Most Popular Quotes

Some quotes are more equal than others.

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Most Popular Quotes

Some quotes just stick. Click on any of our most popular quotes below to see it in context and find out where it falls on Shmoop's pretentious scale. We'll give you details on who said it, when they said it, and in some cases, why on earth they thought it was okay to say it.

P.S. If you want to sort by subject, topic, author, or source, just click one of the orange buttons above.

"A date which will live in infamy"

Source: Pearl Harbor Address | Speaker: Franklin D. Roosevelt

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Source: Misquote | Speaker: Mahatma Gandhi

"And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Source: The Great Gatsby | Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

Source: Inauguration Address, January 20, 1961 | Speaker: John F. Kennedy

"Blessed are the meek"

Source: Matthew 5:5 | Speaker: Jesus

"Call me Ishmael."

Source: Moby-Dick | Author: Herman Melville

"Don't stop believin'."

Source: Don't Stop Believin' | Speaker: Journey

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Source: Gone with the Wind | Speaker: Rhett Butler

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us."

Source: The Great Gatsby | Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Get busy living or get busy dying."

Source: The Shawshank Redemption | Speaker: Andy Dufresne and "Red" Redding

"Good fences make good neighbors."

Source: Mending Wall | Author: Robert Frost

"Hasta la vista, baby."

Source: Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Speaker: The Terminator

"Here's looking at you, kid."

Source: Casablanca | Speaker: Rick

"Houston, we have a problem."

Source: Apollo 13 | Speaker: Commander Jim Lovell

"I have a dream"

Source: "I Have a Dream" Speech | Speaker: Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I think, therefore I am."

Source: Discourse on the Method | Author: René Descartes

"I will always love you."

Source: I Will Always Love You | Speaker: Dolly Parton (and Whitney Houston)

"If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it."

Source: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) | Speaker: Beyoncé

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Source: A Tale of Two Cities | Author: Charles Dickens

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

Source: The Godfather | Speaker: Peter Clemenza

"Let's get ready to rumble!"

Source: Professional Wrestling | Speaker: Michael Buffer

"Love is patient; love is kind."

Source: 1 Corinthians 13:4 | Author: Paul of Tarsus

"May the Force be with you."

Source: Star Wars | Speaker: Han Solo

"No soup for you!"

Source: Seinfeld | Speaker: The Soup Nazi

"Not all those who wander are lost."

Source: The Fellowship of the Ring | Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

"O Captain! my Captain!"

Source: O Captain! My Captain! | Author: Walt Whitman

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Source: First Moon Landing | Speaker: Neil Armstrong

"The end justifies the means."

Source: The Prince | Author: Niccoló Machiavelli

"The truth shall set you free."

Source: John 8:32 | Speaker: Jesus

"To infinity and beyond!"

Source: Toy Story | Speaker: Buzz Lightyear

"We speak student."

Source: Tagline | Author: Shmoop

"You can't handle the truth!"

Source: A Few Good Men | Speaker: Col. Nathan R. Jessup