The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (13 page)

Mythologies (1957) "La nouvelle Citro�n" (The new Citro�n)

2.27 Bernard Baruch =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1870-1965

To me old age is always fifteen years older than I am.

In Newsweek 29 Aug. 1955

Vote for the man who promises least; he'll be the least disappointing.

In Meyer Berger New York (1960)

Let us not be deceived--we are today in the midst of a cold war.

Speech to South Carolina Legislature 16 Apr. 1947, in New York Times 17

Apr. 1947, p. 21

A political leader must keep looking over his shoulder all the time to see

if the boys are still there. If they aren't still there, he's no longer a

political leader.

In New York Times 21 June 1965, p. 16

You can talk about capitalism and communism and all that sort of thing,

but the important thing is the struggle everybody is engaged in to get

better living conditions, and they are not interested too much in forms of

government.

In The Times 20 Aug. 1964

2.28 Jacques Barzun =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1907-

If it were possible to talk to the unborn, one could never explain to them

how it feels to be alive, for life is washed in the speechless real.

The House of Intellect (1959) ch. 6

Art distils sensation and embodies it with enhanced meaning in memorable

form--or else it is not art.

The House of Intellect (1959) ch. 6

2.29 L. Frank Baum =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1856-1919

The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) ch. 2

2.30 Vicki Baum =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1888-1960

Verheiratet sein verlangt immer und �berall die feinsten Kunst der

Unaufrichtigkeit zwischen Mensch und Mensch.

Marriage always demands the finest arts of insincerity possible between

two human beings.

Zwischenfall in Lohwinckel (1930) p. 140, translated by Margaret

Goldsmith as Results of an Accident (1931) p. 140

2.31 Sir Arnold Bax =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1883-1953

A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, "You should

make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and

folk-dancing."

Farewell, My Youth (1943) p. 17

2.32 Sir Beverley Baxter =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1891-1964

Beaverbrook is so pleased to be in the Government that he is like the town

tart who has finally married the Mayor!

In Sir Henry Channon Chips: the Diaries (1967) 12 June 1940

2.33 Beachcomber =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

See J. B. Morton (13.129)

2.34 David, First Earl Beatty =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1871-1936

There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today [at the

Battle of Jutland].

In S. Roskill Beatty (1980) ch. 8

The German flag will be hauled down at sunset to-day (Thursday) and will

not be hoisted again without permission.

Signal to the Fleet, 21 Nov. 1918, in The Times 22 Nov. 1918

2.35 Lord Beaverbrook (William Maxwell Aitken, first Baron Beaverbrook) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1879-1964

I ran the paper [Daily Express] purely for propaganda, and with no other

purpose.

Evidence to Royal Commission on the Press, 18 Mar. 1948, in A. J. P.

Taylor Beaverbrook (1972) ch. 23

This is my final word. It is time for me to become an apprentice once

more. I have not settled in which direction. But somewhere, sometime soon.

Speech at Dorchester Hotel, 25 May 1964, in A. J. P. Taylor Beaverbrook

(1972) ch. 25

The Flying Scotsman is no less splendid a sight when it travels north to

Edinburgh than when it travels south to London. Mr Baldwin denouncing

sanctions was as dignified as Mr Baldwin imposing them. At times it seemed

that there were two Mr Baldwins on the stage, a prudent Mr Baldwin, who

scented the danger in foolish projects, and a reckless Mr Baldwin, who

plunged into them head down, eyes shut. But there was, in fact, only one

Mr Baldwin, a well-meaning man of indifferent judgement, who, whether he

did right or wrong, was always sustained by a belief that he was acting

for the best.

Daily Express 29 May 1937

The Daily Express declares that Great Britain will not be involved in a

European war this year or next year either.

Daily Express 19 Sept. 1938

He [Lloyd George] did not seem to care which way he travelled providing he

was in the driver's seat.

Decline and Fall of Lloyd George (1963) ch. 7

Now who is responsible for this work of development on which so much

depends? To whom must the praise be given? To the boys in the back rooms.

They do not sit in the limelight. But they are the men who do the work.

Listener 27 Mar. 1941. Cf. Frank Loesser

With the publication of his [Earl Haig's] Private Papers in 1952, he

committed suicide 25 years after his death.

Men and Power (1956) p. xviii

Churchill on top of the wave has in him the stuff of which tyrants are

made.

Politicians and the War (1932) vol. 2, ch. 6

2.36 Carl Becker =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1873-1945

The significance of man is that he is that part of the universe that asks

the question, What is the significance of Man? He alone can stand apart

imaginatively and, regarding himself and the universe in their eternal

aspects, pronounce a judgment: The significance of man is that he is

insignificant and is aware of it.

Progress and Power (1936) ch. 3

2.37 Samuel Beckett =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1906-1989

It is suicide to be abroad. But what is it to be at home, Mr Tyler, what

is it to be at home? A lingering dissolution.

All That Fall (1957) p. 10

We could have saved sixpence. We have saved fivepence. (Pause) But at what

cost?

All That Fall (1957) p. 25

Clov: Do you believe in the life to come?

Hamm: Mine was always that.

Endgame (1958) p. 35

Personally I have no bone to pick with graveyards, I take the air there

willingly, perhaps more willingly than elsewhere, when take the air I

must.

