Famous quotes by Authors

Authors

This collection gathers quotes from authors across eras and cultures, offering glimpses into creativity, craft, and the human condition. From novelists and poets to essayists and storytellers, their words illuminate how ideas take shape, why language matters, and what it means to observe the world with care. Whether you're looking for a spark of inspiration, a thoughtful perspective, or a memorable turn of phrase, these voices invite reflection and curiosity, encouraging readers and writers alike to linger, consider, and carry wisdom into their own lives.

"The oaths of a woman I inscribe on water"

Sophocles, Author

Small: Sophocles

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves"

Lao Tzu, Author

"Everything you add to the truth subtracts from the truth"

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Author

Small: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

"Talent in cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work"

Stephen King, Author

Small: Stephen King

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it"

Mark Twain, Author

Small: Mark Twain

"The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool"

Stephen King, Author

Small: Stephen King

"Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime"

Victor Hugo, Author

Small: Victor Hugo

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom"

Anais Nin, Author

"A war between Europeans is a civil war"

Victor Hugo, Author

Small: Victor Hugo

"My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening"

Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Author

Small: Alice Roosevelt Longworth

"If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first"

Mark Twain, Author

Small: Mark Twain

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow"

Anthony J. D'Angelo, Author

Small: Anthony J. D'Angelo

"'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.'"

Lewis Carroll, Author

Small: Lewis Carroll

"It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are"

Clive James, Author

Small: Clive James

"A horse is dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle"

Ian Fleming, Author

Small: Ian Fleming

"I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating"

Sophocles, Author

Small: Sophocles

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so"

Mark Twain, Author

Small: Mark Twain

"If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help - the only ones"

John Steinbeck, Author

Small: John Steinbeck

"If voting made any difference, they wouldn't let us do it"

Mark Twain, Author

Small: Mark Twain

"Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it"

Anthony J. D'Angelo, Author

Small: Anthony J. D'Angelo

"If civilization had been left in female hands we would still be living in grass huts"

Camille Paglia, Author

Small: Camille Paglia

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important"

C. S. Lewis, Author

Small: C. S. Lewis

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it"

Upton Sinclair, Author

Small: Upton Sinclair

"Get busy living, or get busy dying"

Stephen King, Author

Small: Stephen King

"Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success"

Ben Sweetland, Author

Small: Ben Sweetland

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own"

Ben Sweetland, Author

Small: Ben Sweetland

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter"

Mark Twain, Author

Small: Mark Twain

"The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts"

C. S. Lewis, Author

Small: C. S. Lewis

"Success is a journey, not a destination"

Ben Sweetland, Author

Small: Ben Sweetland

"Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real"

Thomas Merton, Author

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