Christopher Columbus was born between 31 October 1450 and 30 October 1451 and died on 20 May 1506. He was an Italian explorer, navigator and citizen of the Republic of Genoa.
Columbus day is celebrated in his memory annually on October 12, which is the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, which happened on , 1492.
Following are the best Christopher Columbus quotes and quotes about Christopher Columbus. Why we Celebrate Columbus Day!
- Quotes about Christopher Columbus
- Christopher Columbus Quotes
Quotes about Christopher Columbus
“Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered. I myself would say that it had merely been detected.” » Oscar Wilde
“I also hate those holidays that fall on a Monday where you don’t get mail, those fake holidays like Columbus Day. What did Christopher Columbus do, discover America? If he hadn’t, somebody else would have and we’d still be here. Big deal.” » John Waters
“With this humble instrumentality did it please Providence to prepare the theatre for those events by which a new dispensation of liberty was to be communicated to man.” » Edward Everett”Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” » Robert F. Kennedy
“It’s like, how did Columbus discover America when the Indians were already here? What kind of s— is that, but white people’s s—?” » Miles Davis
“We shall be inclined to pronounce the voyage that led to the way to this New World as the most epoch-making event of all that have occurred since the birth of Christ.” » John Fiske
“Every one of us has in him a continent of undiscovered character. Blessed is he who acts the Columbus to his own soul.”
“Columbus had all the spirit of a crusader, and, at the same time, the investigating nature of a modern man of science.” » Edmund Arthur
“Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.” » Robert Orben
“Columbus went around the world in 1492. That isn’t a lot of strokes when you consider the course.” » Lee Trevino
“America’s one of the finest countries anyone ever stole.” » Bobcat Goldthwaite
“Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge.”
“America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up.” » Oscar Wilde
“Christopher Columbus, as everyone knows, is honored by posterity because he was the last to discover America.” » James Joyce
“He stands in history as the completer of the globe.” » John Sterling
“What a pity, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, that he ever mentioned it.” » Margot Asquith
“When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply, “Ours.” » Vine Deloria, Jr.
“Hardly a name in profane history is more august than his. Hardly another character in the world’s record has made so little of its opportunities. His discovery was a blunder; his blunder was a new world; the New World is his monument!” » Justin Winsor
“America’s one of the finest countries anyone ever stole.” » Bobcat Goldthwait
“He stands out among the beacon lights of history as a man of vision dominated by a definite purpose.” » John George Jones
“Columbus’ real achievement was managing to cross the ocean successfully in both directions. Though an accomplished enough mariner, he was not terribly good at a great deal else, especially geography, the skill that would seem most vital in an explorer.” » Bill Bryson
“Columbus found a world, and had no chart, Save one that faith deciphered in the skies.” » George Santayana
“So Columbus said, somebody show me the sunset and somebody did and he set sail for it, And he discovered America and they put him in jail for it, And the fetters gave him welts, And they named America after somebody else.” » Ogden Nash, Columbus
“In all parts of the Old World, as well as of the New, it was evident that Columbus had kindled a fire in every mariner’s heart. That fire was the harbinger of a new era, for it was not to be extinguished.” » Charles Kendall Adams
“Every ship that comes to America got its chart from Columbus.” » Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” » John A. Shedd
“Every ship that comes to America got its chart from Columbus.” » Ralph Waldo Emerson
“He gave the world another world.” » George Santayana
“Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered. I myself would say that it had merely been detected.” » Oscar Wilde
“Whose indomitable spirit changed the face of the earth for us.” » Edmund Arthur
“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” » André Gide
“He completed the universe, he achieved the physical unity of the globe.” » Lamartine
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” » Marcel Proust
“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” » James Joyce
“Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at.”
“Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.” » John Dewey
“The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it.” » Robert L. Park
“Columbus dreamed of an unknown shore, At the rim of a far-flung sky.”
“Great scientific discoveries have been made by men seeking to verify quite erroneous theories about the nature of things.” » Aldous Huxley
“If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” » Stephen Hawking
“If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock.” » Arthur Goldberg
“Aborigines, n.: Persons of little worth found cumbering the soil of a newly discovered country. They soon cease to cumber; they fertilize.” » Ambrose Bierce
“He leaves in the background of fame all other navigators whose names are written in the priceless annals of discovery.” » Emilio Castelar
Christopher Columbus Quotes
“The sea will grant each man new hope. The sleep brings dreams of home.” » Christopher Columbus
“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” » Christopher Columbus
“I should be judged as a captain who went from Spain to the Indies to conquer a people numerous and warlike, whose manners and religion are very different from ours, who live in sierras and mountains, without fixed settlements, and where by divine will I have placed under the sovereignty of the King and Queen our Lords, an Other World, whereby Spain, which was reckoned poor, is become the richest of countries.” » Christopher Columbus
“Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.” » Christopher Columbus
“‘Thanks be to God,’ says the Admiral, ‘the air is soft as in April in Seville, and it is a pleasure to be in it, so fragrant it is.’” » Christopher Columbus
“At sunset Martin Alonzo called out with great joy from his vessel that he saw land, and demanded of the Admiral a reward for his intelligence.” » Christopher Columbus
“No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service.” » Christopher Columbus
“I am a most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous Presence.” » Christopher Columbus
“By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.” » Christopher Columbus
“For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.” » Christopher Columbus
“I have always read that the world, both land and water, was spherical, as the authority and researches of Ptolemy and all the others who have written on this subject demonstrate and prove, as do the eclipses of the moon and other experiments that are made from east to west, and the elevation of the North Star from north to south.” » Christopher Columbus
“Tomorrow morning before we depart, I intend to land and see what can be found in the neighborhood.” » Christopher Columbus
“Here the people could stand it no longer and complained of the long voyage but the Admiral cheered them as best he could, holding out good hope of the advantages they would have. He added that it was useless to complain, he had come to go to the Indies, and so had to continue it until he found them, with the help of Our Lord.” » Christopher Columbus
“These people are very unskilled in arms… with 50 men they could all be subjected and made to do all that one wished.” » Christopher Columbus
“Stood off and on during the night, determining not to come to anchor till morning, fearing to meet with shoals; continued our course in the morning; and as the island was found to be six or seven leagues distant, and the tide was against us, it was noon when we arrived there.” » Christopher Columbus
