The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (35 page)

Whistled.

Waste Land (1922) pt. 5

These fragments I have shored against my ruins.

Waste Land (1922) pt. 5

5.16 Queen Elizabeth II =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1926-

I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short,

shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial

family to which we all belong.

Broadcast speech (as Princess Elizabeth) to the Commonwealth from Cape

Town, 21 Apr. 1947, in The Times 22 Apr. 1947

I think everybody really will concede that on this, of all days, I should

begin my speech with the words "My husband and I."

Speech at Guildhall on her 25th wedding anniversary, 20 Nov. 1972, in The

Times 21 Nov. 1972

5.17 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1900-

I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in

the face.

Said to a policeman, 13 Sept. 1940, in John Wheeler-Bennett King George VI

(1958) pt. 3, ch. 6

5.18 Alf Ellerton =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Belgium put the kibosh on the Kaiser.

Title of song (1914)

5.19 Havelock Ellis (Henry Havelock Ellis) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1859-1939

It is certainly strange to observe...how many people seem to feel vain of

their own unqualified optimism when the place where optimism most

flourishes is the lunatic asylum.

Dance of Life (1923) ch. 3

The sanitary and mechanical age we are now entering makes up for the mercy

it grants to our sense of smell by the ferocity with which it assails our

sense of hearing. As usual, what we call "Progress" is the exchange of

one Nuisance for another Nuisance.

Impressions and Comments (1914) 31 July 1912

Every artist writes his own autobiography.

New Spirit (1890) "Tolstoi"

5.20 Paul Eluard =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1895-1952

Adieu tristesse

Bonjour tristesse

Tu es inscrite dans les lignes du plafond.

Farewell sadness

Good-day sadness

You are inscribed in the lines of the ceiling.

La vie imm�diate (1930) "A peine d�figur�e," in �uvres compl�tes (1968)

vol. 1, p. 365

5.21 Sir William Empson =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1906-1984

Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.

It is not the effort nor the failure tires.

The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.

Poems (1935) "Missing Dates"

Seven types of ambiguity.

Title of book (1930)

5.22 Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Julius J. Epstein 1909-

Philip G. Epstein 1909-1952

Howard Koch 1902-

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into

mine.

Casablanca (1942 film), words spoken by Humphrey Bogart

If she can stand it, I can. Play it!

Casablanca (1942 film), words spoken by Humphrey Bogart, often misquoted

as "Play it again, Sam" (earlier in the film, Ingrid Bergman says: "Play

it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By .")

Here's looking at you, kid.

Casablanca (1942 film), words spoken by Humphrey Bogart

Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects.

Casablanca (1942 film), words spoken by Claude Rains

5.23 Susan Ertz =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1894-1985

Someone has somewhere commented on the fact that millions long for

immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday

afternoon.

Anger in the Sky (1943) p. 137

5.24 Dudley Erwin =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1917-1984

Mr Dudley Erwin, former Air Minister [in Australia], claimed last night

that the secretary of Mr John Gorton, the Prime Minster, had cost him his

job in the reshuffled Government announced earlier this week. At first Mr

Erwin said he was dropped because of a "political manoeuvre." Later, when

asked to explain what this meant, he said: "It wiggles, it's shapely and

its name is Ainsley Gotto."

The Times 14 Nov. 1969

5.25 Howard Estabrook and Harry Behn =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Excuse me while I slip into something more comfortable.

Hell's Angels (1930 film), words spoken by Jean Harlow

5.26 Gavin Ewart =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1916-

Miss Twye was soaping her breasts in the bath

When she heard behind her a meaning laugh

And to her amazement she discovered

A wicked man in the bathroom cupboard.

Poems and Songs (1939) "Miss Twye"

5.27 William Norman Ewer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1885-1976

I gave my life for freedom--This I know:

For those who bade me fight had told me so.

Five Souls and Other Verses (1917) "Five Souls"

How odd

Of God

To choose

The Jews.

In Week-End Book (1924) p. 117 (for the reply, see Cecil Browne)

6.0 F =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

6.1 Clifton Fadiman =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1904-

Provided it be well and truly made there is really for the confirmed

turophile no such thing as a bad cheese. A cheese may disappoint. It may

be dull, it may be naive, it may be oversophisticated. Yet it remains

cheese, milk's leap toward immortality.

Any Number Can Play (1957) p. 105

On November 17...I encountered the mama of dada [Gertrude Stein] again

(something called Portraits and Prayers) and as usual withdrew worsted.

Party of One (1955) p. 90

6.2 Eleanor Farjeon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1881-1965

Morning has broken

Like the first morning,

Blackbird has spoken

Like the first bird.

Praise for the singing!

Praise for the morning!

Praise for them, springing

Fresh from the Lord!

