The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (74 page)

Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In

dramatic lore they were known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction, and

Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller,

Crowley, and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone

before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the

precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators

peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green below.

Report of football match on 18 Oct. 1924 between US Military Academy at

West Point NY and University of Notre Dame, in New York Tribune 19 Oct.

1924

For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,

He writes--not that you won or lost--but how you played the Game.

Only the Brave (1941) "Alumnus Football"

18.33 Tim Rice =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1944-

Don't cry for me Argentina.

Title of song (1976; music by Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Prove to me that you're no fool

Walk across my swimming pool.

Herod's Song (1970; music by Andrew Lloyd Webber)

18.34 Mandy Rice-Davies =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1944-

Mr Burge: Do you know Lord Astor has made a statement to the police

saying that these allegations of yours are absolutely untrue?

Mandy Rice-Davies: He would, wouldn't he? (Laughter).

At the trial of Stephen Ward, 29 June 1963, in Guardian 1 July 1963

An American tourist, seeing me the centre of a crowd, came up to me.

"Hello, my dear, may I have your autograph. And would you mind telling me

who you are?" I hated having to say my name. For years Mandy Rice-Davies

was such an embarrassment to me. It is only in recent times I have been

able to say my name without a quiver of discomfort. "Call me Lady

Hamilton," I said.

Mandy (1980) ch. 16

18.35 Dicky Richards =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

My Goodness, My Guinness.

Advertising slogan (1935) in B. Sibley Book of Guinness Advertising (1985)

p. 83

18.36 Frank Richards (Charles Hamilton) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1876-1961

My postal-order hasn't come yet.

Magnet (1908) vol. 1, no. 2 "The Taming of Harry"

Hazeldene looked from one to the other--from the well-set-up, athletic

Lancashire lad, to the fat greedy owl of the Remove, and burst into

a laugh.

Magnet (1909) vol. 3, no. 72 "The Greyfriars Photographer"

"I--I say, you fellows--"

"Shut up, Bunter."

"But--but I say--"

"Keep that cush over his chivvy."

"I--I say--groo--groo--yarooh!"

And Bunter's remarks again tailed off under the cushion.

Magnet (1909) vol. 3, no. 85 "The Greyfriars Visitors"

18.37 I. A. Richards =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1893-1979

It is very probable that the Hindenburg Line to which the defence of our

traditions retired as a result of the onslaughts of the last century will

be blown up in the near future. If this should happen a mental chaos such

as man has never experienced may be expected. We shall then be thrown

back...upon poetry. It is capable of saving us; it is a perfectly possible

means of overcoming chaos.

Science and Poetry (1926) ch. 7

18.38 Sir Ralph Richardson =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1902-1983

"Acting," Ralph Richardson of the Old Vic pronounced last week, "is merely

the art of keeping a large group of people from coughing."

New York Herald Tribune 19 May 1946, pt. 5, p. 1

18.39 Hans Richter =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1843-1916

Your damned nonsense can I stand twice or once, but sometimes always, by

God, Never.

In Hansard 13 Feb. 1958, col. 574

18.40 Rainer Maria Rilke =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1875-1926

Kunst-Werke sind von einer unendlichen Einsamkeit und mit nichts so wenig

erreichbar als mit Kritik. Nur Liebe kann sie erfassen und halten und kann

gerecht sein gegen sie.

Works of art are of an infinite solitariness, and nothing is less likely

to bring us near to them than criticism. Only love can apprehend and hold

them, and can be just towards them.

Briefe an einem jungen Dichter (Letters to a Young Poet, 1929, translated

by Reginald Snell, 1945) 23 Apr. 1903

Und diese menschlichere Liebe (die unendlich r�cksichtsvoll und leise, und

gut und klar in Binden und L�sen sich vollziehen wird) wird jener �hneln,

die wir ringend und m�hsam vorbereiten, der Liebe, die darin besteht, dass

zwei Einsamkeiten einander sch�tzen, grenzen und gr�ssen.

And this more human love (which will consummate itself infinitely

thoughtfully and gently, and well and clearly in binding and loosing) will

be something like that which we are preparing with struggle and toil, the

love which consists in the mutual guarding, bordering and saluting of two

solitudes.

Briefe an einem jungen Dichter (Letters to a Young Poet, 1929, translated

by Reginald Snell, 1945) 14 May 1904

Wer hat uns also umgedreht, dass wir,

was wir auch tun, in jener Haltung sind

von einem, welcher fortgeht? Wie er auf

den letzten H�gel, der ihm ganz sein Tal

noch einmal zeigt, sich wendet, anh�lt, weilt--,

so leben wir und nehmen immer Abschied.

Who's turned us around like this, so that we always,

do what we may, retain the attitude

of someone who's departing? Just as he,

on the last hill, that shows him all his valley

for the last time, will turn and stop and linger,

we live our lives, for ever taking leave.

Duineser Elegien (Duino Elegies, translated by J. B. Leishman and Stephen

Spender, 1948) no. 8

Ich f�r die h�chste Aufgabe einer Verbindung zweier Menschen diese halte:

dass einer dem andern seine Einsamkeit bewache.

