The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (44 page)

that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and

the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places

and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to

people, then you are a writer.

Esquire Dec. 1934 "Old Newsman Writes"

"Just kiss me."

She kissed him on the cheek.

"No."

"Where do the noses go? I always wondered where the noses would go."

"Look, turn thy head" and then their mouths were tight together.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) ch. 7

He said, "Maria...I feel as though I wanted to die when I am loving

thee."

"Oh," she said. "I die each time. Do you not die?"

"No. Almost. But did thee feel the earth move?"

"Yes. As I died. Put thy arm around me, please."

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) ch. 13

All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called

Huckleberry Finn.

Green Hills of Africa (1935) ch. 1

Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of

ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination.

Men at War (1942)

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then

wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is

a movable feast.

Movable Feast (1964) epigraph

"Exactly what do you mean by 'guts'?" "I mean," Ernest Hemingway said,

"grace under pressure."

Interview with Dorothy Parker, in New Yorker 30 Nov. 1929

I started out very quiet and I beat Mr Turgenev. Then I trained hard and

I beat Mr de Maupassant. I've fought two draws with Mr Stendhal, and

I think I had an edge in the last one. But nobody's going to get me in any

ring with Mr Tolstoy unless I'm crazy or I keep getting better.

New Yorker 13 May 1950

A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

The Old Man and the Sea (1952) p. 103

The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof shit

detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.

Paris Review Spring 1958

The sun also rises.

Title of novel (1926)

Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than

sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the

cuckoo clock style of architecture.

Toronto Star Weekly 4 Mar. 1922, in William White By-line: Ernest

Hemingway (1967) p. 18 See also F. Scott Fitzgerald (6.20)

8.46 Arthur W. D. Henley =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty.

Title of song (1934)

8.47 O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1862-1910

Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles

predominating.

Four Million (1906) "Gift of the Magi"

If men knew how women pass the time when they are alone, they'd never

marry.

Four Million (1906) "Memoirs of a Yellow Dog"

It was beautiful and simple as all truly great swindles are.

Gentle Grafter (1908) "Octopus Marooned"

Turn up the lights; I don't want to go home in the dark.

Last words, quoting 1907 song by Harry Williams "I'm afraid to come home

in the dark," in Charles Alphonso Smith O. Henry Biography (1916) ch. 9

8.48 A. P. Herbert =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1890-1971

Other people's babies--

That's my life!

Mother to dozens,

And nobody's wife.

Ballads for Broadbrows (1930) "Other People's Babies" (also a 1934 song,

with music by Vivian Ellis)

Let's find out what everyone is doing,

And then stop everyone from doing it.

Ballads for Broadbrows (1930) "Let's Stop Somebody from Doing Something!"

As my poor father used to say

In 1863,

Once people start on all this Art

Goodbye, moralitee!

And what my father used to say

Is good enough for me.

Ballads for Broadbrows (1930) "Lines for a Worthy Person"

Holy deadlock.

Title of novel (1934)

Don't tell my mother I'm living in sin,

Don't let the old folks know.

Laughing Ann (1925) "Don't Tell My Mother I'm Living in Sin"

Not huffy, or stuffy, not tiny or tall,

But fluffy, just fluffy, with no brains at all.

Plain Jane (1927) "I Like them Fluffy"

Don't let's go to the dogs tonight,

For mother will be there.

She-Shanties (1926) "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight"

The Farmer will never be happy again;

He carries his heart in his boots;

For either the rain is destroying his grain

Or the drought is destroying his roots.

Tinker Tailor (1922) "The Farmer"

This high official, all allow,

Is grossly overpaid;

There wasn't any Board, and now

There isn't any Trade.

Tinker Tailor (1922) "The President of the Board of Trade"

Nothing is wasted, nothing is in vain:

The seas roll over but the rocks remain.

Tough at the Top (circa 1949 operetta), in A.P.H. (1970) ch. 7

The Common Law of England has been laboriously built about a mythical

figure--the figure of "The Reasonable Man."

Uncommon Law (1935) "The Reasonable Man"

People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no

reference to fun in any Act of Parliament.

Uncommon Law (1935) "Is it a Free Country?"

The critical period in matrimony is breakfast-time.

Uncommon Law (1935) "Is Marriage Lawful?"

The Englishman never enjoys himself except for a noble purpose.

Uncommon Law (1935) "Fox-Hunting Fun"

Milord, in that case an Act of God was defined as "something which no

reasonable man could have expected."

Uncommon Law (1935) "Act of God"

8.49 Oliver Herford =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1863-1935

"Perhaps it is only a whim," said the Queen. The King laughed mirthlessly.

"King Barumph has a whim of iron!"

Excuse it Please (1929) "Impossible Pudding"

See also Ethel Watts Mumford (13.139)

8.50 Jerry Herman =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1933-

Hello, Dolly, well, hello Dolly

It's so nice to have you back where you belong.

Hello, Dolly (1964 song from the musical Hello, Dolly)

8.51 June Hershey =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Deep in the heart of Texas.

Title of song (1941; music by Don Swander)

8.52 Hermann Hesse =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1877-1962

Wenn wir einen Menschen hassen, so hassen wir in seinem Bild etwas, was in

uns selber sisst. Was nicht in uns selber ist, das regt uns nicht auf.

