Explore › Eras
Quotes by era
When a quote was said changes what it means. Browse from the ancient world to the present.
before 500
Ancient
Greek and Roman thinkers, scripture and the oldest sayings still in use.
24 quotes →500–1499Medieval
Poets, saints and scholars of the Middle Ages.
0 quotes →Renaissance1500s–1600s
Shakespeare, Montaigne, Bacon and Descartes: the age that gave English many of its sayings.
30 quotes →Enlightenment1700s
Revolutions, founding documents and the philosophers behind them.
18 quotes →Victorian · Civil War1800s
Lincoln, Dickinson, Thoreau, Twain and the great Victorian writers.
43 quotes →World wars1900–1945
Two world wars and a depression produced some of the most quoted speeches ever given.
20 quotes →Cold War · civil rights1946–1999
Civil rights, the space race and the Cold War.
17 quotes →Today2000s
Commencement speeches, founders and the quotes of our own time.
4 quotes →