The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (6 page)

My eyes are bleared, my coppers hot,

I'll try to eat, but I cannot.

It is no time for mirth and laughter,

The cold, gray dawn of the morning after.

Sultan of Sulu (1903) act 2, p. 63

1.12 Konrad Adenauer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1876-1967

A thick skin is a gift from God.

In New York Times 30 Dec. 1959, p. 5

1.13 Alfred Adler =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1870-1937

It is always easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

In Phyllis Bottome Alfred Adler (1939) p. 76

The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie,

and even to murder, for the truth.

Problems of Neurosis (1929) ch. 2

1.14 Polly Adler =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1900-1962

A house is not a home.

Title of book (1954)

1.15 AE (A.E., �) (George William Russell) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1867-1935

In ancient shadows and twilights

Where childhood had strayed,

The world's great sorrows were born

And its heroes were made.

In the lost boyhood of Judas

Christ was betrayed.

Vale and Other Poems (1931) "Germinal"

1.16 Herbert Agar =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1897-1980

The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men

prefer not to hear.

Time for Greatness (1942) ch. 7

1.17 James Agate =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1877-1947

I don't know very much, but what I do know I know better than anybody, and

I don't want to argue about it. I know what I think about an actor or an

actress, and am not interested in what anybody else thinks. My mind is not

a bed to be made and re-made.

Ego 6 (1944) 9 June 1943

1.18 Spiro T. Agnew =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1918-

I didn't say I wouldn't go into ghetto areas. I've been in many of them

and to some extent I would have to say this: If you've seen one city slum

you've seen them all.

In Detroit Free Press 19 Oct. 1968

A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of

impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals.

Speech in New Orleans, 19 Oct. 1969, in Frankly Speaking (1970) ch. 3

1.19 Max Aitken =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

See Lord Beaverbrook (2.35)

1.20 Zo� Akins =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1886-1958

The Greeks had a word for it.

Title of play (1930)

1.21 Alain (�mile-Auguste Chartier) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1868-1951

Rien n'est plus dangereux qu'une id�e,quand on n'a qu'une id�e.

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea.

Propos sur la religion (Remarks on Religion, 1938) no. 74

1.22 Edward Albee =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1928-

Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Title of play (1962). Cf. Frank E. Churchill

I have a fine sense of the ridiculous, but no sense of humour.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) act 1

1.23 Richard Aldington =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1892-1962

Patriotism is a lively sense of collective responsibility. Nationalism is

a silly cock crowing on its own dunghill.

Colonel's Daughter (1931) pt. 1, ch. 6

1.24 Brian Aldiss =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1925-

Keep violence in the mind

Where it belongs.

Barefoot in the Head (1969) (last lines of concluding poem "Charteris")

1.25 Nelson Algren =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1909-

Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called

Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

In Newsweek 2 July 1956

A walk on the wild side.

Title of novel (1956)

I got a glimpse into the uses of a certain kind of criticism this past

summer at a writers' conference into how the avocation of assessing the

failures of better men can be turned into a comfortable livelihood,

providing you back it up with a Ph.D. I saw how it was possible to gain a

chair of literature on no qualification other than persistence in nipping

the heels of Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck. I know, of course, that

there are true critics, one or two. For the rest all I can say is, Deal

around me.

In Malcolm Cowley (ed.) Writers at Work (1958) 1st Ser. p. 222

1.26 Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1942-

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Catch-phrase used from circa 1964, in G. Sullivan Cassius Clay Story

(1964) ch. 8

I'm the greatest.

Catch-phrase used from 1962, in Louisville Times 16 Nov. 1962

1.27 Fred Allen (John Florence Sullivan) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1894-1956

California is a fine place to live--if you happen to be an orange.

American Magazine Dec. 1945, p. 120

Hollywood is a place where people from Iowa mistake each other for stars.

In Maurice Zolotow No People like Show People (1951) ch. 8

Committee--a group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group

decide that nothing can be done.

In Laurence J. Peter Quotations for our Time (1978) p. 120

1.28 Woody Allen (Allen Stewart Konigsberg) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1935-

It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it

happens.

Death (1975) p. 63

Is sex dirty? Only if it's done right.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex (1972 film)

If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. But the

worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever.

Love and Death (1975 film)

The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf won't get much

sleep.

New Republic 31 Aug. 1974 "The Scrolls"

Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends.

New Yorker 27 Dec. 1969 "My Philosophy"

If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in

my name at a Swiss bank.

New Yorker 5 Nov. 1973 "Selections from the Allen Notebooks"

On bisexuality: It immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday

night.

New York Times 1 Dec. 1975, p. 33

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path

leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction.

Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.

Side Effects (1980) "My Speech to the Graduates"

Take the money and run.

Title of film (1968)

On the plus side, death is one of the few things that can be done as

easily lying down.

Without Feathers (1976) "Early Essays"

Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.

Without Feathers (1976) "Early Essays"

My one regret in life is that I am not someone else.

Epigraph to Eric Lax Woody Allen and his Comedy (1975)

And my parents finally realize that I'm kidnapped and they snap into

action immediately: They rent out my room.

In Eric Lax Woody Allen and his Comedy (1975) ch. 1

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work....I want to achieve

it through not dying.

In Eric Lax Woody Allen and his Comedy (1975) ch. 12

It was partially my fault that we got divorced.... I tended to place my

wife under a pedestal.

At night-club in Chicago, Mar. 1964, recorded on Woody Allen Volume Two

(Colpix CP 488) side 1, band 6

I must say...a fast word about oral contraception. I asked a girl to go

to bed with me and she said "no."

At night-club in Washington, Apr. 1965, recorded on Woody Allen Volume Two

(Colpix CP 488) side 4, band 6

1.29 Woody Allen (Allen Stewart Konigsberg) and Marshall Brickman =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Woody Allen 1935-

Marshall Brickman 1941-

That [sex] was the most fun I ever had without laughing.

Annie Hall (1977 film)

Don't knock masturbation. It's sex with someone I love.

Annie Hall (1977 film)

I feel that life is--is divided up into the horrible and the miserable.

Annie Hall (1977 film)

My brain? It's my second favourite organ.

Sleeper (1973 film)

I'm not the heroic type, really. I was beaten up by Quakers.

Sleeper (1973 film)

1.30 Margery Allingham =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1904-1966

Once sex rears its ugly 'ead it's time to steer clear.

Flowers for the Judge (1936) ch. 4

1.31 Joseph Alsop =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Gratitude, like love, is never a dependable international emotion.

In Observer 30 Nov. 1952

1.32 Robert Altman =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1922-

After all, what's a cult? It just means not enough people to make a

minority.

In Guardian 11 Apr. 1981

1.33 Leo Amery =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1873-1955

I will quote certain other words. I do it with great reluctance, because I

am speaking of those who are old friends and associates of mine, but they

are words which, I think, are applicable to the present situation. This is

what Cromwell said to the Long Parliament when he thought it was no longer

fit to conduct the affairs of the nation: "You have sat too long here for

any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with

you. In the name of God, go."

Hansard 7 May 1940, col. 1150. Cf. Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1979)

169:26

Speak for England.

Said to Arthur Greenwood in House of Commons, 2 Sept. 1939, in L. Amery

My Political Life (1955) vol. 3, p. 324

For twenty years he [H. H. Asquith] has held a season-ticket on the line

of least resistance and has gone wherever the train of events has carried

him, lucidly justifying his position at whatever point he has happened to

find himself.

Quarterly Review July 1914, p. 276

1.34 Kingsley Amis =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1922-

The delusion that there are thousands of young people about who are

capable of benefiting from university training, but have somehow failed to

find their way there, is...a necessary component of the expansionist

case....More will mean worse.

Encounter July 1960

The point about white Burgundies is that I hate them myself. I take

whatever my wine supplier will let me have at a good price (which I would

never dream of doing with any other drinkable). I enjoyed seeing those

glasses of Chablis or Pouilly Fuiss�, so closely resembling a blend of

cold chalk soup and alum cordial with an additive or two to bring it to

the colour of children's pee, being peered and sniffed at, rolled round

the shrinking tongue and forced down somehow by parties of young

technology dons from Cambridge or junior television producers and their

girls.

The Green Man (1969) ch. 1

Dixon...tried to flail his features into some sort of response to humour.

Mentally, however, he was making a different face and promising himself

he'd make it actually when next alone. He'd draw his lower lip in under

his top teeth and by degrees retract his chin as far as possible, all this

while dilating his eyes and nostrils. By these means he would, he was

confident, cause a deep dangerous flush to suffuse his face.

Lucky Jim (1953) ch. 1

Alun's life was coming to consist more and more exclusively of being told

at dictation speed what he knew.

The Old Devils (1986) ch. 7

Outside every fat man there was an even fatter man trying to close in.

One Fat Englishman (1963) ch. 3. See also Cyril Connolly (3.85) and

George Orwell (15.24)

He was of the faith chiefly in the sense that the church he currently did

not attend was Catholic.

One Fat Englishman (1963) ch. 8

1.35 Maxwell Anderson =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1888-1959

But it's a long, long while

From May to December;

And the days grow short

When you reach September.

September Song (1938 song; music by Kurt Weill)

1.36 Maxwell Anderson and Lawrence Stallings =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Maxwell Anderson 1888-1959

Lawrence Stallings 1894-1968