Famous Quotes and Sayings

There are tons of great famous quotes by people from different eras. You’ll recognize a lot of these quotes simply because they have been referenced by so many people in various mediums such as movies, on T-shirts and posters, to speeches, books, and well, websites. I know this isn’t the be all end all of famous quotations but it’s a list of the ones I have come across more than a handful of times throughout my life. Some might not have much meaning to you. Some will make you think. Some can change your life. If you know of some famous sayings that aren’t already on this list, please add them in the comments section. Enjoy!

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

– Wayne Gretzky


“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

– Gandhi


“We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

– Aristotle


“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

– Sun Tzu


“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

– Confucius


“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

– Confucius


“Time is money.”

– Benjamin Franklin


“Knowledge is power.”

– Francis Bacon


“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”

– Benjamin Franklin


“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”

– Albert Einstein


“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”

– Robert Frost


“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

– Martin Luther King Jr


“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson


“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson


“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

– George Eliot


“I never thought of losing, but now that it’ s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.”

– Muhammad Ali


“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

– John Lennon


“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

– Helen Keller


“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

– Lao Tze


“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

– Sir Winston Churchill


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

– Mark Twain


“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”

– Bil Keane


“A day without laughter is a day wasted.”

– Charles Chaplin


“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

– Mark Twain


“Live the life you love. Love the life you live.”

– Bob Marley


“I don’t forgive people because I’m weak, I forgive them because I am strong enough to know people make mistakes.”

– Marilyn Monroe


“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth.”

– William Purkey


“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

– Maya Angelou


“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

– Abraham Lincoln


“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

– Mahatma Gandhi


“If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.”

– Malcolm X


“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

– Anais Nin


“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

– Friedrich Nietzsche


“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

– Dr. Seuss


“Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find.”

– William Shakespeare


“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt


“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

– Mae West


“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

– Maya Angelou


“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is a dream,realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game,play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, singit. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure,dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it!”

– Mother Teresa


“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”

– Oscar Wilde


“Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.”

– John Lennon


“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson


“It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.”

– Andre Gide


“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

– Confucius


“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago”

– Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche


“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

– Albert Einstein


“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

– E.E. Cummings


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One Response

  1. MIKEZ HR June 12, 2012

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