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself.

What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.

Demian (1919) ch. 6

Auf Kosten der Intensit�t also erreicht er [der B�rger ] Erhaltung und

Sicherheit, statt Gottbesessenheit erntet er Gewissensruhe, statt Lust

Behagen, statt Freiheit Bequemlichkeit, statt t�dlicher Glut eine

angenehme Temperatur.

The bourgeois prefers comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and

a pleasant temperature to the deathly inner consuming fire.

Der Steppenwolf (1927) "Tractat vom Steppenwolf" (Treatise on the

Steppenwolf)

8.53 Gordon Hewart (Viscount Hewart) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1870-1943

A long line of cases shows that it is not merely of some importance, but

is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but

should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.

Rex v Sussex Justices, 9 Nov. 1923, in Law Reports King's Bench Division

(1924) vol. 1, p. 259

8.54 Patricia Hewitt =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1948-

It is obvious from our polling, as well as from the doorstep, that the

"London Effect" is now very noticeable. The "loony Labour left" is taking

its toll; the gays and lesbians issue is costing us dear among the

pensioners, and fear of extremism and higher rates/taxes is particularly

prominent in the Greater London Council area.

Letter to Frank Dobson and other Labour leaders, in The Times 6 Mar. 1987

8.55 Du Bose Heyward and Ira Gershwin =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Du Bose Heyward 1885-1940

Ira Gershwin 1896-1983

It ain't necessarily so.

Title of song (1935; music by George Gershwin)

Summer time an' the livin' is easy.

Summer Time (1935 song; music by George Gershwin)

8.56 Sir Seymour Hicks =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1871-1949

You will recognize, my boy, the first sign of old age: it is when you go

out into the streets of London and realize for the first time how young

the policemen look.

In C. R. D. Pulling They Were Singing (1952) ch. 7

8.57 Jack Higgins (Henry Patterson) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1929-

The eagle has landed.

Title of novel (1975)

8.58 Joe Hill =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1879-1915

I will die like a true-blue rebel. Don't waste any time in

mourning--organize.

Farewell telegram to Bill Haywood, 18 Nov. 1915, before his death by

firing squad, in Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune 19 Nov. 1915

You will eat, bye and bye,

In that glorious land above the sky;

Work and pray, live on hay,

You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

Songs of the Workers (Industrial Workers of the World, 1911) "Preacher

and the Slave"

8.59 Pattie S. Hill =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1868-1946

Happy birthday to you.

Title of song (1935; music by Mildred J. Hill)

8.60 Sir Edmund Hillary =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1919-

[After the ascent of Everest] George [Lowe] met us with a mug of soup just

above camp, and seeing his stalwart frame and cheerful face reminded me

how fond of him I was. My comment was not specially prepared for public

consumption but for George...."Well, we knocked the bastard off!" I told

him and he nodded with pleasure...."Thought you must have!"

Nothing Venture (1975) ch. 10

8.61 Fred Hillebrand =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1893-

Home James, and don't spare the horses.

Title of song (1934)

8.62 Lady Hillingdon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1857-1940

I am happy now that Charles calls on my bedchamber less frequently than of

old. As it is, I now endure but two calls a week and when I hear his steps

outside my door I lie down on my bed, close my eyes, open my legs and

think of England.

Journal 1912, in J. Gathorne-Hardy Rise and Fall of the British Nanny

(1972) ch. 3

8.63 James Hilton =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1900-1954

Nothing really wrong with him--only anno domini, but that's the most fatal

complaint of all, in the end.

Goodbye, Mr Chips (1934) ch. 1

8.64 Alfred Hitchcock =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1899-1980

Television has brought back murder into the home--where it belongs.

In Observer 19 Dec. 1965

Actors are cattle.

In Saturday Evening Post 22 May 1943, p. 56

8.65 Adolf Hitler =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1889-1945

Die neue and diesmal blutige Erhebung--die Nacht der langen Messer, wie

man sie grauenvoll bezeichnete--meinem eigenen Sinn entspr�che.

The new, and this time bloody, rising--"The Night of the Long Knives" was

their ghastly name for it--was exactly what I myself desired.

Speech to the Reichstag, 13 July 1934, in Max Domarus (ed.) Hitler: Reden

und Proklamationen 1932-1945 (1962) p. 418

Ich gehe mit traumwandlerischer Sicherheit den Weg, den mich die Vorsehung

gehen heisst.

I go the way that Providence dictates with the assurance of a sleepwalker.

Speech in Munich, 15 Mar. 1936, in Max Domarus (ed.) Hitler: Reden und

Proklamationen 1932-1945 (1962) p. 606

Und nun steht vor uns das letzte Problem, das gel�stwerden muss und gel�st

werden wird! Es [das Sudetenland] ist die letzte territoriale Forderung,

die ich Europa zu stellen habe, aber es ist die Forderung, von der ich

nicht abgehe, und die ich, so Gott will, erf�llen werde.

And now before us stands the last problem that must be solved and will be

solved. It [the Sudetenland] is the last territorial claim which I have to

make in Europe, but it is the claim from which I will not recede and

which, God-willing, I will make good.

Speech at Berlin Sportpalast, 26 Sept. 1938, in Max Domarus (ed.) Hitler: