The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (212 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Online
Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
1553–1610
I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he is unable to have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.
Hardouin de Péréfixe
Histoire de Henry le Grand
(1681).
Paris is well worth a mass.
attributed to Henri IV; alternatively to his minister Sully, in conversation with Henri
The wisest fool in Christendom.
of James I of England
attributed both to Henri IV and Sully
1133–89
Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?
of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, December 1170
oral tradition, conflating a number of variant forms
1491–1547
That man hath the sow by the right ear.
of Thomas Cranmer, June 1529
Acts and Monuments of John Foxe
["Fox's Book of Martyrs"] (1570)
The King found her so different from her picture…that…he swore they had brought him a Flanders mare.
of Anne of Cleves
Tobias Smollett
A Complete History of England
(3rd ed., 1759) vol. 6
1662–1714
The better day, the worse deed.
An Exposition on the Old and New Testament
(1710) Genesis ch. 3, v. 6, gloss 2
They that die by famine die by inches.
An Exposition on the Old and New Testament
(1710) Psalm 59, v. 15, gloss 5 (referring incorrectly to v. 13)
1862–1910
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 a song; Charles Alphonso Smith
O. Henry Biography
(1916) ch. 9
Harry Williams (1874–1924) title of song (1907)
1736–99
Caesar had his Brutus—Charles the First, his Cromwell—and George the Third—("Treason," cried the Speaker)…
may profit by their example.
If
this
be treason, make the most of it.
speech in the Virginia assembly, May 1765
I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
speech in Virginia Convention, 23 March 1775
