Who said what.

Every name credited anywhere in the collection, with the number of lines filed under it and the rooms they stand in. 49 of the 300 names carry three lines or more.

The middle column is the part worth reading. Sourced means the line has been traced to a specific work, letter, speech or date. Attributed means it is widely credited to that person and we have not found it in anything they are known to have written — which is a statement about the evidence, not a verdict about the person. With a finding means there is something specific to say about how the line travelled. Across the whole collection, 272 of 650 lines carry an exact citation.

There are no author pages here on purpose. 404meanings already has pages on Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and Nietzsche in the philosophy world; a second page for the same person would put this site in competition with itself. This index points at the rooms.

Frequently asked

Who is quoted most in the collection? Marcus Aurelius (21), Lao Tzu (18), Confucius (17). The index below lists all 300 names in the collection with the number of lines credited to each.

What does “attributed” mean here? That the line is widely credited to that person and we could not find it in anything they are known to have written or said. It is not a judgement that they did not say it — only a statement of what the evidence currently supports. 272 of the 650 lines in the collection carry an exact citation.

Why is there no page for each author? Because 404meanings already has pages on Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and Nietzsche in its philosophy world. Building a second page for the same person on the same site would put our own pages in competition with each other. This index sends you to the rooms instead.