Nothingness Quotes, Quotations, and Sayings

17 Nothingness Quotes
[1-17] 
“Nothing proceeds from nothingness, as also nothing passes away into non-existence.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Marcus Aurelius) Quotes
Source: Meditations (IV, 4)
“Nothing happens until something moves.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Marcus Aurelius) Quotes
Source: Meditations (IV, 4)
“Why and Wherefore set out one day, To hunt for a wild Negation. They agreed to meet at a cool retreat On the Point of Interrogation.”
Oliver Herford Quotes
Source: Metaphysics
“Nothing to do but work, Nothing to eat but food, Nothing to wear out but clothes, To keep one from going nude.”
Benjamin Franklin King, Jr. Quotes
Source: The Pessimist
“Believing nothing does whilst there remained anything else to be done. [Lat., Nil actum credens, dum quid superesset agendum.]”
Lucanus (Marcus Annaeus Lucan) Quotes
Source: Pharsalia (bk. II, 657)
“Therefore there is not anything which returns to nothing, but all things return dissolved into their elements. [Lat., Haud igitur redit ad Nihilum res ulla, sed omnes Discidio redeunt in corpora materiai.]”
Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) Quotes
Source: De Rerum Natura (bk. I, 250)
“We cannot conceive of matter being formed of nothing, since things require a seed to start from. [Lat., Nil igitur fieri de nilo posse putandum es Semine quando opus est rebus.]”
Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) Quotes
Source: De Rerum Natura (bk. I, l. 206)
“Nothing's new, and nothing's true, and nothing matters.”
Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) Quotes
Source: De Rerum Natura (bk. I, l. 206)
“It is the silence between the notes that makes the music; it is the space between the bars that holds the tiger.”
Old Saying Quotes
Source: an old Zen saying appearing in "Jacob the Baker" by Noah benShea
“Nothing can be born of nothing, nothing can be resolved into nothing. [Lat., Gigni De nihilo nihil, in nihilum nil posse reverti.]”
Persius (Aulus Persius Flaccus) Quotes
Source: Satires (I, 111, 83)
“Out of breath to no purpose, in doing much doing nothing. A race (of busybodies) hurtful to itself and most hateful to all others. [Lat., Gratis anhelans, multa agendo nihil agens. Sibi molesta, et aliis odiosissima.]”
Phaedrus (Thrace of Macedonia) Quotes
Source: Fables (bk. II, 5, 3)
“It is, no doubt, an immense advantage to have done nothing, but one should not abuse it.”
Antoine de Rivarol Quotes
Source: Petit Almanach de nos Grands Hommes (preface)
“They laboriously do nothing. [Lat., Operose nihil agunt.]”
Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) Quotes
Source: De Brevitate Vitoe (bk. I, 13)
“Madam, you have bereft me of all words. Only my blood speaks to you in my veins, And there is such confusion in my powers As, after some oration fairly spoke By a beloved prince, there doth appear Among the buzzing pleased multitude, Where every something being blent together Turns to a wild of nothing, save of joy Expressed and not expressed.”
William Shakespeare Quotes
Source: The Merchant of Venice (Bassanio at III, ii)
“It is better to have a little than nothing.”
Syrus (Publilius Syrus) Quotes
Source: Maxims
“A life of nothing's nothing worth, From that first nothing ere his birth, To that last nothing under earth.”
Lord Alfred Tennyson Quotes
Source: Two Voices
“Nothing, thou elder brother e'en to shade.”
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester Quotes
Source: Poem on Nothing