The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (9 page)

lessons that this long course in human wickedness had taught us--the

lesson of the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil.

Eichmann in Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil (1963) ch. 15

It is well known that the most radical revolutionary will become a

conservative on the day after the revolution.

New Yorker 12 Sept. 1970, p. 88

1.49 G. D. Armour =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1864-1949

Look here, Steward, if this is coffee, I want tea; but if this is tea,

then I wish for coffee.

Punch 23 July 1902 (cartoon caption)

1.50 Harry Armstrong =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1879-1951

There's an old mill by the stream, Nellie Dean,

Where we used to sit and dream, Nellie Dean.

And the waters as they flow

Seem to murmur sweet and low,

"You're my heart's desire; I love you, Nellie Dean."

Nellie Dean (1905 song)

1.51 Louis Armstrong =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1901-1971

All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.

In New York Times 7 July 1971, p. 41

If you still have to ask...shame on you.

Habitual reply when asked what jazz is, in Max Jones et al. Salute to

Satchmo (1970) p. 25

1.52 Neil Armstrong =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1930-

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

In New York Times 31 July 1969, p. 20

1.53 Sir Robert Armstrong =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1927-

It [a letter] contains a misleading impression, not a lie. It was being

economical with the truth.

In Supreme Court, New South Wales, 18 Nov. 1986, in Daily Telegraph 19

Nov. 1986. Cf. Edmund Burke's Two letters on Proposals for Peace (1796)

pt. 1, p. 137: Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no case whatsoever:

But, as in the exercise of all the virtues, there is an economy of truth.

1.54 Raymond Aron =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1905-

La pens�e politique, en France, est r�trospective ou utopique.

Political thought, in France, is retrospective or utopian.

L'opium des intellectuels (The opium of the intellectuals, 1955) ch. 1

1.55 George Asaf =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1880-1951

What's the use of worrying?

It never was worth while,

So, pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,

And smile, smile, smile.

Pack up your Troubles (1915 song; music by Felix Powell)

1.56 Dame Peggy Ashcroft =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1907-

It seems silly that more people should see me in "Jewel in the Crown" than

in all my years in the theatre.

In Observer 18 Mar. 1984

1.57 Daisy Ashford =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1881-1972

Mr Salteena was an elderly man of 42 and was fond of asking peaple to stay

with him.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 1

I do hope I shall enjoy myself with you. I am fond of digging in the

garden and I am parshial to ladies if they are nice I suppose it is my

nature. I am not quite a gentleman but you would hardly notice it but

can't be helped anyhow.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 1

You look rather rash my dear your colors dont quite match your face.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 2

My own room is next the bath room said Bernard it is decerated dark red as

I have somber tastes. The bath room has got a tip up bason and a hose

thing for washing your head.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 2

Bernard always had a few prayers in the hall and some whiskey afterwards

as he was rarther pious but Mr Salteena was not very addicted to prayers

so he marched up to bed.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 3

It was a sumpshous spot all done up in gold with plenty of looking

glasses.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 5

Oh I see said the Earl but my own idear is that these things are as piffle

before the wind.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 5

The bearer of this letter is an old friend of mine not quite the right

side of the blanket as they say in fact he is the son of a first rate

butcher but his mother was a decent family called Hyssopps of the Glen so

you see he is not so bad and is desireus of being the correct article.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 5

Ethel patted her hair and looked very sneery.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 8

My life will be sour grapes and ashes without you.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 8

Oh Bernard muttered Ethel this is so sudden. No no cried Bernard and

taking the bull by both horns he kissed her violently on her dainty face.

My bride to be he murmered several times.

Young Visiters (1919) ch. 9

1.58 Isaac Asimov =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1920-

The three fundamental Rules of Robotics....One, a robot may not injure a

human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to

harm....Two...a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except

where such orders would conflict with the First Law...three, a robot must

protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict

with the First or Second Laws.

I, Robot (1950) "Runaround"

1.59 Elizabeth Asquith (Princess Antoine Bibesco) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1897-1945

Kitchener is a great poster.

In Margot Asquith More Memories (1933) ch. 6

1.60 Herbert Henry Asquith (Earl of Oxford and Asquith) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1852-1928

We had better wait and see.

Hansard 3 Mar. 1910, col. 972 (expression used in various forms when

answering questions on the Finance Bill)

Happily there seems to be no reason why we should be anything more than

spectators [of the approaching war].

Letters to Venetia Stanley (1982) 24 July 1914

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.

In Observer 15 Apr. 1923

[The War Office kept three sets of figures:] one to mislead the public,

another to mislead the Cabinet, and the third to mislead itself.

In Alistair Horne Price of Glory (1962) ch. 2

We shall never sheath the sword which we have not lightly drawn until

Belgium recovers in full measure all and more than all that she has

sacrificed, until France is adequately secured against the menace of

aggression, until the rights of the smaller nationalities of Europe are

placed upon an unassailable foundation, and until the military domination

of Prussia is wholly and finally destroyed.

Speech at the Guildhall, 9 Nov. 1914, in The Times 10 Nov. 1914

It is fitting that we should have buried the Unknown Prime Minister [Bonar

Law] by the side of the Unknown Soldier.

