The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (445 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
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Vespasian
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9–79
1
Pecunia non olet.Money has no smell.
upon Titus's objecting to his tax on public lavatories, Vespasian held a coin to Titus's nose; on being told it didn't smell, he replied, "Atque e lotio est [Yes, that's made from urine]"

traditional summary of Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
"Vespasian" sect. 23

2
Vae, puto deus fio.Woe is me, I think I am becoming a god.
when fatally ill

Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
"Vespasian" sect. 23, subsect. 4

3
An emperor ought to die standing.
Vespasian (
ad
9–79)

Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
"Vespasian" sect. 24

Victoria, Queen
1819–1901
1
I will be good.
on being shown a chart of the line of succession, 11 March 1830

Theodore Martin
The Prince Consort
(1875) vol. 1, ch. 2

2
It was with some emotion…that I beheld Albert—who is beautiful.
of her first meeting with Prince Albert,
c.
1838

attributed; Stanley Weintraub
Albert: Uncrowned King
(1997)

3
He speaks to Me as if I was a public meeting.
of Gladstone

G. W. E. Russell
Collections and Recollections
(1898) ch. 14

4
We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.
on the Boer War during "Black Week", December 1899

Lady Gwendolen Cecil
Life of Robert, Marquis of Salisbury
(1931) vol. 3, ch. 6

5
We are not amused.

attributed, in Caroline Holland
Notebooks of a Spinster Lady
(1919) ch. 21, 2 January 1900

Vidal, Gore
1925–
1
Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.

in
Sunday Times Magazine
16 September 1973

Viera Gallo, José Antonio
1943–
1
Socialism can only arrive by bicycle.

Ivan Illich
Energy and Equity
(1974) epigraph

Vigny, Alfred de
1797–1863
1
J'aime le son du cor, le soir, au fond des bois.I love the sound of the horn, at night, in the depth of the woods.

"Le Cor" (1826)

2
Seul le silence est grand; tout le reste est faiblesse.
Silence alone is great; all else is feebleness.

"La mort du loup" (1843) pt. 3

Villiers, Philippe-Auguste
de L'Isle-Adam 1838–89
1
Living? The servants will do that for us.

Axël
(1890) pt. 4, sect. 2

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