigers. — Mao Zedong · 1946All 7 quotes →Haruki Murakami6 quotes
Memories warm you up from the inside but they also tear you apart. — Haruki Murakami · 2002Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. — Haruki Murakami · 2002If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. — Haruki Murakami · 1987No matter how honestly you open up to someone, there are still some things you can’t reveal. — Haruki Murakami · 2013Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness? — Haruki Murakami · 1999If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets. — Haruki Murakami · 2002Salman Rushdie6 quotes
Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence. — Salman Rushdie · 1981The empire writes back with a vengeance. — Salman Rushdie · 1982What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist. — Salman Rushdie · 1990But it’s a resilient place, the world, and its beauty is still astonishing, and as for the mess we’ve made, you can change it, and I believe you’re going to. — Salman Rushdie · 2015Facts are slippery. The truth is imperfect. Fiction recognizes that. — Salman Rushdie · 2015Literature is the one place in any society where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything in every possible way. — Salman Rushdie · 1990Isaiah4 quotes
We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. — Isaiah · 681 BCAll we like sheep have gone astray. — Isaiah · 681 BCSet thine house in order. — Isaiah · 538 BCHere am I; send me. — Isaiah · 681 BCKahlil Gibran4 quotes
An exaggeration is a truth that has lost its temper. — Kahlil Gibran · 1926Sadness is but a wall between two gardens. — Kahlil Gibran · 1926And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. — Kahlil Gibran · 1923You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. — Kahlil Gibran · 1923Shunryu Suzuki4 quotes
What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. — Shunryu Suzuki · 1970Sun Tzu4 quotes
Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be defeated. — Sun Tzu · 475 BCBe extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate. — Sun Tzu · 490 BCTo fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. — Sun Tzu · 500 BCThe best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities... It is best to win without fighting. — Sun Tzu · 490 BCZhuang Zhou4 quotes
When one is at ease with himself, one is near Tao. — Zhuang Zhou · 221 BCThe universe and I exist together, and all things and I are one. — Zhuang Zhou · 221 BCPeople suppose that words are different from the peeps of baby birds, but is there any difference, or isn't there? — Zhuang Zhou · 220 BCThose who are contented and at ease when the occasion comes and live in accord with the course of Nature cannot be affected by sorrow or joy. This is what the ancients called release from bondage. Those who cannot release themselves are so because they are bound by material things. — Zhuang Zhou · 221 BCGautama Buddha3 quotes
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. — Gautama Buddha · 511 BCIf you find a man who points out faults and who reproves, follow such a wise person as you would a guide to hidden treasure. — Gautama Buddha · 520 BCBirth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering. — Gautama Buddha · 510 BCJawaharlal Nehru3 quotes
There is no easy walk-over to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow again and again before we reach the mountain-tops of our desire. — Jawaharlal Nehru · 1939Democracy and socialism are means to an end, not the end itself. — Jawaharlal Nehru · 1960At the stroke of the midnight hour, while the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. — Jawaharlal Nehru · 1947Mohammed al-Sahhaf3 quotes
Baghdad is safe, protected. There are no American infidels in Baghdad. — Mohammed al-Sahhaf · 2003Their infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad. — Mohammed al-Sahhaf · 2003I triple guarantee you, there are no American soldiers in Baghdad. — Mohammed al-Sahhaf · 2003Akio Morita2 quotes
We believe if you have a family you can't eliminate certain members of that family because profits are down. — Akio Morita · 1988A company will get nowhere if all of the thinking is left to management. — Akio Morita · 1986Ayatollah Khomeini2 quotes
I would like to inform all the intrepid Muslims in the world that the author of the book entitled The Satanic Verses, which has been compiled, printed and published in opposition to Islam, the Prophet and the Qur'an, as well as those publishers who were aware of its contents, have been declared madhur el dam-those whose blood must be shed. I call on all zealous Muslims to execute them quickly, wherever they find them, so that noone will dare to insult Islam again. Whoever is killed in this path will be regarded as a martyr. — Ayatollah Khomeini · 1989If laws are needed, Islam has established them all. There is no need... After establishing a government, to sit down and draw up laws. — Ayatollah Khomeini · 1970Bruce Lee2 quotes
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or creep or drip or crash. Be water, my friend. — Bruce Lee · 1971You're the one with the big mouth, and I would really enjoy closing it, especially in front of all my friends. But my hands are registered as lethal weapons. That means, we get into a fight, I accidentally kill you, I go to jail. — Bruce Lee · 2019Elijah2 quotes
How long will you waver between two opinions? — Elijah · 538 BCThere is a sound of abundance of rain. — Elijah · 538 BCEmperor Hirohito2 quotes
The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors?... It is according to the dictate of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unavoidable and suffering what is insufferable. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945Jiddu Krishnamurti2 quotes
Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end. — Jiddu Krishnamurti · 1973A lily or a rose never pretends, and its beauty is that it is what it is. — Jiddu Krishnamurti · 1970Jing Hao2 quotes
Resemblance reproduces the formal aspect of objects, but neglects their spirit; truth shows the spirit and substance in like perfection. — Jing Hao · 925There are Six Essentials in painting. The first is called spirit; the second, rhythm; the third, thought; the fourth, scenery; the fifth, the brush; and the last is the ink. — Jing Hao · 925John the Baptist2 quotes
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. — John the Baptist · 90Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! — John the Baptist · 60Joseph Stalin2 quotes
Education is a weapon whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed. — Joseph Stalin · 1937The State is an instrument in the hands of the ruling class, used to break the resistance of the adversaries of that class. — Joseph Stalin · 1924Khaled Hosseini2 quotes
Beauty is an enormous, unmerited gift given randomly, stupidly. — Khaled Hosseini · 2013I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night. — Khaled Hosseini · 2003Lawrence Durrell2 quotes
We are the children of our landscape; it dictates behavior and even thought in the measure to which we are responsive to it. — Lawrence Durrell · 1957Our inventions mirror our secret wishes. — Lawrence Durrell · 1958