The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (263 page)

Larkin, James
1867–1947

1
Hell has no terror for me. I have lived there. Thirty six years of hunger and poverty have been my portion. They cannot terrify me with hell. Better to be in hell with Dante and Davitt than to be in heaven with Carson and Murphy.
in 1913, during the "Dublin lockout" labour dispute

Ulick O'Connor
The Troubles
(rev. ed., 1996)

 
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Larkin, Philip
1922–1985

1
Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(Which was rather late for me) —
Between the end of the
Chatterley
ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

"Annus Mirabilis" (1974)

2
What will survive of us is love.

"An Arundel Tomb" (1964)

3
And that will be England gone,
The shadows, the meadows, the lanes,
The guildhalls, the carved choirs.
There'll be books; it will linger on
In galleries; but all that remains
For us will be concrete and tyres.

"Going, Going" (1974)

4
Nothing, like something, happens anywhere.

"I Remember, I Remember" (1955)

5
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

"This Be The Verse" (1974)

6
Why should I let the toad
work
Squat on my life?
Can't I use my wit as a pitchfork
And drive the brute off?

"Toads" (1955)

7
Give me your arm, old toad;
Help me down Cemetery Road.

"Toads Revisited" (1964)

8
A beginning, a muddle, and an end.
on the "classic formula" for a novel

in
New Fiction
no. 15, January 1978.

 
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la Rochefoucauld, Duc de
1613–80

1
We are all strong enough to bear the misfortunes of others.

Maximes
(1678) no. 19

2
There are good marriages, but no delightful ones.

Maximes
(1678) no. 113

3
Hypocrisy is a tribute which vice pays to virtue.

Maximes
(1678) no. 218

4
Absence diminishes commonplace passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and kindles fire.

Maximes
(1678) no. 276

5
In most of mankind gratitude is merely a secret hope for greater favours.

Maximes
(1678) no. 298.

6
In the misfortune of our best friends, we always find something which is not displeasing to us.

Réflexions ou Maximes Morales
(1665) maxim 99

 
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la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Duc de
1747–1827

1
louis xvi
:
C'est une grande révolte.
la rochefoucauld-liancourt
:
Non, Sire, c'est une grande révolution.
louis xvi
: It is a big revolt.
la rochefoucauld-liancourt
: No, Sir, it is a big revolution.
on a report reaching Versailles of the Fall of the Bastille, 1789

F. Dreyfus
La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
(1903) ch. 2, sect. 3

 
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Latimer, Hugh
c.
1485–1555

1
Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo.The drop of rain maketh a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling.

The Second Sermon preached before the King's Majesty
(19 April 1549).

2
Be of good comfort Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as (I trust) shall never be put out.
prior to being burned for heresy, 16 October 1555

John Foxe
Actes and Monuments
(1570 ed.)

 
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