Commonplace Quotes

249 Commonplace quotes by 221 unique authors

No age or condition is without its heroes . The least incapable general in a nation is its Cæsar, the least imbecile statesman its Solon… — George Bernard Shaw
No matter through what realms of the fantastic you may travel, you arrive inevitably at the commonplace. — William John Locke
The characteristic of the hour is that the commonplace mind, knowing itself to be commonplace, has the assurance to proclaim the rights of the commonplace… — Jose Ortega y Gasset
The people who are absent are the ideal; those who are present seem to be quite commonplace. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
As a rule, said Holmes, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which… — Arthur Conan Doyle
Life holds one great but quite commonplace mystery. Though shared by each of us and known to all, seldom rates a second thought. That mystery,… — Michael Ende
Editing is now the easiest thing on earth to do, and all the things that evolved out of word processing - 'Oh, let's put that… — Brian Eno
The offhand decision of some commonplace mind high in office at a critical moment influences the course of events for a hundred years. — Thomas Hardy
Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace. — Elbert Hubbard
I always find it kind of embarrassing, kind of funny, and kind of exciting. In New York I'm recognized a lot, although nobody says anything.… — Marc Jacobs
It is a commonplace by now to say that the urban school systems of America contain a higher percentage of Negro children each year. — Jonathan Kozol
At a certain age, death becomes familiar to you-or a loss becomes familiar-the tragedies that are more commonplace in life. — Jessica Lange
We imagine that we want to escape our selfish and commonplace existence, but we cling desperately to our chains. — Anne Sullivan Macy
Most remarks that are worth making are commonplace remarks. The things that makes them worth saying is that we really mean them. — Robert Staughton Lynd
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus
Even though I support the blue side of Manchester's football heritage, I don't really mind that wherever I go in the world it's not Manchester… — Lucy Powell
Ya know, I always admired Ray Kroc, the man who invented McDonald's. Ray had a vision of the most commonplace thing - a hamburger and… — David Lee Roth
There is never vulgarity in a whole truth, however commonplace. It may be unimportant or painful. It cannot be vulgar. Vulgarity is only in concealment… — John Ruskin
Nature is commonplace. Imitation is more interesting. — Gertrude Stein
To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity. — William Arthur Ward
Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual. — Edward Weston
the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of… — Jack Kerouac
A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her… — Ian Mcewan
in dreams it is often the case that the greatest extravagances seem bereft of their power to astonish and the most improbable chimeras seem commonplace. — Cormac McCarthy
In a story you only had to wish, you only had to write it down and you could have the world...It seemed so obvious now… — Ian Mcewan

Who Wrote These Commonplace Quotes

221 authors contributed a total of 249 Commonplace Quotes, led by these top contributors: