The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (43 page)

Winter Words (1928) "Christmas: 1924"

8.20 Maurice Evan Hare =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1886-1967

There once was an old man who said, "Damn!

It is borne in upon me I am

An engine that moves

In determinate grooves,

I'm not even a bus, I'm a tram."

Limerick (1905)

8.21 Robertson Hare =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1891-1979

Oh, calamity!

Catch-phrase, in Yours Indubitably (1956) p. 32

8.22 W. F. Hargreaves =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1846-1919

I'm Burlington Bertie

I rise at ten thirty and saunter along like a toff,

I walk down the Strand with my gloves on my hand,

Then I walk down again with them off.

Burlington Bertie from Bow (1915 song)

I acted so tragic the house rose like magic,

The audience yelled "You're sublime."

They made me a present of Mornington Crescent

They threw it a brick at a time.

The Night I Appeared as Macbeth (1922 song)

8.23 Lord Harlech (David Ormsby Gore) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1918-1985

In the end it may well be that Britain will be honoured by historians more

for the way she disposed of an empire than for the way in which she

acquired it.

In New York Times 28 Oct. 1962, sec. 4, p. 11

8.24 Jimmy Harper, Will E. Haines, and Tommie Connor =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The biggest aspidistra in the world.

Title of song (1938; popularized by Gracie Fields)

8.25 Frank Harris (James Thomas Harris) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1856-1931

Christ went deeper than I have, but I've had a wider range of experience.

In conversation with Hugh Kingsmill, in Hesketh Pearson and Malcolm

Muggeridge About Kingsmill (1951) ch. 3

Sex is the gateway to life.

In Enid Bagnold Autobiography (1969) ch. 4

8.26 H. H. Harris =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Bovril....Prevents that sinking feeling.

Advertising slogan (1920)

8.27 Lorenz Hart =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1895-1943

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered.

Title of song (1941; music by Richard Rodgers)

When love congeals

It soon reveals

The faint aroma of performing seals,

The double crossing of a pair of heels.

I wish I were in love again!

I Wish I Were in Love Again (1937 song; music by Richard Rodgers)

I get too hungry for dinner at eight.

I like the theatre, but never come late.

I never bother with people I hate.

That's why the lady is a tramp.

The Lady is a Tramp (1937 song; music by Richard Rodgers)

On the first of May

It is moving day;

Spring is here, so blow your job--

Throw your job away;

Now's the time to trust

To your wanderlust.

In the city's dust you wait.

Must you wait?

Just you wait:

In a mountain greenery

Where God paints the scenery--

Just two crazy people together;

While you love your lover, let

Blue skies be your coverlet--

When it rains we'll laugh at the weather.

Mountain Greenery (1926 song; music by Richard Rodgers)

8.28 Moss Hart and George Kaufman =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Moss Hart 1904-1961

George Kaufman 1889-1961

You can't take it with you.

Title of play (1936)

8.29 L. P. Hartley =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1895-1972

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

The Go-Between (1953) prologue

8.30 F. W. Harvey =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1888-?

From troubles of the world

I turn to ducks

Beautiful comical things.

Ducks and Other Verses (1919) "Ducks"

8.31 Minnie Louise Haskins =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1875-1957

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: "Give me a light

that I may tread safely into the unknown."

And he replied:

"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That

shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."

Desert (1908) "God Knows"

8.32 Lord Haw-Haw =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

See William Joyce (10.28)

8.33 Ian Hay (John Hay Beith) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1876-1952

What do you mean, funny? Funny-peculiar or funny ha-ha?

Housemaster (1938) act 3

8.34 J. Milton Hayes =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1884-1940

There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,

There's a little marble cross below the town,

There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,

And the Yellow God forever gazes down.

The Green Eye of the Yellow God (1911)

8.35 Lee Hazlewood =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1929-

These boots are made for walkin'.

Title of song (1966)

8.36 Denis Healey =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1917-

That part of his [Sir Geoffrey Howe's] speech was rather like being

savaged by a dead sheep.

Hansard 14 June 1978, col. 1027

I plan to be the Gromyko of the Labour Party.

In Sunday Times 5 Feb. 1984

I warn you there are going to be howls of anguish from the 80,000 people

who are rich enough to pay over 75% [tax] on the last slice of their

income.

Speech at Labour Party Conference, 1 Oct. 1973, in The Times 2 Oct. 1973

8.37 Seamus Heaney =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1939-

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I'll dig with it.

Death of a Naturalist (1966) "Digging"

All agog at the plasterer on his ladder

Skimming our gable and writing our name there

With his trowel point, letter by strange letter.