Children's Bells (1957) "A Morning Song (for the First Day of Spring)"

King's Cross!

What shall we do?

His Purple Robe

Is rent in two!

Out of his Crown

He's torn the gems!

He's thrown his Sceptre

Into the Thames!

The Court is shaking

In its shoe--

King's Cross!

What shall we do?

Leave him alone

For a minute or two.

Nursery Rhymes of London Town (1916) "King's Cross"

6.3 King Farouk of Egypt =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1920-1965

The whole world is in revolt. Soon there will be only five Kings left--the

King of England, the King of Spades, the King of Clubs, the King of Hearts

and the King of Diamonds.

Said to Lord Boyd-Orr at a conference in Cairo, 1948, in Lord Boyd-Orr As

I Recall (1966) ch. 21

6.4 William Faulkner =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1897-1962

The long summer.

The Hamlet (1940), title of bk. 3. Cf. Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank

The writer's only responsibility is to his art. He will be completely

ruthless if he is a good one. He has a dream. It anguishes him so much he

must get rid of it. He has no peace until then. Everything goes by the

board: honor, pride, decency, security, happiness, all, to get the book

written. If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the Ode

on a Grecian Urn is worth any number of old ladies.

In Paris Review Spring 1956, p. 30

He [the writer] must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be

afraid and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in

his workshop for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart,

the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and

doomed--love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.

Nobel Prize speech, 1950, in Les Prix Nobel en 1950 (1951) p. 71

I believe man will not merely endure, he will prevail. He is immortal,

not because he, alone among creatures, has an inexhaustible voice but

because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and

endurance.

Nobel Prize speech, 1950, in Les Prix Nobel en 1950 (1951) p. 71

There is no such thing...as bad whiskey. Some whiskeys just happen to be

better than others. But a man shouldn't fool with booze until he's fifty;

then he's a damn fool if he doesn't.

In James M. Webb and A. Wigfall Green William Faulkner of Oxford (1965)

p. 110

6.5 George Fearon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1901-1972

In my capacity as Press Representative for the English Stage Company I had

read John Osborne's play [Look Back in Anger]. When I met the author

I ventured to prophesy that his generation would praise his play while

mine would, in general, dislike it. I then told him jokingly that Sloane

Square might well become a bloody battleground. "If this happens," I told

him, "you would become known as the Angry Young Man." In fact, we decided

then and there that henceforth he was to be known as that.

Daily Telegraph 2 Oct. 1957

6.6 James Fenton =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1949-

It is not what they built. It is what they knocked down.

It is not the houses. It is the spaces between the houses.

It is not the streets that exist. It is the streets that no longer

exist.

German Requiem (1981) p. 1

6.7 Edna Ferber =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1887-1968

Mother knows best.

Title of story (1927)

Being an old maid is like death by drowning, a really delightful sensation

after you cease to struggle.

In R. E. Drennan Wit's End (1973)

6.8 Kathleen Ferrier =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1912-1953

Enid and I visited her just before the end to be greeted by her with

smiling affection. She tired quickly and gently sent us away by murmuring,

"Now I'll have eine kleine Pause." Those were the last words we heard her

utter.

Gerald Moore Am I Too Loud? (1962) ch. 19

6.9 Eric Field =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Towards the end of July 1914, I...received a surprise call from Colonel

Strachey, the A.A.G. (Recruiting). He swore me to secrecy, told me that

war was imminent and that the moment it broke out we should have to start

advertising at once....That night I worked out a draft schedule and wrote

an advertisement headed "Your King and Country need you" with the

inevitable Coat of Arms at the top.

Advertising (1959) ch. 2

6.10 Dorothy Fields =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1905-1974

The minute you walked in the joint,

I could see you were a man of distinction,

A real big spender.

Good looking, so refined,

Say, wouldn't you like to know what's going on in my mind?

So let me get right to the point.

I don't pop my cork for every guy I see.

Hey! big spender, spend a little time with me.

Big Spender (1966 song; music by Cy Coleman)

A fine romance with no kisses.

A fine romance, my friend, this is.

We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes,

But you're as cold as yesterday's mashed potatoes.

A Fine Romance (1936 song; music by Jerome Kern)

I can't give you anything but love (baby).

Title of song (1928; music by Jimmy McHugh)

Grab your coat, and get your hat,

Leave your worry on the doorstep,

Just direct your feet

To the sunny side of the street.

On the Sunny Side of the Street (1930 song; music by Jimmy McHugh)

6.11 Dame Gracie Fields (Grace Stansfield) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1898-1979

See Jimmy Harper et al. (8.24)

6.12 W. C. Fields (William Claude Dukenfield) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1880-1946

Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939 film), in William K. Everson Art of

W. C. Fields (1968) p. 167

Never give a sucker an even break.

