New York Quotes

The Fall of Civilization

2013-05-20T02:12:00.000-04:00

West 40th

"New York... When civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you."
David Letterman, quoted in That’s Really Funny

Sophisticated Appearance

2013-05-19T02:12:00.001-04:00

53rd and Lexington

"New York is casual, intellectual, subtle, effective and devastatingly witty. But her sophisticated appearance is the thinnest of veneers. Beneath it there is power, virility, determination and a sense of destiny."
Raymond Loewy, The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History

Refuge

2013-05-18T02:12:00.000-04:00

168th Street subway station

"New York is not a city, it is Man seeking refuge from the Behemoth that has devoured him. It is a heaped-up mass of masonry and men."
Albion Ross, Journey of an American

Self-Love

2013-05-17T02:12:00.001-04:00

NY hearts ME (TM)

"New Yorkers love only those who love themselves."
Tom Spanbauer, In the City of Shy Hunters

Vertical

2013-05-16T02:12:00.002-04:00

West 113th

"New York is a vertical town. The emphasis is on things that rise."
Thomas Beller, New York Times

Survival of the Strongest

2013-05-15T02:12:00.002-04:00

East Houston

"Manhattan was a Darwinian environment: only the strongest survived. The weak, the nice, the naïve, the ones who smiled at passersby on the sidewalk, they all got weeded out."
Cristina Alger, The Darlings

At Home

2013-05-14T02:12:00.000-04:00

West 42nd

"New York is the only place I've ever truly felt at home. (Probably because everyone in New York is insane.)"
Lee Harrington, Rex and the City

Rootless

2013-05-13T02:12:00.001-04:00

Ninth Avenue

"New York, a city with no roots, is the only place where I feel I may have my roots, and two months of traveling are sufficient, and New York is the only place where I can pretend to reside."
Italo Calvino, quoted in Kazaaam! Splat! Ploof!

Quick Hit of Kindnesses

2013-05-12T02:12:00.007-04:00

West 138th

"In a slower paced community, you may take additional time to stop, say hello and exchange a few words. In New York, it is the fast hello, the quick smile, the 'quick hit of kindnesses'. When you understand this, it opens you to see whole new possibilities. You will see a whole lot more of all that happens in that 'New York Minute.'"
Joseph Primm, Attitude in Words

Money and Prospects

2013-05-11T02:12:00.000-04:00

Central Park West

"New York is for people with money and prospects."
Joyce Maynard, The Usual Rules

Third Birthday

2013-05-10T02:12:00.002-04:00

Second Avenue

Three years ago, NY Daily Quote was born. Instead of bringing you a new quote today, we're looking back at some of our favorite sayings from the past year:

10. "New York has always struck me as a city of survivors, of people who have succeeded largely because they have somehow managed not to be knocked by the wayside."
Stephen Birmingham, Cincinnati Magazine

9. "Living in California adds ten years to a man's life. And those extra ten years I'd like to spend in New York."
Harry Ruby, quoted in The Traveling Curmedgeon

8. "There's nothing like New York City to make you feel small—or a part of something enormous and splendid, whichever you prefer."
Vicki Myron, Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions

7. "A real New Yorker is someone who came from somewhere else where they felt like an outsider and then chose to move to New York to be around other misfits."
Susan Seifelman, New York magazine

6. "Living in New York is a character-builder; you must know who you are, what you're doing, where you're going, and how to get there."

George Carlin, Brain Droppings

5. "I got hooked on New York before I even knew it was a drug."
Jane Borden, I Totally Meant to Do That

4. "If you are greedy for life, that's what New York is all about. If you're trying to get as much as you can every day, this city is the place to be."
Pam Nelson, My City, My New York

3. "New York, like family, will always take you back."
Cynthia Ceilan quoted in 1001 Greatest Things Ever Said About New York

2. "Welcome to New York City, a place where you fit in, no matter who you are."
Andrew Stone, Hedonist's Guide to New York (A Hedonist's Guide to...)

1. "New York is, of course, a lot more than a city. New York is a philosophy of life."
Christa Ludwig, In My Own Voice: Memoirs

Tell us, what's your favorite?

We don't say this enough, but thanks for your visits, your retweets, your likes and even for getting mad at us when we post the occasional "I hate NY" quote. This site is for you and we hope you'll continue to enjoy it for a long time.

