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Human Quotes

Being human is a work in progress.

These human quotes take a reflective turn, covering our capacity to change and adapt, the elusive search for real satisfaction beyond consumption, and a candid look at why relationships often fall short of what we hope for. For more, see our Human Being quotes.

History: the category of human phenomena which tends to catastrophe.

Quotes by Jules Romains

We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones.

Jules Verne

Solitude, isolation, are painful things and beyond human endurance.

Jules Verne

Creativity - like human life itself - begins in darkness.

Quotes by Julia Cameron

If we look at the day-to-day suffering of the Venezuelan people, that's not about numbers: it's about human beings.

Quotes by Juan Guaido

A writer starts out, I think, wanting to be a transfiguring agent, and ends up usually just making contact, contact with other human beings. This, unsurprisingly, is not enough.

Quotes by Joy Williams

When people ask what I write about, that's what I tell them: 'The drama of human relationships.' I'm not even close to running out of material.

Quotes by Joyce Maynard

'The Look of Silence' is able to have a wide public release, although still not in cinemas. It's distributed by two government bodies, the National Human Rights Commission and the Jakarta Arts Council.

Quotes by Joshua Oppenheimer

Denial, panic, threats, anger - those are very human responses to feeling guilt.

Quotes by Joshua Oppenheimer

Memory training is not just for the sake of performing party tricks; it's about nurturing something profoundly and essentially human.

Quotes by Joshua Foer

Over the last few millennia we've invented a series of technologies - from the alphabet to the scroll to the codex, the printing press, photography, the computer, the smartphone - that have made it progressively easier and easier for us...

Quotes by Joshua Foer

The swelling epidemic of human trafficking makes a mockery of the law and its protections.

Quotes by Josh Hawley

We are here to add to the sum of human goodness. To prove the thing exists.

Quotes by Josephine Hart

Indeed, the whole human species is endangered, by nuclear weapons or by other means of wholesale destruction which further advances in science are likely to produce.

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

I AM what is called a Feminist. Thirty years ago I left a monastery and began a sane human existence. Within two or three years, I find, I was defending the rights of women.

Quotes by Joseph McCabe

You cannot stop the human mind from working.

Quotes by Joseph Murray

Who included me among the ranks of the human race?

Quotes by Joseph Brodsky

Thus self-love as one part of human nature, and the several particular principles as the other part, are, themselves, their objects and ends, stated and shown.

Quotes by Joseph Butler

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities - because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

Quotes by Joseph Chamberlain

The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.

Joseph Conrad

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a quote about seeking human honour and respect?
Yes, one quote expresses this as a kind of utopian wish: "Perhaps I seek certain utopian things, space for human honour and respect, landscapes not yet offended, planets that do not exist yet, dreamed landscapes." For more reflections on what it means to exist, see our Being quotes.
Is there a quote about human beings changing and growing over time?
Yes, one quote states: "As human beings we do change, grow, adapt, perhaps even learn and become wiser." For more directly on this theme, see our Human Being quotes.
Is there a quote about finding happiness outside of consumption?
Yes, one quote argues: "There are other ways of finding satisfaction, recipes for human happiness, enjoyment, dignified and meaningful, gratifying life, than increased consumption that increases production." For more on this idea, see our Life quotes.
Is there a quote about where human attention tends to focus in relationships?
Yes, one quote observes: "Human attention tends to be focused on the satisfactions relationships are hoped to bring, precisely because somehow they have not been truly satisfactory."
Where can I find more quotes about the human experience generally?
Our Always quotes offer more broad, timeless reflections that pair well with this theme.

Broader reflections on identity and existence continue on our Being and Life pages, both natural extensions of this theme.