The Haw Lantern (1987) "Alphabets"

Who would connive

in civilised outrage

yet understand the exact

and tribal, intimate revenge.

North (1975) "Punishment"

The famous

Northern reticence, the tight gag of place

And times: yes, yes. Of the "wee six" I sing

Where to be saved you only must save face

And whatever you say, you say nothing.

North (1975) "Whatever You Say Say Nothing"

Is there a life before death? That's chalked up

In Ballymurphy. Competence with pain,

Coherent miseries, a bite and sup,

We hug our little destiny again.

North (1975) "Whatever You Say Say Nothing"

Don't be surprised

If I demur, for, be advised

My passport's green.

No glass of ours was ever raised

To toast The Queen.

Open Letter (Field Day pamphlet no. 2, 1983) p. 9 (rebuking the editors

of The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry for including his work)

8.38 Edward Heath =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1916-

It is the unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism.

Hansard 15 May 1973, col. 1243 (on the Lonrho affair)

The alternative is to break into the wage/price spiral by acting directly

to reduce prices. This can be done by reducing those taxes which bear

directly on prices and costs, such as the selective employment tax, and by

taking a firm grip on public sector prices and charges such as coal,

steel, gas, electricity, transport charges and postal charges. This

would, at a stroke, reduce the rise in prices, increase production and

reduce unemployment.

Press release, 16 June 1970, in The Times 17 June 1970

8.39 Fred Heatherton =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I've got a loverly bunch of cocoanuts,

There they are a-standing in a row,

Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head,

Give 'em a twist, a flick of the wrist,

That's what the showman said.

I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts (1944 song; revised version 1948)

8.40 Robert A. Heinlein =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1907-

"Oh, 'tanstaafl.' Means 'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.' And

isn't," I added, pointing to a FREE LUNCH sign across room, "or these

drinks would cost half as much. Was reminding her that anything free

costs twice as much in the long run or turns out worthless."

Moon is Harsh Mistress (1966) ch. 11

8.41 Werner Heisenberg =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1901-1976

Ein Fachmann ist ein Mann, der einige der gr�bsten Fehler kennt, die man

in dem betreffenden Fach machen kann und der sie deshalb zu vermeiden

versteht.

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made

in his subject and how to avoid them.

Der Teil und das Ganze ("The Part and the Whole," 1969) ch. 17

(translated by A. J. Pomerans in 1971 as Physics and Beyond)

8.42 Joseph Heller =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1923-

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that

a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and

immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be

grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no

longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to

fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly

them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't

want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the

absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful

whistle.

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.

Catch-22 (1961) ch. 5 (the first chapter of this novel was published as

Catch-18 in New World Writing (1955) No. 7--see Kiley and MacDonald

"Catch-22" Casebook (1973) 294)

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have

mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three.

Catch-22 (1961) ch. 9. Cf. Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1979) 489:14

Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it

necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth-decay in His

divine system of creation?

Catch-22 (1961) ch. 18

"You put so much stock in winning wars," the grubby iniquitous old man

scoffed. "The real trick lies in losing wars, and in knowing which wars

can be lost. Italy has been losing wars for centuries, and just see how

splendidly we've done nonetheless. France wins wars and is in a continual

state of crisis. Germany loses and prospers. Look at our own recent

history. Italy won a war in Ethiopia and promptly stumbled into serious

trouble. Victory gave us such insane delusions of grandeur that we helped

start a world war we hadn't a chance of winning. But now that we are

losing again, everything has taken a turn for the better, and we will

certainly come out on top again if we succeed in being defeated."

Catch-22 (1961) ch. 23

8.43 Lillian Hellman =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1905-1984

Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.

The Little Foxes (1939) act 1

I do not like subversion or disloyalty in any form and if I had ever seen

any I would have considered it my duty to have reported it to the proper

authorities. But to hurt innocent people whom I knew many years ago in

order to save myself is to me inhuman and indecent and dishonorable.

I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions, even

though I long ago came to the conclusion that I was not a political person

and could have no comfortable place in any political group.

Letter to John S. Wood, 19 May 1952, in US Congress Committee Hearing on

Un-American Activities (1952) pt. 8, p. 3546

8.44 Sir Robert Helpmann =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1909-1986

No. You see there are portions of the human anatomy which would keep

swinging after the music had finished.

In Elizabeth Salter Helpmann (1978) ch. 21 [reply to question on whether

the fashion for nudity would extend to dance]

8.45 Ernest Hemingway =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1899-1961

All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really

happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all