In Collier's 28 Nov. 1925. It was W. C. Fields's catch-phrase, and he is

said to have used it in the musical comedy Poppy (1923), although it does

not occur in the libretto. It was used as the title of a W. C. Fields film

in 1941.

Last week, I went to Philadelphia, but it was closed.

In Richard J. Anobile Godfrey Daniels (1975) p. 6

I was in love with a beautiful blonde once, dear. She drove me to drink.

That's the one thing I'm indebted to her for.

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941 film), in Richard J. Anobile

Flask of Fields (1972) p. 219

I always keep a supply of stimulant handy in case I see a snake--which

I also keep handy.

In Corey Ford Time of Laughter (1970) p. 182

Here lies W. C. Fields. I would rather be living in Philadelphia.

Suggested epitaph for himself, in Vanity Fair June 1925

Fifteen years ago, I made the line "It ain't a fit night out for man or

beast" a by-word by using it in my sketch in Earl Carroll's Vanities.

Later on, I used it as a title for a moving picture I did for Mack

Sennett. I do not claim to be the originator of this line as it was

probably used long before I was born in some old melodrama.

Letter, 8 Feb. 1944, in R. J. Fields (ed.) W. C. Fields by Himself (1974)

pt. 2 (also used by Fields in his 1933 film The Fatal Glass of Beer)

Hell, I never vote for anybody. I always vote against.

In Robert Lewis Taylor W. C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes (1950)

p. 228

6.13 Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, and Dean Riesner =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Go ahead, make my day.

Dirty Harry (1971 film; words spoken by Clint Eastwood)

6.14 Ronald Firbank =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1886-1926

"O! help me, heaven," she prayed, "to be decorative and to do right!"

Flower Beneath the Foot (1923) ch. 2

Looking back, I remember the average curate at home as something between a

eunuch and a snigger.

Flower Beneath the Foot (1923) ch. 4

There was a pause--just long enough for an angel to pass, flying slowly.

Vainglory (1915) ch. 6

All millionaires love a baked apple.

Vainglory (1915) ch. 13

"I know of no joy," she airily began, "greater than a cool white dress

after the sweetness of confession."

Valmouth (1919) ch. 4

6.15 Fred Fisher =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1875-1942

See Ada Benson (2.55)

6.16 H. A. L. Fisher =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1856-1940

One intellectual excitement has, however, been denied me. Men wiser and

more learned than I have discerned in history a plot, a rhythm,

a predetermined pattern. These harmonies are concealed from me. I can see

only one emergency following upon another as wave follows upon wave, only

one great fact with respect to which, since it is unique, there can be no

generalizations, only one safe rule for the historian: that he should

recognize in the development of human destinies the play of the contingent

and the unforeseen.

History of Europe (1935) p. vii

6.17 John Arbuthnot Fisher (Baron Fisher) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1841-1920

The essence of war is violence. Moderation in war is imbecility.

Lecture notes 1899-1902, in R. H. Bacon Life of Lord Fisher (1929) vol. 1,

ch. 7

Yours till Hell freezes.

Letter to George Lambert, 5 Apr. 1909, in A. J. Marder Fear God and Dread

Nought (1956) vol. 2, pt. 1, ch. 2. Cf. F. Ponsonby Reflections of Three

Reigns (1951) p. 131: Once an officer in India wrote to me and ended his

letter "Yours till Hell freezes." I used this forcible expression in

a letter to Fisher, and he adopted it instead of "Yours sincerely" and

used it a great deal.

You must be ruthless, relentless, and remorseless! Sack the lot!

Letter to The Times 2 Sept. 1919

This letter is not to argue with your leading article of September 2.

(It's only d--d fools who argue!)

Never contradict

Never explain

Never apologize

(Those are the secrets of a happy life!)

Letter to The Times, 5 Sept. 1919

6.18 Marve Fisher =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I want an old-fashioned house

With an old-fashioned fence

And an old-fashioned millionaire.

Old-Fashioned Girl (1954 song; popularized by Eartha Kitt)

6.19 Albert H. Fitz =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

You are my honey, honeysuckle, I am the bee.

The Honeysuckle and the Bee (1901 song; music by William H. Penn)

6.20 F. Scott Fitzgerald =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1896-1940

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.

All Sad Young Men (1926) "Rich Boy" (Ernest Hemingway's rejoinder in his

story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"--in Esquire Aug. 1936--was: "Yes, they

have more money")

The beautiful and damned.

Title of novel (1922)

No grand idea was ever born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas

have died there.

Note-Books E, in Edmund Wilson Crack-Up (1945)

Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.

Note-Books E, in Edmund Wilson Crack-Up (1945)

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed

ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to

function.

Esquire Feb. 1936, "The Crack-Up"