In Robert Blake The Unknown Prime Minister (1955) p. 531

1.61 Margot Asquith (Countess of Oxford and Asquith) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1864-1945

It [10 Downing Street] is an inconvenient house with three poor

staircases, and after living there a few weeks I made up my mind that

owing to the impossibility of circulation I could only entertain my

Liberal friends at dinner or at garden parties.

Autobiography (1922) vol. 2, ch. 5

Ettie [Lady Desborough] is an ox: she will be made into Bovril when she

dies.

In Jeanne Mackenzie Children of the Souls (1986) ch. 4

Jean Harlow kept calling Margot Asquith by her first name, or kept trying

to: she pronounced it Margot. Finally Margot set her right. "No, no,

Jean. The t is silent, as in Harlow."

T. S. Matthews Great Tom (1973) ch. 7

The King [George V] told me he would never have died if it had not been

for that fool Dawson of Penn.

In letter from Mark Bonham Carter to Kenneth Rose 23 Oct. 1978, quoted in

Kenneth Rose King George V (1983) ch. 9

Lord Birkenhead is very clever but sometimes his brains go to his head.

In Listener 11 June 1953 "Margot Oxford: a Personal Impression" by Lady

Violet Bonham Carter

She [Lady Desborough] tells enough white lies to ice a wedding cake.

In Listener 11 June 1953 "Margot Oxford: a Personal Impression" by Lady

Violet Bonham Carter

He [Lloyd George?] can't see a belt without hitting below it.

In Listener 11 June 1953 "Margot Oxford: a Personal Impression" by Lady

Violet Bonham Carter

1.62 Raymond Asquith =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1878-1916

The sun like a Bishop's bottom

Rosy and round and hot

Looked down upon us who shot 'em

And down on the devils we shot.

And the stink of the damned dead niggers

Went up to the Lord high God

But we stuck to our starboard triggers

Though we yawned like dying cod.

Letter, 4 Mar. 1900, in J. Jolliffe Raymond Asquith Life and Letters

(1980) p. 64

1.63 Nancy Astor (Viscountess Astor) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1879-1964

One reason why I don't drink is because I wish to know when I am having a

good time.

In Christian Herald June 1960, p. 31

I married beneath me, all women do.

In Dictionary of National Biography 1961-1970 (1981) p. 43

After a heated argument on some trivial matter Nancy...shouted, "If I were

your wife I would put poison in your coffee!" Whereupon Winston

[Churchill] with equal heat and sincerity answered, "And if I were your

husband I would drink it."

Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan Glitter and Gold (1952) ch. 7

Jakie, is it my birthday or am I dying?

In J. Grigg Nancy Astor (1980) p. 184

1.64 Brooks Atkinson =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1894-1984

After each war there is a little less democracy to save.

Once Around the Sun (1951) 7 Jan.

In every age "the good old days" were a myth. No one ever thought they

were good at the time. For every age has consisted of crises that seemed

intolerable to the people who lived through them.

Once Around the Sun (1951) 8 Feb.

There is a good deal of solemn cant about the common interests of capital

and labour. As matters stand, their only common interest is that of

cutting each other's throat.

Once Around the Sun (1951) 7 Sept.

1.65 E. L. Atkinson and Apsley Cherry-Garrard =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

E. L. Atkinson 1882-1929

Apsley Cherry-Garrard 1882-1959

Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain L. E. G. Oates of the

Inniskilling Dragoons. In March 1912, returning from the Pole, he walked

willingly to his death in a blizzard to try and save his comrades, beset

by hardships.

Epitaph on cairn erected in the Antarctic, 15 Nov. 1912, in Apsley

Cherry-Garrard Worst Journey in the World (1922) p. 487

1.66 Clement Attlee =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1883-1967

Few thought he was even a starter

There were many who thought themselves smarter

But he ended PM

CH and OM

An earl and a knight of the garter.

Letter to Tom Attlee, 8 Apr. 1956, in Kenneth Harris Attlee (1982) p. 545

(describing himself)

I should be a sad subject for any publicity expert. I have none of the

qualities which create publicity.

In Harold Nicolson Diary (1968) 14 Jan. 1949

I think the British have the distinction above all other nations of being

able to put new wine into old bottles without bursting them.

Hansard 24 Oct. 1950, col. 2705

The voice we heard was that of Mr Churchill but the mind was that of Lord

Beaverbrook.

Speech on radio, 5 June 1945, in Francis Williams Prime Minister Remembers

(1961) ch. 6

I remember he [Winston Churchill] complained once in Opposition that a

matter had been brought up several times in Cabinet and I had to say, "I

must remind the Right Honourable Gentleman that a monologue is not a

decision."

In Francis Williams Prime Minister Remembers (1961) ch. 7

You have no right whatever to speak on behalf of the Government. Foreign

Affairs are in the capable hands of Ernest Bevin. I can assure you there

is widespread resentment in the Party at your activities and a period of

silence on your part would be welcome.

Letter to Harold Laski, 20 Aug. 1945, in Francis Williams Prime Minister

Remembers (1961) ch. 11

[Russian Communism is] the illegitimate child of Karl Marx and Catherine

the Great.

Speech at Aarhus University, 11 Apr. 1956, in The Times 12 Apr. 1956

Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you

can stop people talking.

Speech at Oxford, 14 June 1957, in The Times 15 June 1957