The Times Great Quotations

Albert Einstein, German theoretical physicist (1879–1955)

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I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.

The Color Purple (1985)

Alice Walker, American writer and activist (1944–)

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In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The Bible

Genesis 1:2

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God seems to have left the receiver off the hook, and time is running out.

The Ghost in the Machine (1967)

Arthur Koestler, Hungarian-British writer (1905–1983)

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My dear child, you must believe in God in spite of what the clergy tell you.

Benjamin Jowett, English educator and theologian (1817–1893)

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I cannot forgive Descartes; in all his philosophy he did his best to dispense with God. But he could not avoid making Him set the world in motion with a flick of His finger; after that he had no more use for God.

Pensées (1670)

Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and physicist (1623–1662)

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In all important questions, man has learned to cope without recourse to God as a working hypothesis.

[Letter to a friend, 1944]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (1906–1945)

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By Night an Atheist half believes a God.

Night-Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality (1742–1745)

Edward Young, English poet (1683–1765)

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God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers, And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face, A gauntlet with a gift in’t.

Aurora Leigh (1857)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet (1806–1861)

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So many gods, so many creeds,

So many paths that wind and wind,

While just the art of being kind

Is all the sad world needs.

The World’s Need (1917)

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American writer and poet (1850–1919)

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God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.

Empedocles, Greek philosopher (495–444 BC)

Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.

The Transcendent Function (1916)

Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist (1875–1961)

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No easy problems ever come to the president of the United States. If they are easy to solve, somebody else has solved them.

Parade Magazine (1962)

Dwight D Eisenhower, 34th president of the US (1890–1969)

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Never stop because you are afraid — you are never so likely to be wrong. Never keep a line of retreat; it is a wretched invention. The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer.

Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian polar explorer (1861–1930)

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Security is when everything is settled, when nothing can happen to you; security is the denial of life.

The Female Eunuch (1970)

Germaine Greer, Australian writer and intellectual (1939–)

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Oft in danger, oft in woe,

Onward, Christians, onward go;

Bear the toil, maintain the strife,

Strengthened with the Bread of Life.

Oft in danger, oft in woe (1812)

H Kirke White, English poet (1785–1806)

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Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

Old Town Folks (1869)

Harriet Beecher Stowe, American abolitionist and writer (1811–1896)

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The drop of rain maketh a hole in the stone, not by violence but by oft falling.

[Seventh Sermon before Edward VI, 1549]

Hugh Latimer, English Protestant martyr (1487–1555)

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It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.

John Steinbeck, American writer (1902–1968)

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Facing it, always facing it, that’s the way to get through. Face it.

Typhoon (1902)

Joseph Conrad, Polish-British writer (1857–1924)

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Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.

Meditations (before 850)

Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (161–180)

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Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?

Marian Wright Edelman, American children’s rights activist (1939–)

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I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.

Mark Twain, American writer (1835–1910)

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You may not control all the events that happen to you but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

Letter to My Daughter (2008)

Maya Angelou, American writer (1928–2014)

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There is no effort without error or shortcoming.

[“Citizenship in a Republic” speech, 1910]

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the US (1858–1919)

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Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.

Moral Epistles (c. 65)

Seneca the Younger, Roman philosopher and poet (4 BC–AD 65)

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Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.

Sir Winston Churchill, prime minister of the UK, historian and Nobel Prize winner (1874–1965)

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If you bear the cross gladly, it will bear you.

De Imitatione Christi (c. 1418–1427)

Thomas á Kempis, Dutch-German canon regular and writer (1380–1471)

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When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this — you haven’t.

Thomas Edison, American inventor (1847–1931)

Some people are so fond of ill luck that they run halfway to meet it.

Douglas Jerrold, English playwright and journalist (1803–1857)

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Luck is preparation meeting opportunity.

Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host and philanthropist (1954–)

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The more I practise the luckier I get.

Arnold Palmer, American professional golfer (1929–2016)

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Luck is not chance, it’s toil; fortune’s expensive smile is earned.

Luck is not chance (1875)

Emily Dickinson, American poet (1830–1886)

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Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be fish.

Heroides (c. 25–16 BC)

Ovid, Roman poet (43 BC–AD 18)

Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.

Richard Hooker, English priest and theologian (1554–1600)

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There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse … it is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place.

Tales of a Traveler (1824)

Washington Irving, American writer, historian and diplomat (1783–1859)

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The issues are the same. We wanted peace on earth, love, and understanding between everyone around the world. We have learned that change comes slowly.

The Observer (1987)