I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that

each protects the solitude of the other.

Letter to Paula Modersohn-Becker, 12 Feb. 1902, in Gesammelte Briefe

(Collected Letters, 1904) vol. 1, p. 204

18.41 Hal Riney =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1932-

It's morning again in America.

Slogan for Ronald Reagan's election campaign, 1984, in Newsweek 6 Aug.

1984

18.42 Robert L. Ripley =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1893-1949

Believe it or not.

Title of syndicated newspaper feature (from 1918)

18.43 C�sar Ritz =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1850-1918

Le client n'a jamais tort.

The customer is never wrong.

In R. Nevill and C. E. Jerningham Piccadilly to Pall Mall (1908) p. 94

18.44 Joan Riviere =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1883-

Civilization and its discontents.

Title of translation of Sigmund Freud's Das Unbehagen in der Kultur (1930)

18.45 Lord Robbins (Lionel Charles Robbins, Baron Robbins) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1898-1984

Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship

between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.

Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science (1932) ch. 1,

sect. 3

18.46 Leo Robin =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1900-

Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

Title of song (1949; music by Jule Styne)

18.47 Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Leo Robin 1900-

Ralph Rainger

Thanks for the memory.

Title of song (1937)

18.48 Edwin Arlington Robinson =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1869-1935

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Children of the Night (1897) "Richard Cory"

I shall have more to say when I am dead.

The Three Taverns (1920) "John Brown" (last line)

Miniver loved the Medici,

Albeit he had never seen one;

He would have sinned incessantly

Could he have been one.

The Town down the River (1910) "Miniver Cheevy"

18.49 Rt. Rev John Robinson (Bishop of Woolwich) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1919-1983

What Lawrence is trying to do, I think, is to portray the sex relation as

something sacred....I think Lawrence tried to portray this relation as in

a real sense an act of holy communion. For him flesh was sacramental of

the spirit.

Said as defence witness in case brought against Penguin Books for

publishing Lady Chatterley's Lover, 27 Oct. 1960, in The Times 28 Oct.

1960

18.50 John D. Rockefeller =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1839-1937

The growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest....The

American beauty rose can be produced in the splendour and fragrance which

bring cheer to its beholder only by sacrificing the early buds which grow

up around it.

In W. J. Ghent Our Benevolent Feudalism (1902) p. 29

18.51 Knute Rockne =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1888-1931

See Joseph P. Kennedy (11.19)

18.52 Cecil Rodd =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Stop me and buy one.

Advertising slogan for Wall's ice cream (from spring 1922) in Wall's

Magazine Summer 1957, p. 33

18.53 Gene Roddenberry =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1921-

Space--the final frontier....These are the voyages of the starship

Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek

out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone

before.

Introduction to Star Trek (television series) 1966 onwards, in James A.

Lely Star Trek (1979) p. 32

Beam us up, Mr Scott.

Star Trek (television series 1966 onwards) "Gamesters of Triskelion"

(often quoted as the catch-phrase "Beam me up, Scotty ," which was not

actually used in the series)

18.54 Theodore Roethke =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1908-1963

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.

I learn by going where I have to go.

The Waking (1953) p. 120

18.55 Will Rogers =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1879-1935

There is only one thing that can kill the Movies, and that is education.

Autobiography of Will Rogers (1949) ch. 6

The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit

that each party is worse than the other. The one that's out always looks

the best.

Illiterate Digest (1924) "Breaking into the Writing Game"

The Income Tax has made more Liars out of the American people than Golf

has. Even when you make one out on the level, you don't know when it's

through if you are a Crook or a Martyr.

Illiterate Digest (1924) "Helping the Girls with their Income Taxes"

Everything is funny as long as it is happening to Somebody Else.

Illiterate Digest (1924) "Warning to Jokers: lay off the prince"

Well, all I know is what I read in the papers.

New York Times 30 Sept. 1923

You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.

In New York Times 31 Aug. 1924

You can't say civilization don't advance, however, for in every war they

kill you in a new way.

New York Times 23 Dec. 1929

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we

have rushed through life trying to save.

Letter in New York Times 29 Apr. 1930

I bet you if I had met him [Trotsky] and had a chat with him, I would have

found him a very interesting and human fellow, for I never yet met a man

that I didn't like.

In Saturday Evening Post 6 Nov. 1926

I don't make jokes--I just watch the government and report the facts.

In Saturday Review 25 Aug. 1962

Communism is like prohibition, it's a good idea but it won't work.

Weekly Articles (1981) vol. 3, p. 93 (first pubd. 1927)

Heroing is one of the shortest-lived professions there is.

Newspaper article, 15 Feb. 1925, in Paula McSpadden Grove The Will Rogers

Book (1961) p. 193

18.56 Frederick William Rolfe ('Baron Corvo') =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1860-1913

"There is no Holiness here," George interrupted, in that cold, white,

candent voice which was more caustic than silver nitrate and more