Common Man Quotes

• Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.

  Henry A. Wallace

  Men, Hype, Political

  95 Copy quote

• The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.

  Confucius

  Inspirational, Men, Thinking

  46 Copy quote

• God must love the common man, he made so many of them.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Love, God, Men

  Abraham Lincoln (1992). “The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln”, Plume

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• When we are sick, we want an uncommon doctor; when we have a construction job to do, we want an uncommon engineer, and when we are at war, we want an uncommon general. It is only when we get into politics that we are satisfied with the common man.

  Herbert Hoover

  Jobs, War, Men

  "31st President Achieved Prominence in Four Major Careers During His Lifetime". www.nytimes.com. Ooctober 21, 1964.

  23 Copy quote

  Show source

• I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough.

  Nicholas Sparks

  Love, Romantic, Notebook

  FaceBook post by Nicholas Sparks from Sep 15, 2013

  891 Copy quote

  Show source

• The common man knows exactly what he wants...and deserves to get it good and hard.

  H. L. Mencken

  Men, Want, Common

  6 Copy quote

• I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

  Dean Alfange

  Dream, Risk, Want

  Who's who in America: 43rd Edition, 1984-1985, Volume 1, (p. 42), 1984.

  48 Copy quote

  Show source

• The century which we are entering can be and must be the century of the common man.

  Henry A. Wallace

  Men, Entering, Common

  Speech, 8 May 1942, in 'Vital Speeches' (1942) vol. 8, p. 483

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout.

  Dean Alfange

  Dignity, Bartering, Trade

  Who's who in America: 43rd Edition, 1984-1985, Volume 1, (p. 42), 1984.

  62 Copy quote

  Show source

• I do not choose to be a common man.

  Dean Alfange

  Men, Common

  Who's who in America: 43rd Edition, 1984-1985, Volume 1, (p. 42), 1984.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.

  Dean Alfange

  Masters, Threat

  Who's who in America: 43rd Edition, 1984-1985, Volume 1, (p. 42), 1984.

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• I don't believe the war is simply the work of politicians and capitalists. Oh no, the common man is every bit as guilty; otherwise, people and nations would have rebelled long ago!.

  Anne Frank

  War, Believe, Men

  Anne Frank (2011). “The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition”, p.164, Bantam

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• The greatest service we can do the common man is to abolish him and make all men uncommon.

  Norman Angell

  Men, Common, Can Do

  10 Copy quote

• I will not be a common man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony.

  Peter O'Toole

  Men, Common, Sand

  "Peter O'Toole, Whose Acclaim Began With 'Lawrence of Arabia,' Dies at 81" by Benedict Nightingale, www.nytimes.com. December 15, 2013.

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• I am the common man. I'm polite, I love my family and I play by the rules. And sometimes I get pushed around. That's my lifestyle, and that's what I try to bring to characters.

  Eugene Levy

  Character, Family Love, Men

  7 Copy quote

• Consider the average intelligence of the common man, then realize 50% are even stupider.

  Mark Twain

  Men, Average, Common

  92 Copy quote

• Down these mean streets a man must go who is neither tarnished nor afraid

  Raymond Chandler

  Hero, Mean, Men

  "The Simple Art of Murder," Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1944

  84 Copy quote

  Show source

• In one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough.

  Noah

  Romantic, Notebook, Heart

  9 Copy quote

• Nothing appeals to intellectuals more than the feeling that they represent 'the people'. Nothing, as a rule, is further from the truth

  Paul Johnson

  People, Feelings, Appeals

  55 Copy quote

• The philosophy of the common man is an old wife that gives him no pleasure, yet he cannot live without her, and resents any aspersions that strangers may cast on her character.

  George Santayana

  Philosophy, Character, Men

  George Santayana, Martin A. Coleman (2009). “The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings”, p.61, Indiana University Press

  54 Copy quote

  Show source

• The object of government in peace and in war is not the glory of rulers or of races, but the happiness of the common man.

  William Beveridge

  War, Men, Race

  "Social Insurance and Allied Services". The "Beveridge Report" by William Beveridge (Part 7), November 1942.

  60 Copy quote

  Show source

• And it is a very beautiful idea, and possibly true, that a common man from Stratford with a common education was able to write these plays.

  Mark Rylance

  Beautiful, Education, Writing

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon - if I can. I seek opportunity - not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed... It is my heritage...to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations, and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done.

  Dean Alfange

  Dream, Men, Thinking

  Who's who in America: 43rd Edition, 1984-1985, Volume 1, (p. 42), 1984.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Greatness, generally speaking, is an unusual quantity of a usual quality grafted upon a common man.

  William Allen White

  Men, Greatness, Quality

  11 Copy quote

• There never has been a war yet which, if the facts had been put calmly before the ordinary folk, could not have been prevented ... The common man, I think, is the great protection against war.

  Ernest Bevin

  Peace, War, Thinking

  Hansard 23 Nov. 1945, col. 786

  16 Copy quote

  Show source