Famous Quotes – The 125 Most Popular Sayings From Famous Personalities

You are looking for famous quotes and inspiring Sayings by important personalities who are known all over the world? Then you've come to the right place! The history of mankind is filled with words that move, encourage and make you think. Some world-famous quotes have managed to capture the zeitgeist of their era and express universal truths about human existence that have endured through all generations and inspired millions of people.

In this article, I have therefore put together a collection of the most famous quotes and aphorisms that reflect the wisdom of some of the most remarkable women and men in our history. Let's go!

My please: Keep in mind that many of the famous quotes have been translated into English from other languages. I cannot guarantee that it is the original quote in each case. Therefore, double check them before you share them. If you like and share any of the quotes in the internet, please link this elaborately created collection. Thank you for your support!

125 famous quotes from world-famous people that will inspire you

Now we can dive straight into the world of the oft-quoted words and legendary wisdom of famous personalities without further ado. You will now learn both Famous quotes from the history of mankind, as well as General sayings with great popularity know. At the end of the article, I will also introduce you to some of the personalities who especially many, profound, famous quotes gives.

Just let yourself be inspired by the following quotes from famous people - and maybe you'll also find a saying or two that serve as a guide in your own life could.

#1 - 10 | Famous quotes from the history of mankind

1. "I have a dream." (Martin Luther King, American civil rights activist, 1929 - 1968, in his speech for freedom and justice at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963)
2. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (Neil Armstrong, American astronaut, 1930 - 2012, when he was the first man to set foot on the moon on July 21, 1969)
3. "I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance." (Socrates, Greek philosopher, 469 BC - 399 BC, presumably during a defense speech he gave as a defendant before the Athenian People's Court in 399 BC)
4. "Houston, we have a problem!" (Jack Swigert, American astronaut, 1931 - 1982, when an oxygen tank exploded on board the Apollo mission on April 14, 1970 and the spacecraft was severely damaged)
5. "God does not play dice with the universe." (Albert Einstein, Swiss-American physicist, 1879 - 1955, in a letter to Max Born dated December 4, 1926)
6. "I think, therefore I am." (René Descartes, French philosopher, 1596 - 1650, in his work Discours de la méthode, Part IV)
7. "Nature must be experienced through feeling." (Alexander von Humboldt, German explorer, 1769 - 1859, in a letter dated January 3, 1810 to his friend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
8. "Ich bin ein Berliner." (John F. Kennedy, 1917 - 1963, US politician, during his speech on June 26, 1963 in front of the Schöneberg City Hall in West Berlin)
9. "Yes, we can!" (Barack Obama, U.S. politician, born in 1961, on January 08, 2008, during a speech after the primary election in the state of New Hampshire)
10. "In wine, there is truth." (Alkaios of Lesbos, Greek lyric poet, around 630 BC - around 580 BC, he is said to have spoken around 580 BC)

#11 - 20 | General quotes from famous people

11. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter, 1869 - 1948)
12. "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." (Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, 1883 - 1971)
13. "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." (Mark Twain, American writer, 1835 - 1910)
14. "The course of true love never did run smooth." (William Shakespeare, English playwright, 1564 - 1616)
15. "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood." (Marie Curie, Polish physicist, 1867 - 1934)
16. "You have to try the impossible to achieve the possible." (Hermann Hesse, German writer, 1877 - 1962)
17. "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." (Walt Disney, US-American film producer, 1901 - 1966)
18. "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come." (Victor Hugo, French writer, 1802 - 1885)
19. "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." (Steve Jobs, US-American entrepreneur, 1955 - 2011)
20. "What we do today will determine what the world looks like tomorrow." (Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Moravian-Austrian writer, 1830 - 1916)

#21 - 30 | General quotes from famous people

21. "You have to try the impossible to achieve the possible." (Hermann Hesse, German-Swiss writer, 1877 - 1962)
22. "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." (Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer, 1828 - 1910)
23. "Freedom is always the freedom of the dissenter." (Rosa Luxemburg, German-Polish politician, 1871 - 1919)
24. "Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty." (Mother Teresa, Indian missionary, 1910 - 1997)
25. "Have courage to use your own reason." (Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, 1724 - 1804)
26. "The biggest mistake you can make in your life is to be always afraid of making a mistake." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran theologian, 1906 - 1945)
27. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." (Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, 1847 - 1931)
28. "The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud." (Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, 1883 - 1971)
29. "If thou art a man, admire those who attempt great things, even though they fail." (Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman philosopher, c. 1 AD - c. 65 AD)
30. "The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery." (Charles Darwin, British naturalist, 1809 - 1882)

Tip: I have been living vegan for many years because Animals have feelingsjust as we humans do. These and many more of my Reasons for the vegan lifestyleI also explain this again in the linked article.

