50 Most Famous Sayings in History: Things We Say in Life Might Echo in Eternity

I am very keen on quotes, sayings, proverbs, and the like. It may be because they perfectly declare whatever it is that I’m feeling or that is on my mind. Or it could be due to the fact that I definitely feel better after reading them.

Whatever the case, in my opinion, quotes by famous people are precious little gems of instant wisdom, support, encouragement, and inspiration. If you’re as hooked on famous people’s quotes as I am, then I’m sure you will cherish this collection of the most famous sayings of all time.

50 Most Famous Sayings in History

Most Famous Sayings on Life

#1. “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

#2. “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

#3. “Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life.” — John Wooden

#4. “Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.” — D. H. Lawrence

#5. “In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” — Robert Frost

#6. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” — Steve Jobs

#7. “An unexamined life is not worth living.” — Socrates

#8.In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln

#9. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau

#10. “If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.” — Oprah Winfrey

#11. All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” — Edgar Allan Poe

Most Famous Sayings on Trying Despite Hardships

#12. You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” — Maya Angelou

#13. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela

#14. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.” — Amelia Earhart

#15. “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” — Jim Rohn

#16. “You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” — Beverly Sills

#17. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford

#18. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.” — Will Rogers

#19. If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” — Milton Berle

Most Famous Inspirational Quotes

#20. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle

#21. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

#22. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” — Dr. Seuss

#23. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” — Mother Teresa

#24. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky

#25. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius

#26. “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 safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” — Mark Twain

#27. “First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” — Aristotle

#28. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” — Lao Tzu

#29. The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” — William Arthur Ward

#30. It’s not what you look at that matters; it’s what you see.” — Henry David Thoreau

Famous Quotes on Learning and Knowledge

#31. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” — Socrates

#32. “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” ― Oscar Wilde

#33. Learning never exhausts the mind.” — Leonardo da Vinci

#34. “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.” — Benjamin Franklin

Iconic Famous Sayings

#35. The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” — Sun Tzu

#36. Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” — William Shakespeare

#37. Not all those who wander are lost.” — J. R. R. Tolkien

#38. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” ― Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband

#39. Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” — Plato

#40. We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” — William Shakespeare

#41. Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” — Euripides

#42. Today, you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” — Dr. Seuss

#43. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke

#44. How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved.” — Sigmund Freud

#45. Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde

#46. “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” — Vincent van Gogh

#47. There is nothing permanent except change.” — Heraclitus

#48. You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” — Indira Gandhi

#49. Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” — Marilyn Monroe

#50. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

Final Thoughts

That rounds up the most famous sayings that I collected. With luck, they have succeeded in encouraging you to take the step you’ve been dreading or inspiring you to try something new.

Some have undoubtedly managed to make you laugh, or even urged you to search for more quotes on the topic by the same author. Either way, I hope that you liked my selection of the most famous sayings of all time.