The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (112 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Online
Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
1878–1942
Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming.
The drums rum-tumming everywhere.
"Over There" (1917 song)
I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
A Yankee Doodle, do or die;
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam's,
Born on the fourth of July.
"Yankee Doodle Boy" (1904 song).
1879–1931
His blade struck the water a full second before any other: the lad had started well. Nor did he flag as the race wore on…as the boats began to near the winning-post, his oar was dipping into the water nearly
twice
as often as any other.
often misquoted as, "All rowed fast, but none so fast as stroke"
Sandford of Merton
(1903) ch. 12
1552–1634
How long soever it hath continued, if it be against reason, it is of no force in law.
The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England
(1628) bk. 1, ch. 10, sect. 80
For a man's house is his castle,
et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium
[and each man's home is his safest refuge].
The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England
(1628) ch. 73
They [corporations] cannot commit treason, nor be outlawed, nor excommunicate, for they have no souls.
The Reports of Sir Edward Coke
(1658) vol. 5, pt. 10 "The case of Sutton's Hospital".
Magna Charta is such a fellow, that he will have no sovereign.
on the Lords' Amendment to the Petition of Right, 17 May 1628
J. Rushworth
Historical Collections
(1659) vol. 1
1796–1849
But what is Freedom? Rightly understood,
A universal licence to be good.
"Liberty" (1833)
1772–1834
O Lady! we receive but what we give,
And in our life alone does Nature live.
"Dejection: an Ode" (1802) st. 4
But oh! each visitation
Suspends what nature gave me at my birth,
My shaping spirit of imagination.
"Dejection: an Ode" (1802) st. 6
And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin
Is pride that apes humility.
"The Devil's Thoughts" (1799)
The frost performs its secret ministry,
Unhelped by any wind.
"Frost at Midnight" (1798) l. 1
At this moment he was unfortunately called out by a person on business from Porlock.
"Kubla Khan" (1816) preliminary note
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round.
"Kubla Khan" (1816)
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced.
"Kubla Khan" (1816)
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice.
"Kubla Khan" (1816)
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
"Kubla Khan" (1816)
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
"Kubla Khan" (1816)
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 1
He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding-Guest stood still.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 1
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 1
"God save thee, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends that plague thee thus!—
Why look'st thou so?"—With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 1
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 2
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 2
The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out;
At one stride comes the dark.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 3
The hornèd Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 3.
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 4
Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 6
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 7
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) pt. 7
Well, they are gone, and here must I remain,
This lime-tree bower my prison!
"This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison" (1800) l. 1
That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.
Biographia Literaria
(1817) ch. 14
The dwarf sees farther than the giant, when he has the giant's shoulder to mount on.
The Friend
(1818) vol. 2 "On the Principles of Political Knowledge"
To see him act, is like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning.
of Edmund Kean
Table Talk
(1835) 27 April 1823
Prose = words in their best order;—poetry = the
best
words in the best order.
Table Talk
(1835) 12 July 1827
In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.
Table Talk
(1835) 5 October 1830
Youth and Hope—those twin realities of this phantom world!
Table Talk
(1835) 10 July 1834
Summer has set in with its usual severity.
letter to Vincent Novello, 9 May 1826