Humorous Sayings

50 sayings found from the Early Modern era from 50 authors

When one is painting one does not think.

— Raphael 1500s (approximate)
General

I don't know any painter who thinks Giovanni Baglione is a good painter. His Resurrection is clumsy – the worst he's done.

— Caravaggio 1603
Self-Deprecating

All true knowledge of God is born of obedience.

— John Calvin 1536
General

I am not afraid of giving too much trouble to God. He is able to bear it.

— John Wesley 1775
Self-Deprecating

What goes up must come down.

— Isaac Newton N/A
General

To understand the universe, you must understand the language in which it's written. And that language is mathematics.

— Galileo Galilei 1623
Life & Aging

It is not often that a man has the opportunity to be useful to his fellow citizens without any personal risk.

— Antoine Lavoisier 1780s
General

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

— Leonardo da Vinci c. 1490-1519
Self-Deprecating

It is not the eye that sees, but the soul that sees through the eye.

— Tycho Brahe 1601
General

I am not ashamed to confess that I am a Christian.

— Robert Boyle 1690
Self-Deprecating

The earth belongs in usufruct to the living; that the dead have neither powers nor rights over it.

— Thomas Jefferson 1789
General

I will make a difference, and I will be worthy of my place.

— Elizabeth I 1558
General

I like to praise and to reward, but I detest to punish.

— Catherine the Great 1772
General

I can conquer the world, but I cannot conquer my own stubbornness.

— Peter the Great Early 18th century
Self-Deprecating

Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.

— John Locke 1689
General

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by epigrams.

— Voltaire c. 1760s
General

The life of a man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

— David Hume 1739-1740
Food & Drink

Words are the counters of wise men, and the money of fools.

— Thomas Hobbes 1651
Work & Money

Men are always more easily deceived when they are trying to deceive others.

— Machiavelli 1531
General

I have always observed that to succeed in the world, one has to seem a fool, but be wise.

— Montesquieu 1721
Self-Deprecating
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