First Love (1973) p. 8

If I had the use of my body I would throw it out of the window.

Malone Dies (1958) p. 44

Where I am, I don't know, I'll never know, in the silence you don't know,

you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on.

The Unnamable (1959) p. 418

Nothing to be done.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 1

One of the thieves was saved. (Pause) It's a reasonable percentage.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 1

Estragon: Charming spot. Inspiring prospects. Let's go.

Vladimir: We can't.

Estragon: Why not?

Vladimir: We're waiting for Godot.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 1

Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 1

He can't think without his hat.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 1

Vladimir: That passed the time.

Estragon: It would have passed in any case.

Vladimir: Yes, but not so rapidly.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 1

We always find something, eh, Didi, to give us the impression that we

exist?

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 2

We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can

boast as much?

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 2

We all are born mad. Some remain so.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 2

They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's

night once more.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 2

The air is full of our cries. (He listens.) But habit is a great deadener.

Waiting for Godot (1955) act 2

2.38 Harry Bedford and Terry Sullivan =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I'm a bit of a ruin that Cromwell knock'd about a bit.

It's a Bit of a Ruin that Cromwell Knocked about a Bit (1920 song; written

for Marie Lloyd)

2.39 Sir Thomas Beecham =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1879-1961

A musicologist is a man who can read music but can't hear it.

In H. Proctor-Gregg Beecham Remembered (1976) pt. 2, p. 154

There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish

together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between.

In Harold Atkins and Archie Newman Beecham Stories (1978) p. 27

[The harpsichord] sounds like two skeletons copulating on a corrugated tin

roof.

In Harold Atkins and Archie Newman Beecham Stories (1978) p. 34

In the first movement alone, of the Seventh Symphony [by Bruckner], I took

note of six pregnancies and at least four miscarriages.

In Harold Atkins and Archie Newman Beecham Stories (1978) p. 50

[Herbert von Karajan is] a kind of musical Malcolm Sargent.

In Harold Atkins and Archie Newman Beecham Stories (1978) p. 61

I am not the greatest conductor in this country. On the other hand I'm

better than any damned foreigner.

In Daily Express 9 Mar. 1961

Musicians did not like the piece [Strauss's Elektra] at all. One eminent

British composer on leaving the theatre was asked what he thought of it.

"Words fail me," he replied, "and I'm going home at once to play the chord

of C major twenty times over to satisfy myself that it still exists."

Mingled Chime (1944) ch. 18

The plain fact is that music per se means nothing; it is sheer sound, and

the interpreter can do no more with it than his own capacities, mental and

spiritual, will allow, and the same applies to the listener.

Mingled Chime (1944) ch. 33

The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it

makes.

In New York Herald Tribune 9 Mar. 1961

Good music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and quits the

memory with difficulty.

Speech, circa 1950, in New York Times 9 Mar. 1961

All the arts in America are a gigantic racket run by unscrupulous men for

unhealthy women.

In Observer 5 May 1946

Hark! the herald angels sing!

Beecham's Pills are just the thing,

Two for a woman, one for a child...

Peace on earth and mercy mild!

In Neville Cardus Sir Thomas Beecham (1961) p. 23

At a rehearsal I let the orchestra play as they like. At the concert I

make them play as I like.

In Neville Cardus Sir Thomas Beecham (1961) p. 111

Dear old Elgar --he is furious with me for drastically cutting his A flat

symphony --it's a very long work, the musical equivalent of the Towers of

St Pancras Station--neo-Gothic, you know.

In Neville Cardus Sir Thomas Beecham (1961) p. 113

I am entirely with you in your obvious reluctance to rehearse on a morning

as chilly and dismal as this--but please do try to keep in touch with us

from time to time.

In Neville Cardus Sir Thomas Beecham (1961) p. 113

Why do we have to have all these third-rate foreign conductors

around--when we have so many second-rate ones of our own?

In L. Ayre Wit of Music (1966) p. 70

2.40 Sir Max Beerbohm =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1872-1956

I have known no man of genius who had not to pay, in some affliction or

defect either physical or spiritual, for what the gods had given him.

And Even Now (1920) "No. 2, The Pines"

One might well say that mankind is divisible into two great classes: hosts

and guests.

And Even Now (1920) "Hosts and Guests"

I maintain that though you would often in the fifteenth century have heard

the snobbish Roman say, in a would-be off-hand tone, "I am dining with the

Borgias tonight," no Roman ever was able to say, "I dined last night with

the Borgias."

And Even Now (1920) "Hosts and Guests"

They so very indubitably are, you know!

Christmas Garland (1912) "Mote in the Middle Distance"

Of course he [William Morris] was a wonderful all-round man, but the act

of walking round him has always tired me.

Letter to S. N. Behrman circa1953, in Conversations with Max (1960) ch. 2

A swear-word in a rustic slum

A simple swear-word is to some,

To Masefield something more.

Fifty Caricatures (1912) no. 12

Not that I had any special reason for hating school! Strange as it may

seem to my readers, I was not unpopular there. I was a modest,

good-humoured boy. It is Oxford that has made me insufferable.

More (1899) "Going Back to School"

Undergraduates owe their happiness chiefly to the consciousness that they

are no longer at school. The nonsense which was knocked out of them at

school is all put gently back at Oxford or Cambridge.

More (1899) "Going Back to School"