William Shakespeare
1. “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
— William Shakespeare, Hamlet
2. “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”
— William Shakespeare, Hamlet
3. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy.”
— William Shakespeare, Hamlet
4. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
— William Shakespeare, As You Like It
5. “Sweet are the uses of adversity.”
— William Shakespeare, As You Like It
6. “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”
— William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
7. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.”
— William Shakespeare, Macbeth
8. “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
— William Shakespeare, Macbeth
P. B. Shelley
9. “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
— P. B. Shelley, Ode to the West Wind
10. “Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.”
— P. B. Shelley, To a Skylark
11. “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”
— P. B. Shelley, A Defence of Poetry
12. “O, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!”
— P. B. Shelley, Ode to the West Wind
S. T. Coleridge
13. “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”
— S. T. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
14. “He prayeth best who loveth best.”
— S. T. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
William Wordsworth
15. “Behold her, single in the field, yon solitary Highland lass! Reaping and singing by herself; stop here, or gently pass.”
— William Wordsworth, The Solitary Reaper
16. “The child is father of the man.”
— William Wordsworth, My Heart Leaps Up
John Keats
17. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”
— John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn
18. “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.”
— John Keats, Endymion
19. “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.”
— John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn
Francis Bacon
20. “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”
— Francis Bacon, Of Studies
21. “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”
— Francis Bacon, Of Studies
22. “Knowledge is power.”
— Francis Bacon
23. “Opportunity makes a thief.”
— Proverb commonly associated with Francis Bacon
Thomas Hobbes
24. “Knowledge is power.”
— Thomas Hobbes, commonly associated with Leviathan
Note: The expression is commonly attributed to Francis Bacon, while the exact English phrase also appears in Hobbes. For exam purposes, “Knowledge is power” is most commonly associated with Francis Bacon.
William Ewart Gladstone
25. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
— William Ewart Gladstone
Note: This is a long-established legal maxim, and Gladstone is often credited with popularizing the expression in English political discourse. Earlier versions of the saying also exist.
26. “Justice hurried is justice buried.”
— William Ewart Gladstone
Alexander Pope
27. “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
— Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
28. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
— Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
29. “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”
— Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
Plato
30. “Know thyself.”
— Ancient Greek maxim, traditionally associated with Socrates and the Delphic tradition
Samuel Smiles
31. “Example is better than precept.”
— Samuel Smiles
Rabindranath Tagore
32. “Life is not life without delight.”
— Rabindranath Tagore
Napoleon Bonaparte
33. “Give me good mothers, and I will give you a good nation.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte
34. “England is a nation of shopkeepers.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte
35. “A career open to talents.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte
The phrase “a career open to talents” refers to the principle that advancement should be open to ability rather than restricted by hereditary status. It was widely associated with Napoleon’s era and policies.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
36. “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.”
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
The original wording appears in Book I, Chapter 1 of The Social Contract.
Abraham Lincoln
37. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
— Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
Thomas à Kempis
38. “Man proposes, but God disposes.”
— Thomas à Kempis
Edmund Burke
39. “Superstition is the religion of feeble minds.”
— Edmund Burke
40. “The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.”
— Edmund Burke
Burke’s original text contains the phrase “Superstition is the religion of feeble minds.”
Neil Armstrong
41. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
— Neil Armstrong
Note: The historically famous quotation is commonly rendered as “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The article “a” is part of the widely discussed audio/transcription controversy.
Rudyard Kipling
42. “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”
— Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West
The line is from Kipling’s poem The Ballad of East and West.
Karl Marx
43. “Religion is the opium of the people.”
— Karl Marx
The quotation comes from Marx’s 1844 introduction to his critique of Hegel’s philosophy of right.
John Stuart Mill
44. “Liberty consists in doing what one desires.”
— John Stuart Mill
John Milton
45. “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
— John Milton, Paradise Lost
The line appears in Book I of Paradise Lost and is spoken by Satan.
Matthew Arnold
46. “Poetry is a criticism of life.”
— Matthew Arnold, The Study of Poetry
Arnold’s fuller formulation describes poetry as “a criticism of life” under the conditions of poetic truth and beauty.
Admiral Nelson
47. “England expects that every man will do his duty.”
— Admiral Horatio Nelson
This was the famous signal sent by Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
Martial
48. “A face that cannot smile is never good.”
— Martial
The quotation appears in translations of Martial’s epigrams.
Benjamin Franklin
49. “Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.”
— Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard, 1736
The saying appears in Franklin’s Poor Richard of 1736.
Socrates
50. “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
— Socrates, as recorded by Plato, Apology
Socrates and Plato
51. “It is perfectly certain that the soul is immortal and imperishable, and our souls will exist somewhere in another world.”
— Socrates, as presented by Plato in Phaedo
This statement appears in Plato’s Phaedo in the discussion concerning the immortality of the soul.
Important Note on Commonly Misquoted or Misattributed Quotations
Some quotations are frequently published online with incorrect wording or attribution. For example:
- “The Solitary Reaper” is by William Wordsworth, not S. T. Coleridge.
- “Knowledge is power” is most commonly associated with Francis Bacon, although the exact English expression also appears in Hobbes.
- “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio…” is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and “Brevity is the soul of wit” is also from Hamlet.
- “Sweet are the uses of adversity” is from Shakespeare’s As You Like It and is spoken by Duke Senior.
- “The child is father of the man” is by William Wordsworth.
- “Admiration is the daughter of ignorance” appears in Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard (1736).
Removed quotation
The statement:
“I to die, U to live, which is better only God knows.”
has been omitted from the main list because I could not establish it as a reliable quotation from Socrates. It would be better not to publish it on an educational website as an authentic Socratic quotation without a dependable primary or scholarly source.