#31 - 40 | General quotes from famous people

31. "Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction." (Francis Picabia, French writer, 1879 - 1953)
32. "It is personalities, not principles, that move the age." (Oscar Wilde, Irish writer, 1854 - 1900)
33. "No one knows what he can do until he tries." (Publilius Syrus, Roman mime writer, 85 BC - 43 BC)
34. "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." (Nelson Mandela, South African freedom fighter, 1918 - 2013)
35. "The only thing of importance, when we depart, will be the traces of love we have left behind." (Albert Schweitzer, German-French physician, 1875 - 1965)
36. "A path is made by walking on it." (Franz Kafka, German-language writer, 1883 - 1924)
37. "This world is but a canvas to our imagination." (Henry David Thoreau, American writer, 1817 - 1862)
38. "Two truths cannot contradict one another." (Galileo Galilei, Italian polymath, 1564 - 1642)
39. "He who has overcome his fears will truly be free." (Aristotle, Greek polymath, 384 BC - 322 BC)
40. "You can err with an idea, but you can't err with your heart." (Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Russian writer, 1821 - 1881)

#41 - 50 | General quotes from famous people

41. "Nature never deceives us. It is always we who deceive ourselves." (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French writer, 1712 - 1778)
42. "You can build something beautiful from stones that are put in your way." (Erich Kästner, German writer 1899 - 1974)
43. "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin, American scientist and statesman, 1706 - 1790)
44. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke, Irish-British writer, 1729 - 1797)
45. "Do something good for your body, so that your soul wants to live in it." (Teresa of Ávila, Spanish Carmelite nun, 1515 - 1582)
46. "Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends." (George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, 1856 - 1950)
47. "What is uttered from the heart alone, will win the hearts of others to your own." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, 1749 - 1832)
48. "Nature is the best pharmacy." (Sebastian Kneipp, German Roman Catholic priest, 1821 - 1897)
49. "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." (Henry Ford, US inventor, 1863 - 1947)
50. "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of it for another." (Charles Dickens, English writer, 1812 - 1870)

Tip: The latter quote is also the leitmotif of my article on how to help other people can. Take a look and be inspired to help the people around you more often.

#51 - 60 | General quotes from famous people

51. "Obstacles and difficulties are steps on which we climb up to the heights." (Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, 1844 - 1900)
52. "Modesty is the beginning of all reason." (Ludwig Anzengruber, Austrian writer, 1839 - 1889)
53. "The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing." (Sigmund Freud, Austrian physician, 1856 - 1939)
54. "What you think you create, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you become." (Siddhartha Gautama, Indian religious founder, 563 BC - 483 BC)
55. "The times are very bad. Very well, you are there to make them better." (Thomas Carlyle, Scottish historian, 1795 - 1881)
56. "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said." (Voltaire, French philosopher, 1694 - 1778)
57. "All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes." (Winston Churchill, British statesman, 1874 - 1965)
58. "Moons and years pass by and are gone forever, but a beautiful moment shimmers through life a ray of light." (Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer, 1791 - 1872)
59. "He who fights, can lose. He who doesn’t fight, has already lost." (Bertolt Brecht, German playwright, 1898 - 1956)
60. "The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going." (David Starr Jordan, American zoologist, 1851 - 1931)

#61 - 65 | Famous quotes from Oscar Wilde

The Irish critic Oscar Wilde is one of the most most famous but at the same time most controversial writers of the Victorian era. I have listed some of his most famous quotes here:

61. "All men have a sore spot and that's what makes them human."
62. "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."
63. "Man is many things, but he is not rational."
64. "It is not the perfect, but the imperfect, who have need of love."
65. "Memory is the diary we all carry about with us."

#66 - 70 | Famous quotes from Arthur Schopenhauer

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is considered one of the most important Representatives of subjective idealism. The following sayings by him are particularly inspiring:

66. "We seldom think of what we have, but always of what we lack."
67. "Any stupid boy can crush a bug. But all the professors in the world can't make one."
68. "Health is not everything, but without health, everything is nothing."
69. "Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man."
70. "Revoke a wrong view requires more character than to defend it."

