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Century Quotes

Sayings on the shape of a hundred years.

These quotes reflect on what defines a century: a genre that came to dominate popular reading, a slow start to a literary tradition, and the outsized weight some events carry. See our Era quotes for related reflections.

The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.

Quotes by W. E. B. Du Bois

It was not till toward the end of the thirteenth century that the prose romances began to appear.

Quotes by Thomas Bulfinch

Following its recognition as a state in 1832, Greece spent most of the remainder of the 19th century under the control of creditors. The pattern started with a default in 1832. In consequence, Greece's finances were put under French administration.

Quotes by Steve Hanke

A technical survey that systematize, digest, and appraise the mid century state of psychology.

Quotes by Stanley Smith Stevens

Age Quotes

To me, the biggest revolution of the 20th century was the pill.

Quotes by Sonia Rykiel

I majored in political science, and my concentration was U.S. involvement in Latin America in the 20th century.

Quotes by Sebastian Arcelus

'On the Twentieth Century' was always something I wanted to do because of Kristin Chenoweth.

Quotes by Scott Ellis

Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.

Quotes by Russell Lynes

Towards the end of the eighteenth century the industrial-financial revolution began.

Quotes by Ralph Adams Cram

Centuries Quotes

In the last century, everybody was singing lower.

Quotes by Placido Domingo

I read a lot of nineteenth-century French poetry. And Irish poetry from the ninth century on.

Quotes by Paul Muldoon

As the 19th century progressed, Europe's innovations, norms and categories came to achieve a truly universal hegemony.

Quotes by Pankaj Mishra

The horror of the Twentieth Century was the size of each new event, and the paucity of its reverberation.

Norman Mailer

It is the mission of the twentieth century to elucidate the irrational.

Quotes by Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Era Quotes

Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century.

Quotes by Marshall McLuhan

Sex is the ersatz or substitute religion of the 20th Century.

Quotes by Malcolm Muggeridge

The theories of the major philosophers of the 18th century secular enlightenment were biblical and theological in spite of themselves.

Quotes by M. H. Abrams

I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium.

Quotes by Lynn Abbey

Pacifist propaganda and the resolutions of the parliamentarians encouraged such treaties, and toward the end of the nineteenth century their number had increased considerably.

Quotes by Ludwig Quidde

Historical Quotes

Female poets in the 17th century had these very confined, restricted lives.

Quotes by Louisa Hall

Frequently Asked Questions

What themes come up across these century quotes?
They touch on defining social problems, the size and impact of major historical events, and the emergence of popular literary genres over a hundred-year span.
Do these quotes reference a specific century?
A few point to the twentieth century directly, while others speak to the thirteenth century's slow start to prose storytelling, spanning a wide historical range.
What does 'paucity of its reverberation' mean in one quote?
It's an older turn of phrase suggesting that despite how large certain twentieth-century events were, their lasting impact or discussion didn't always match their scale.
Are these quotes about literature or history more broadly?
Both, one focuses on the rise of a popular fiction genre, while others reflect on wider historical and social patterns tied to a given century.
Where can I find more quotes about historical eras in general?
Visit our Era quotes and Historical quotes pages for broader reflections on time and change.

For more on how time gets measured and remembered, browse our Centuries quotes and our Historical quotes.