# Shoes

A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while the wearer is doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion.

## Quotes

* [In Auschwitz,] Death begins with the shoes; for most of us, they show themselves to be instruments of torture, which, after a few hours of marching, cause painful sores that become fatally infected. Whoever has them is forced to walk as if he were dragging a convict's chain (this explains the strange gait of the army which returns every evening on parade); he arrives last everywhere, and everywhere he gets beaten. He cannot escape if someone chases him; his feet swell and the more they swell, the more the friction against the wood and the canvas of the shoes becomes intolerable. Then only the hospital is left: but to enter the hospital with a diagnosis of "dicke Füsse" (swollen feet) is extremely dangerous, because it is well known to all, and especially to the SS, that here there is no cure for that complaint.
   * Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz
* "Wear comfortable shoes!"
   * Wagner-soprano Birgit Nilsson, when someone asked her for advice on singing the role of Isolde in the opera Tristan und Isolde
* And all the people inside looked at Karen’s red shoes, and all the figures gazed at them; when Karen knelt before the altar and put the golden goblet to her mouth, she thought only of the red shoes. It seemed to her as though they were swimming about in the goblet, and she forgot to sing the psalm, forgot to say the “Lord’s Prayer.”
    Now every one came out of church, and the old lady stepped into her carriage. But just as Karen was lifting up her foot to get in too, the old soldier said: “Dear me, what pretty dancing shoes!” and Karen could not help it, she was obliged to dance a few steps; and when she had once begun, her legs continued to dance. It seemed as if the shoes had got power over them. She danced round the church corner, for she could not stop; the coachman had to run after her and seize her. He lifted her into the carriage, but her feet continued to dance, so that she kicked the good old lady violently. At last they took off her shoes, and her legs were at rest.
   * Hans Christian Andersen The Red Shoes (1845)
* I can’t concentrate in flats!
** Victoria Beckham, Arneson, Krystin; Gustashaw, Megan (2011). "25 of the Best Fashion Quotes of All Time". Glamour. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
* I had no shoes, and I felt sorry for myself until I met a man who had no feet. I took his shoes. Now I feel better.
** George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? (2004).
* You can never take too much care over the choice of your shoes. Too many women think that they are unimportant, but the real proof of an elegant woman is what is on her feet.
** Christian Dior Arneson, Krystin; Gustashaw, Megan (2011). "25 of the Best Fashion Quotes of All Time". Glamour. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
* For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost.
** Proverb reported by George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum (1651), #495.
* Who is worse shod, than the shoemaker's wife, With shops full of shoes all her life?
** Proverb reported by John Heywood, Proverbs (1546), Pt. I, ch. 11.
** Cf. the more recent(?) proverb: "The cobbler's children wear no shoes."
* I played in a new pair of shoes one day and they wore big blisters on my feet. The next day we came up short of players, a couple of men hurt and one missing. [...] I tried it with my old shoes on and just couldn't make it. He told me I'd have to play anyway, so I threw away the shoes and went to the outfield in my stockinged feet. [...] They picked it up and started calling me Shoeless Joe all around the league, and it stuck. I never played the outfield barefoot, and that was the only day I ever played in my stockinged feet, but it stuck with me.
** Shoeless Joe Jackson, This is the Truth! (1949).
* The shoe that fits one person pinches another.
** Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933).
* The most important thing to remember is that you can wear all the greatest clothes and all the greatest shoes, but you’ve got to have a good spirit on the inside. That’s what’s really going to make you look like you’re ready to rock the world.
** Alicia Keys, Arneson, Krystin; Gustashaw, Megan (2011). "25 of the Best Fashion Quotes of All Time". Glamour. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
* We’ve been wearing heels for so long, we’ve gotten so used to them that we feel more comfortable wearing them when we’re going up on stage. It straightens our postures; it makes us feel more confident. It’s not comfortable, but we’re so adjusted now that it feels weird without them.
   * Kwon Yuri, in Jaki Cho, "Interview: Girls Generation Talk Fame, K-Pop, and World Domination", Complex (November 12, 2011).
* Shoes transform your body language and attitude. They lift you physically and emotionally.
** Christian Louboutin, Arneson, Krystin; Gustashaw, Megan (2011). "25 of the Best Fashion Quotes of All Time". Glamour. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
* High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead.
** Christopher Morley, Gaille, Brandon (July 23, 2013). "List of 38 Famous Fashion Quotes and Sayings". BrandonGaille.com. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
* Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.
** Marilyn Monroe Arneson, Krystin; Gustashaw, Megan (2011). "25 of the Best Fashion Quotes of All Time". Glamour. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
* I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot!
** Marilyn Monroe Gaille, Brandon (July 23, 2013). "List of 38 Famous Fashion Quotes and Sayings". BrandonGaille.com. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
* If I’m going dancing, then I wear the highest heels with the shortest dress.
** Kate Moss Arneson, Krystin; Gustashaw, Megan (2011). "25 of the Best Fashion Quotes of All Time". Glamour. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
* A Roman divorced from his wife, being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, "Was she not chaste? Was she not fair? Was she not fruitful?" holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and well made. "Yet," added he, "none of you can tell where it pinches me."
** Plutarch, Lives, "Aemilius Paulus", sec. 29.
* “Make a general practice of wearing sandals, for a man is riding as it were when he wears sandals” (5230).
** Sahih Muslim. Quoted from Ram Swarup, Understanding Islam through Hadis, 1983.
* You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
** Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990).
* The Stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
** Jonathan Swift,Thoughts on Various Subjects from Miscellanies (1711-1726).
* Buckle shoes, bow shoes, Pretty pointy-toe shoes, Strappy, cappy low shoes; Let's have some to try.
** Frida Wolfe, Choosing Shoes.
* Beauty is a pair of shoes that makes you wanna die.
** Frank Zappa, You Are What You Is, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (1981).

## See also

* Shoemaking
* Handbag
* Luggage
* Belt