The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (306 page)

Michelangelo
1475–1564

1
I've finished that chapel I was painting. The Pope is quite satisfied.
on completing the ceiling of the Sistine chapel

letter to his father, October 1512; E. H. Ramsden (ed.)
The Letters of Michelangelo
(1963)

 
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Middleton, Thomas
c.
1580–1627

1
Anything for a quiet life.

title of play (written
c.
1620, possibly with John Webster)

2
My study's ornament, thou shell of death,
Once the bright face of my betrothèd lady.

The Revenger's Tragedy
(1607) act 1, sc. 1 (previously attributed to Cyril Tourneur,
c.
1575–1626)

3
Nine coaches waiting—hurry, hurry, hurry.

The Revenger's Tragedy
(1607) act 2, sc. 1

 
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Midler, Bette
1945–

1
When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London.

attributed

 
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1
The Holy One, blessed be He, makes ladders by which He makes one go up, and another go down.

Leviticus Rabbah 8:1

2
A man cannot say to the Angel of Death, "Wait for me until I make up my accounts."

Ecclesiastes Rabbah 8:8

 
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Mikes, George
1912–

1
On the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners.

How to be an Alien
(1946)

2
An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.

How to be an Alien
(1946) p. 44

 
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Mill, John Stuart
1806–73

1
Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.

Autobiography
(1873) ch. 5

2
The Conservatives…being by the law of their existence the stupidest party.

Considerations on Representative Government
(1861) ch. 7 n.

3
The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.

On Liberty
(1859) ch. 1

4
Liberty consists in doing what one desires.

On Liberty
(1859) ch. 5

5
What is now called the nature of women is an eminently artificial thing—the result of forced repression in some directions, unnatural stimulation in others.

The Subjection of Women
(1869) ch. 1

 
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