Top 40 Christopher Columbus Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “Life has more imagination than we carry in our dreams...”

— Christopher Columbus

2. “By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.”

— Christopher Columbus

3. “The sea will grant each man new hope, and sleep will bring dreams of home.”

— Christopher Columbus

4. “Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.”

— Christopher Columbus

5. “Goals are simply tools to focus your energy in positive directions, these can be changed as your priorities change, new one added, and others dropped.”

— Christopher Columbus

6. “One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. Variants include “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”.”

— Christopher Columbus

7. “Nothing that results in human progress is achieved with unanimous consent. Those that are enlightened before the others are condemned to pursue that light in spite of the others.”

— Christopher Columbus

8. “Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.”

— Christopher Columbus

9. “It is easy to discover what another has discovered before.”

— Christopher Columbus

10. “Riches don’t make a man rich, they only make him busier.”

— Christopher Columbus

11. “The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it.”

— Christopher Columbus

12. “A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand.”

— Christopher Columbus

13. “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

14. “And your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and Princes, devoted to the holy Christian faith and the propagation thereof – and enemies of the sect of Mohammet and of all idolatries and heresies, resolved to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the said.”

— Christopher Columbus

15. “He who has gold makes and accomplishes whatever he wishes in the world and finally uses it to send souls to paradise.”

— Christopher Columbus

16. “Tomorrow morning before we depart, I intend to land and see what can be found in the neighborhood.”

— Christopher Columbus

17. “I went to sea from the most tender age and have continued in a sea life to this day. Whoever gives himself up to this art wants to know the secrets of Nature here below. It is more than forty years that I have been thus engaged. Wherever any one has sailed, there I have sailed.”

— Christopher Columbus

18. “The Admiral says that he never beheld so fair a thing: trees all along the river, beautiful and green, and different from ours, with flowers and fruits each according to their kind, many birds and little birds which sing very sweetly.”

— Christopher Columbus

19. “With gold a man can do anything. It even sends souls to paradise.”

— Christopher Columbus

20. “For this purpose I determined to keep an account of the voyage, and to write down punctually every thing we performed or saw from day to day, as will hereafter appear.”

— Christopher Columbus

21. “Gold is a treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise.”

— Christopher Columbus

22. “Gold is the most precious of all commodities; gold constitutes treasure, and he who possesses it has all he needs in the world, as also the means of rescuing souls from purgatory, and restoring them to the enjoyment of paradise.”

— Christopher Columbus

23. “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 marvellous Presence.”

— Christopher Columbus

24. “For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.”

— Christopher Columbus

25. “The crew of the caravel “Nina” also saw signs of land, and a small branch covered with berries. Everyone breathed afresh and rejoiced at these signs.”

— Christopher Columbus

26. “I came to serve you at the age of 28 and now I have not a hair on me that is not white, and my body is infirm and exhausted. All that was left to me and my brothers has been taken away and sold, even to the cloak that I wore, without hearing or trial, to my great dishonor.”

— Christopher Columbus

27. “I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone.”

— Christopher Columbus

28. “An old man came on board my boat; the others, both men and women cried with loud voices: “Come and see the men who have come from the sky. Bring them victuals and drink.””

— Christopher Columbus

29. “Your Highnesses have an Other World here, by which our holy faith can be so greatly advanced and from which such great wealth can be drawn.”

— Christopher Columbus

30. “But in truth, should I meet with gold or spices in great quantity, I shall remain till I collect as much as possible, and for this purpose I am proceeding solely in quest of them.”

— Christopher Columbus

31. “After having dispatched a meal, I went ashore, and found no habitation save a single house, and that without an occupant; we had no doubt that the people had fled in terror at our approach, as the house was completely furnished.”

— Christopher Columbus

32. “I’m telling you that India is that way, now set my course.”

— Christopher Columbus

33. “3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime. According to some ancient manuscripts 9 is not a prime number, but beyond the distant horizon of the oceans, in the New World that I am going to discover, there are surely lots of them.”

— Christopher Columbus

34. “I ordered each man to be presented with something, as strings of ten or a dozen glass beads apiece, and thongs of leather, all which they estimated highly; those which came on board I directed should be fed with molasses.”

— Christopher Columbus

35. “I found that part of it towards San Salvador extending from north to south five leagues, and the other side which we coasted along, ran from east to west more than ten leagues.”

— Christopher Columbus

36. “Their houses are all built in the shape of tents, with very high chimneys.”

— Christopher Columbus

37. “I saw a boy of the crew purchasing javelins of them with bits of platters and broken glass.”

— Christopher Columbus

38. “I am not solicitous to examine particularly everything here, which indeed could not be done in fifty years, because my desire is to make all possible discoveries, and return to your Highnesses, if it please our Lord, in April.”

— Christopher Columbus

39. “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

40. “Sailed this day nineteen leagues, and determined to count less than the true number, that the crew might not be dismayed if the voyage should prove long.”

— Christopher Columbus