#71 - 75 | Famous quotes from Mother Teresa

The Indian nun Mother Teresa (real name: Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) is probably the most greatest missionary of the 20th century. Here are some of their most world-renowned words of wisdom:

71. "We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."
72. "The only way to eliminate poverty is sharing with each other."
73. "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."
74. "It is not enough to say: I love. Love must become a living deed."
75. "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

#76 - 80 | Famous quotes from Albert Schweitzer

The Franco-German jungle doctor and philosopher Albert Schweitzer is considered to be Paving the way for humanitarian aid and as a thought leader for peace and justice in the world. You can find his most famous statements and words of wisdom here:

76. "Happiness is the only thing that doubles when you share it."
77. "We are living in dangerous times. Men control nature before they are even able to control themselves."
78. "Animal protection is education to humanity."
79. "Good things that a man gives out into the world are never lost."
80. "Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind."

#81 - 85 | Famous quotes from Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach was a Moravian-Austrian writer and is considered to be the one of the most important storytellers of the 19th century. Here are some of their inspiring words of wisdom:

81. "If you stop trying to get better, you stop trying to be good."
82. "In youth we learn; in age we understand."
83. "Saying what you think is sometimes the greatest folly and sometimes - the greatest art." (Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach)
84. "At any given time, some great truths are in the air; they form the spiritual atmosphere of the century."
85. "Don't call yourself poor, if your dreams didn't come true. Only those are really poor, who have never had a dream."

#86 - 90 | Famous Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important American philosophers. Here are his most famous sayings, all of which are known all over the world:

86. "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."
87. "The years teach much the days never know."
88. "Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself."
89. "The only way to have a friend is to be one."
90. "Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens."

#91 - 95 | Famous Confucius Quotes

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher and his Teachings developed into national identity of his home country. I have compiled some of his world-famous wisdom for you here:

91. "Set free what you love. If it comes back it is yours – forever."
92. "They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom."
93. "Men's natures are alike. It is their habits that carry them far apart."
94. "Wherever you go, go with all your heart." 
95. "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

#96 - 100 | Famous Quotes from Mark Twain

The writer Mark Twain is one of the most important representatives of American realism. Among other things, he gained recognition for his work The Adventures of Tom Sawyer worldwide fame. Here are some of his most famous quotes:

96. "Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life."
97. "Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician."
98. "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."
99. "A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
100. "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."

#101 - 105 | Famous quotes from Aristotle

The Greek Aristotle is considered one of the most important philosophers in world history and had a decisive influence on biology, logic, physics and poetry, among other things. His following sayings - and many more - are known all over the world:

101. "We can't change the wind, but we can set the sails differently."
102. "Years teach us more than books."
103. "There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."
104. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
105. "Nature does nothing in vain."

#106 - 110 | Famous Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius (also known as Marcus Aurelius) was Roman emperor and is one of the most famous philosophers in human history. Here are some of his wisdom and sayings that almost everyone in the world knows:

106. "The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts."
107. "Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back."
108. "Why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice?"
109. "Think not so much of what you lack as of what you have."
110. "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

#111 - 115 | Famous quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German lyricist and is considered to be one of the most important creators of German-language poetry. You can find some of his famous quotes and words of wisdom here:

111. "You can't get the experience soon enough, how expendable you are in the world."
112. "We are frightened by our own sins when we see them in others."
113. "Even the stones placed in one's path can be made into something beautiful."
114. "The best education for a clever person is found in travel."
115. "What a heavenly feeling it is to follow your heart."

#116 - 120 | Famous Quotes by Mahatma Gandhi

The Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi has quite made a decisive contribution to the independence of his home country today and is one of the most famous personalities in the history of mankind. You can find a small collection of his most valuable quotes here:

116. "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
117. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
118. "If we are to reach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin with the children."
119. "The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not everyone's greed."
120. "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

#121 - 125 | Famous quotes from Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein lived from 1879 to 1955 and was one of the most important theoretical physicists and scientists of modern times. Here are his most famous quotes:

121. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
122. "The purest form of insanity is to leave everything as it is and hope that something will change."
123. "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
124. "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
125. "Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts."

Can you think of any other famous quotes that are missing from this collection? Then just write your suggestions in the comments.

Use the best quotes from famous people as a constant source of inspiration!

The power of words is undeniable and when they come from the mouths or pens of remarkable people, they can give us touch and inspire in a profound way and across many generations.

Every single quote in this collection reflects the essence of a thought, an era or a personality. Use them for example, to look at the world from new anglesto think differently or just to cheer you up.

Do you have any questions, suggestions or other famous quotes that accompany you in life and come from well-known personalities? Then I'm already looking forward to your comment.

Stay inspired,

PS: Perhaps you can also use the world-famous quotes to create an even more to become a better person. You can find out which tips can also help you in the next linked blog article. Have fun!