Familiar Quote by Henry David Thoreau

“The passion for naming things is an odd human trait. It is strange that men always feel so much more at ease when they…

— George Gaylord Simpson

My name is Mankiller, and in the old Cherokee Nation, when we lived here in the Southeast, we lived in semi-autonomous villages, and there…

— Wilma Mankiller

Some men do as much begrudge others a good name, as they want one themselves: and perhaps that is the reason of it.

— William Penn

“It would be a mistake to name them for qualities we think they have,” Samuel said. “We might be wrong—so wrong. Maybe it would…

— John Steinbeck

A familiar name on its own, however, does not carry its bearer far unless the talent is there, and the will to work.

— Daphne du Maurier

Does a name stick because it suits a man or does the man, unconsciously, evolve into his name?

— Robert Harris

We all have names we don't know about.

— Martin Amis

I have many names; some call me Mr. Ra, others call me Mr. Re, you can call me Mr. Mystery.

— Sun Ra

In real life, there are names that surprise us because they don't seem to suit the person at all.

— Krzysztof Kieslowski

I have a strange situation as far as my name is concerned, because of course, what should my name really be? Is it my…

— Michael Tilson Thomas

We humans have had from time unknown the compulsion to name things and thus to be able to deal with them. The name we…

— Katherine Paterson

“Two names emerge from a single origin and both are called mysterious.”

— Lao Tzu