Alien City

2013-05-09T02:12:00.000-04:00

Ninth Avenue

"There is a feeling in the country that New York is an alien city, full of international bankers and long-haired revolutionaries. A city of gaiety and sin and Oriental intrigue, fascinating to visit but not really part of America."
Paul Crowell and A.H. Raskin, Our Fair City

Nostalgia of the Orient and the Occident

2013-05-08T02:12:00.000-04:00

Davis St.

"The poetry of New York is an organ, Gothic neurosis, nostalgia of the Orient and the Occident, parchment lampshade in the form of a musical partition, smoked facade, artificial vampire, artificial armchair."
Salvador Dali, The Secret Life of Salvador Dali

Equalizer

2013-05-07T02:12:00.000-04:00

Hamilton Place

"New York is one of those equalizer places, like everybody is the same, and you can't even think that you're special, you know. Because they'll say, 'Like who the fuck you think you are man? Shit, get out my way. I'll cut your ass.'"
Walter Mosley, Conversations with Walter Mosley (Literary Conversations Series)

Decision Making

2013-05-06T02:12:00.000-04:00

Madison Avenue

"Most of the decisions that control people's lives are made in New York City. Not in Washington, not on Pennsylvania Avenue. In New York City! Madison Avenue and Wall Street. People can't handle that. Pisses 'em off. Fuck 'em!"
George Carlin, Brain Droppings

Unspeakably Fascinating

2013-05-05T02:12:00.000-04:00

East River

"You speak of New York as an unspeakable place. It is truly that. But it is fascinating. It is like some giant machine, soulless, an without a trace of heart. And still I doubt whether there is anything more truly wonderful than New York in the world just at present."
Alfred Stieglitz, My Dear Stieglitz: Letters of Marsden Hartley and Alfred Stieglitz, 1912-1915

Invincible

2013-05-04T02:12:00.002-04:00

Mulberry St.

"New York is where I always wanted to be. I don't think that will change. The city is invincible."
Nathaniel Rich, Odds Against Tomorrow

New York Edge

2013-05-03T02:12:00.001-04:00

Riverside Park

"New York wears its edge on its sleeve."
Jill Kargman, The Rock Star in Seat 3A

Winners and Losers

2013-05-02T02:12:00.001-04:00

Citi Field

"New Yorkers love a winner, and can be oddly affectionate to losers—but they cannot stand mediocrity."
Cait N. Murphy, Crazy '08

American Rage

2013-05-01T02:12:00.000-04:00

West 13th

"The juice of New York was something he could understand. American rage, freedom from European classicism and the deathly Common Market."
Tama Janowitz, Slaves of New York

Loud

2013-04-30T02:12:00.001-04:00

Broadway

"The reason I live in New York City is it's the loudest city on the planet Earth. It's so loud I never have to listen to any of the shit that's going on in my head. It's really loud, they literally have guys come with jackhammers and they drill the streets and just leave cones in front of your apartment and you don't even know why. Garbage men come; they don't even pick up the garbage, they just bang the cans together. And if your block's too quiet, they actually hire a guy who wanders around going, "Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!"
Lewis black, The White Album

Almost Like a Small Town

2013-04-29T02:12:00.000-04:00

Sylvan Terrace

"New York is just like any small town, though I suppose without the better features."
Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead (Centennial Edition Hardcover)

Sidewalks of New York

2013-04-28T02:12:00.001-04:00

West 41st

"There's nothing quite like the beautiful, surging chaos of the sidewalks of New York. It's a sea of humanity out there, in the summer a literal melting pot, where thousands of people with thousands of wants and dreams and flu-bags and bedbugs converge to add up to something greater than any one of them."
Avery Monsen and Jory John, I Feel Relatively Neutral About New York

Safari

2013-04-27T02:12:00.000-04:00

East 8th

"Tourism in New York is a multi-billion dollar industry partly predicated on a kind of safari model. They're going to be disappointed if they don't get close to the lions and tigers, but really disappointed if one of them eats them. It's a fine line."
Garrett Moore (Gregory Jbara), Blue Bloods

Revolving Door

2013-04-26T02:12:00.007-04:00

590 Madison Avenue

"Living in Manhattan is such a whirlwind. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a high-speed revolving door."
David B. Feinberg, Eighty-Sixed