The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (11 page)
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Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
1555–1626
It was no summer progress. A cold coming they had of it, at this time of the year; just, the worst time of the year, to take a journey, and specially a long journey, in. The ways deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off
in solstitio brumali
, the very dead of Winter.
Of the Nativity
(1622) Sermon 15.
1872–1967
The great illusion.
on the futility of war
title of book (1910), first published as "Europe's optical illusion" (1909)
1
An abomination unto the Lord, but a very present help in time of trouble.
definition of a lie
an amalgamation of Proverbs 12.22 and Psalms 46.1, often attributed to Adlai Stevenson; Bill Adler
The Stevenson Wit
(1966)
Action this day.
annotation as used by Winston Churchill at the Admiralty in 1940
Adam
Had 'em.
on the antiquity of microbes
noted as an example of a short poem
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948) article 1
All present and correct.
King's Regulations (Army)
Report of the Orderly Sergeant to the Officer of the Day
Along the electric wire the message came:
He is not better—he is much the same.
parodic poem on the illness of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII
F. H. Gribble
Romance of the Cambridge Colleges
(1913); sometimes attributed to Alfred Austin (1835–1913), Poet Laureate
And they lived happily ever after.
traditional ending to a fairy story
recorded (with slight variations) from the 1850s
Any officer who shall behave in a scandalous manner, unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman shall…be
cashiered
.
Articles of War
(1872) "Disgraceful Conduct" Article 79; the Naval Discipline Act, 10 August 1860, Article 24, uses the words "conduct unbecoming the character of an Officer"
Appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober.
paraphrase of the words of an unidentified woman in Valerius Maximus
Facta ac Dicta Memorabilia
(
ad
c.
32) bk. 6, ch. 2
Are we downhearted? No!
expression much taken up by British soldiers during the First World War
A beast, but a just beast.
a schoolboy's description of Dr Temple, Headmaster of Rugby School
F.E. Kitchener
Rugby Memoir of Archbishop Temple 1857–1869
(1907) ch. 3
Be happy while y'er leevin,
For y'er a lang time deid.
Scottish motto for a house
in
Notes and Queries
9th series, vol. 8, 7 December 1901
Betwixt the stirrup and the ground
Mercy I asked, mercy I found.
epitaph for "A gentleman falling off his horse [who] brake his neck"
William Camden
Remains Concerning Britain
(1605) "Epitaphs"
Bigamy is having one husband too many. Monogamy is the same.
Erica Jong
Fear of Flying
(1973) ch. 1 (epigraph)
The cloud of unknowing.
title of mystical prose work (14th century)
Collapse of Stout Party.
supposed standard dénouement in Victorian humour
R. Pearsall
Collapse of Stout Party
(1975) introduction
A committee is a group of the unwilling, chosen from the unfit, to do the unnecessary.
various attributions (origin unknown)
A community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe…in which the enterprise of the market and the rigour of competition are joined with the forces of partnership and cooperation.
new Clause Four of the Labour Party constitution, passed at a special conference 29 April 1995.
A Company for carrying on an undertaking of Great Advantage, but no one to know what it is.
The South Sea Company Prospectus (1711), in Virginia Cowles
The Great Swindle
(1963) ch. 5
Conduct…to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.
Army Discipline and Regulation Act
(1879) Section 40
[Death is] nature's way of telling you to slow down.
American life insurance proverb, in
Newsweek
25 April 1960
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.
US Armed Forces' slogan
Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.
instruction on punched cards (found in this form in the 1950s, and in differing forms from the 1930s)
Do not stand at my grave and weep:
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.
quoted in letter left by British soldier Stephen Cummins when killed by the IRA, March 1989
origin uncertain; attributed to various authors
Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,
I heard a maid sing in the valley below:
"Oh, don't deceive me; Oh, never leave me!
How could you use a poor maiden so?"
"Early One Morning" (traditional song)
The eternal triangle.
book review title, in
Daily Chronicle
5 December 1907
Every country has its own constitution; ours is absolutism moderated by assassination.
Count Münster, quoting "an intelligent Russian", in
Political Sketches of the State of Europe, 1814–1867
(1868)
Everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide,
In thy most need to go by thy side.
spoken by Knowledge
Everyman
(
c.
1509–19) l. 522
Expletive deleted.
in
Submission of Recorded Presidential Conversations to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives by President Richard M. Nixon
30 April 1974, appendix 1
Exterminate…the treacherous English, walk over General French's contemptible little army.
allegedly a copy of Orders issued by the Kaiser Wilhelm II but most probably fabricated by the British
annexe to BEF [British Expeditionary Force] Routine Orders of 24 September 1914, in Arthur Ponsonby
Falsehood in Wartime
(1928) ch. 10.
Faster than a speeding bullet!…Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman! Strange visitor from another planet…Who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who—disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper—fights a never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way!
Superman
(US radio show, 1940 onwards) preamble
Fifty million Frenchmen can't be wrong.
saying popular with American servicemen during the First World War; later associated with Mae West and Texas Guinan (1884–1933), it was also the title of a 1927 song by Billy Rose and Willie Raskin
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
"The Cornish or West Country Litany", in Francis T. Nettleinghame
Polperro Proverbs and Others
(1926) "Pokerwork Panels"
From Moses to Moses there was none like unto Moses.
later inscription on the tomb of the Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides (1135–1204)
From the halls of Montezuma,
To the shores of Tripoli.
"The Marines' Hymn" (1847)
God be in my head,
And in my understanding…
God be in my mouth,
And in my speaking…
God be at my end,
And at my departing.
Sarum Missal
(11th century)
God save our gracious king!
Long live our noble king!
God save the king!
Send him victorious,
Happy, and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the king!
"God save the King", attributed to various authors of the mid eighteenth century, including Henry Carey; Jacobite variants, such as James Hogg "The King's Anthem" also exist
Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect £200.
instructions on "Community Chest" card in the game "Monopoly"; invented by Charles Brace Darrow (1889–1967) in 1931
Greensleeves was all my joy,
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but Lady Greensleeves?
"A new Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Greensleeves, to the new tune of "Greensleeves” ", in
A Handful of Pleasant Delights
(1584)
Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain L. E. G. Oates of the Inniskilling Dragoons. In March 1912, returning from the Pole, he walked willingly to his death in a blizzard to try and save his comrades, beset by hardships.
epitaph on cairn erected in the Antarctic, 15 November 1912, by E. L. Atkinson (1882–1929) and Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1882–1959)
Apsley Cherry-Garrard
The Worst Journey in the World
(1922)
Here lies Fred,
Who was alive and is dead:
Had it been his father,
I had much rather;
Had it been his brother,
Still better than another…
But since 'tis only Fred,
Who was alive and is dead,—
There's no more to be said.
of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales (1707–1751), son of George II and Caroline of Ansbach
Horace Walpole
Memoirs of George II
(1847) vol. 1
Here's tae us; wha's like us?
Gey few, and they're a' deid.
Scottish toast, probably of 19th-century origin; the first line appears in T. W. H. Crosland
The Unspeakable Scot
(1902), and various versions of the second line are current
He was her man, but he done her wrong.
"Frankie and Albert", in John Huston
Frankie and Johnny
(1930) (St Louis ballad later better known as "Frankie and Johnny")
How different, how very different from the home life of our own dear Queen!
comment overheard at a performance of Cleopatra by Sarah Bernhardt
Irvin S. Cobb
A Laugh a Day
(1924) (probably apocryphal)
Icham of Irlaunde
Ant of the holy londe of irlonde
Gode sir pray ich ye
for of saynte charite,
come ant daunce wyt me,
in irlaunde.
fourteenth century
If it moves, salute it; if it doesn't move, pick it up; and if you can't pick it up, paint it.
1940s saying, in Paul Dickson
The Official Rules
(1978)
If you really want to make a million…the quickest way is to start your own religion.
previously attributed to L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86) in B. Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
L. Ron Hubbard
(1987), but attribution subsequently rejected by L. Ron Hubbard Jr., who also dissociated himself from this book
I'll go no more a-roving
With you fair maid.
"A-roving" (traditional song)
I'll sing you twelve O.
Green grow the rushes O.
What is your twelve O?
Twelve for the twelve apostles,
Eleven for the eleven who went to heaven,
Ten for the ten commandments,
Nine for the nine bright shiners,
Eight for the eight bold rangers,
Seven for the seven stars in the sky,
Six for the six proud walkers,
Five for the symbol at your door,
Four for the Gospel makers,
Three for the rivals,
Two, two, the lily-white boys,
Clothed all in green O,
One is one and all alone