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Dictionary Quotes

On words, and where they're kept.

These dictionary quotes play on the idea of a personal dictionary of behavior, joking that success only comes before work in the dictionary and nowhere else in real life.

I'm simply not afraid. It's not in my dictionary of behaviour.

Quotes by Werner Herzog

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Quotes by Vince Lombardi

If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?

Steven Wright

Impossibility is a dictionary word.

Quotes by Sri Chinmoy

Diction Quotes

Faith is what replaces doubt in my dictionary.

Quotes by Philippe Petit

In all its myriad manifestations, the language of anti-Semitism through the ages is a dictionary of non-sequiturs and antonyms, a thesaurus of illogic and inconsistency.

Quotes by Paul Johnson

Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.

Quotes by Napoleon Bonaparte

I have six or seven 'what to name the baby' books, the Oxford dictionary of names, and a fabulous tome that's 26 languages in simultaneous translation - French, German, all the European majors, plus Esperanto, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and...

Quotes by Melanie Rawn

Facts are not science - as the dictionary is not literature.

Quotes by Martin H. Fischer

Dictionaries Quotes

Republican comes in the dictionary just after reptile and just above repugnant.

Quotes by Julia Roberts

Dictionary - opinion expressed as truth in alphabetical order.

Quotes by John Ralston Saul

In my dictionary, and everyone's dictionary in the 1970s, the word 'queer' did mean strange and unusual. There was no slur to it.

Quotes by Joe Wurzelbacher

The human genome contains so much data that, it has been calculated, it would fill 43 volumes of Webster's International Dictionary.

Quotes by Iain McGilchrist

The word 'gratitude' is not part of the Hollywood dictionary.

Quotes by Harry Cohn

Language Quotes

Poetry consists in a rhyming dictionary and things seen.

Quotes by Gertrude Stein

For me there is no such word as 'luck' in the dictionary.

Quotes by Fabrice Muamba

We are becoming so accustomed to millions and billions of dollars that 'thousands' has almost passed out of the dictionary.

Quotes by Everett Dirksen

Nature is a dictionary; one draws words from it.

Quotes by Eugene Delacroix

There are very few good ways to get publicity for a dictionary.

Quotes by Erin McKean

Vocabulary Quotes

Twitter is like overhearing people's conversations, which is exactly what dictionary editors have been wishing we could do for years.

Quotes by Erin McKean

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the common thread in these dictionary quotes?
These quotes use the idea of a dictionary, both literal and personal, to make a point about character, work ethic, or belief, often through wordplay rather than a literal definition.
Why do people search for dictionary quotes?
People search for dictionary quotes for witty, self-contained lines that play on the idea of definitions, order, and where certain concepts truly belong. See Language quotes for related themes.
Is there a quote about fearlessness and personal behavior?
Yes, one quote states that fear simply isn't in the speaker's "dictionary of behaviour," using the phrase to describe a personal trait rather than an actual reference book.
Is there a quote contrasting success and work?
Yes, one quote jokes that a dictionary is the sole place where success is listed ahead of work, pointing out that alphabetical order doesn't reflect how effort and results actually happen.
Do any quotes make a political joke about the dictionary?
Yes, one quote jokes about where "Republican" happens to sit alphabetically, wedged between two decidedly unflattering words, a lighthearted jab based purely on dictionary order. See Vocabulary quotes for related wordplay.

A sharper line calls impossible a word found only in the dictionary of fools, while another jokes about where "Republican" falls alphabetically. See also Language and Vocabulary quotes.