The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (13 page)
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Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
found on the reverse of leaf 53 of "Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist", in Latin verse by Thomas Naogeorgus, and Englished by Barnabe Googe; printed in 1570; sometimes attributed to Thomas Forde
There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world; and that is an idea whose time has come.
in
Nation
15 April 1943.
There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly becomes any of us
To talk about the rest of us.
attributed, among others, to Edward Wallis Hoch (1849–1945) on the grounds of it having appeared in his Kansas publication, the
Marion Record
, though in fact disclaimed by him ("behooves" sometimes substituted for "becomes")
They haif said: Quhat say they? Lat thame say.
motto of the Earls Marischal of Scotland, inscribed at Marischal College, Aberdeen, 1593; a similarly defiant motto in Greek has been found engraved in remains from classical antiquity
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.
Stevins MS (
c.
1555)
Though I yield to no one in my admiration for Mr Coolidge, I do wish he did not look as if he had been weaned on a pickle.
anonymous remark, in Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Crowded Hours
(1933) ch. 21
'Tis bad enough in man or woman
To steal a goose from off a common;
But surely he's without excuse
Who steals the common from the goose.
"On Inclosures"; in
The Oxford Book of Light Verse
(1938)
To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange.
Clause Four of the Labour Party's Constitution of 1918 (revised 1929); the commitment to common ownership of services was largely removed in 1995.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The American Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776.
We're here
Because
We're here.
sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne", in John Brophy and Eric Partridge
Songs and Slang of the British Soldier 1914–18
(1930)
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
title of Negro spiritual (1865)
We want eight, and we won't wait.
on the construction of Dreadnoughts
George Wyndham, speech in
The Times
29 March 1909
Western wind, when will thou blow,
The small rain down can rain?
Christ, if my love were in my arms
And I in my bed again!
"Western Wind" (published 1790) in
New Oxford Book of Sixteenth-Century Verse
(1991)
What's the use of worrying?
It never was worth while,
So, pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile.
"Pack up your Troubles" (1915 song), written by George Asaf (1880–1951)
When Israel was in Egypt land,
Let my people go,
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses,
Way-down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go.
"Go Down, Moses" (Negro spiritual).
Who dares wins.
motto of the British Special Air Service regiment, from 1942
When war is declared, Truth is the first casualty.
attributed to Hiram Johnson, speaking in the US Senate, 1918, but not recorded in his speech; the first recorded use is as epigraph to Arthur Ponsonby's
Falsehood in Wartime
(1928); see
A willing foe and sea room.
naval toast in the time of Nelson
W. N. T. Beckett
A Few Naval Customs, Expressions, Traditions, and Superstitions
(1931) "Customs"
With a heart of furious fancies,
Whereof I am commander;
With a burning spear,
And a horse of air,
To the wilderness I wander.
"Tom o' Bedlam"
Would you like to sin
With Elinor Glyn
On a tigerskin?
Or would you prefer
To err
With her
On some other fur?
1907 rhyme, in A. Glyn
Elinor Glyn
(1955) bk. 2, sect. 30
Yankee Doodle came to town
Riding on a pony;
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it Macaroni.
"Yankee Doodle" (song, 1755 or earlier); Nicholas Smith
Stories of Great National Songs
(1899) ch. 2.
Your King and Country need you.
recruitment slogan for First World War, coined by Eric Field, July 1914;
Advertising
(1959).
You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.
Arnold Bax (1883–1953), quoting "a sympathetic Scot" in
Farewell My Youth
(1943)
123
Ça ira.Things will work out.
refrain of "Carillon national", popular song of the French Revolution (
c.
July 1790), tr William Doyle; the phrase is believed to originate with Benjamin Franklin, who may have uttered it in 1776 when asked for news of the American Revolution
Cet animal est très méchant,
Quand on l'attaque il se défend.
This animal is very bad; when attacked it defends itself.
"La Ménagerie" (1868 song) by "Théodore P. K."
Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche.Fearless, blameless knight.
description in contemporary chronicles of Pierre Bayard (1476–1524)
Honi soit qui mal y pense.Evil be to him who evil thinks.
motto of the Order of the Garter, originated by Edward III, probably on 23 April of 1348 or 1349.
Il ne faut pas être plus royaliste que le roi.You mustn't be more of a royalist than the king.
saying from the time of Louis XVI; François René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand
De la monarchie selon la charte
(1816) ch. 81
Ils ne passeront pas.They shall not pass.
slogan used by the French army at the defence of Verdun in 1916; variously attributed to Marshal Pétain and to General Robert Nivelle, and taken up by the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War in the form "
No pasarán!
".
Je suis Marxiste—tendance Groucho.I am a Marxist—of the Groucho tendency.
slogan used at Nanterre in Paris, 1968
Laissez-nous-faire.Allow us to do [it].
remark dating from
c.
1664, in
Journal Oeconomique
Paris, April 1751: "Monsieur Colbert assembled several deputies of commerce at his house to ask what could be done for commerce; the most rational and the least flattering among them answered him in one word: "Laissez-nous-faire”".
L'ordre règne à Varsovie.Order reigns in Warsaw.
after the brutal suppression of an uprising, the newspaper
Moniteur
reported, 16 September 1831,
"L'ordre et la tranquillité sont entièrement rétablis dans la capitale
[Order and calm are completely restored in the capital]"; on the same day Count Sebastiani, minister of foreign affairs, declared:
"La tranquillité règne à Varsovie
[Peace reigns in Warsaw]"
Nous n'irons plus aux bois, les lauriers sont coupés.
We'll to the woods no more,
The laurels all are cut.
old nursery rhyme, quoted by Théodore de Banville in
Les Cariatides, les stalactites
(1842–6); tr A. E. Housman in
Last Poems
(1922) introductory
Revenons à ces moutons.Let us get back to these sheep [i.e. "Let us get back to the subject"].
Maistre Pierre Pathelin
l. 1191 (often quoted as
"Retournons à nos moutons
[Let us return to our sheep]")
Tout passe, tout casse, tout lasse.Everything passes, everything perishes, everything palls.
Charles Cahier
Quelques six mille proverbes
(1856) no. 1718
135
Arbeit macht frei.Work liberates.
words inscribed on the gates of Dachau concentration camp, 1933, and subsequently on those of Auschwitz
Jedem das Seine.To each his own.
often quoted as "Everyone gets what he deserves"
inscription on the gate of Buchenwald concentration camp,
c.
1937
Kommt der Krieg ins Land
Gibt's Lügen wie Sand.
When war enters a country
It produces lies like sand.
epigraph to Arthur Ponsonby
Falsehood in Wartime
(1928)
138
Nothing in excess.
inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi
variously ascribed to the Seven Wise Men
Whenever God prepares evil for a man, He first damages his mind, with which he deliberates.
scholiastic annotation to Sophocles's
Antigone
l. 622
Let no one enter who does not know geometry [mathematics].
inscription on Plato's door, probably at the Academy at Athens
Elias Philosophus
In Aristotelis Categorias Commentaria
; in A. Busse (ed.)
Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca
(1900) vol. 18, pt. 1
141
Adeste, fideles.
O come, all ye faithful.
French or German hymn (
c.
1743) in
Murray's Hymnal
(1852); translation based on that of F. Oakeley (1841)
Ad majorem Dei gloriam.To the greater glory of God.
motto of the Society of Jesus
Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant.Hail Caesar, those who are about to die salute you.
gladiators saluting the Roman Emperor
Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
"Claudius" ch. 21
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum: Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
"Ave Maria" or "Hail Mary", also known as "The Angelic Salutation", dating from the 11th century.
Ave verum corpus,
natum ex Maria Virgine.
Hail the true body, born of the Virgin Mary.
Eucharistic hymn, probably dating from the 14th century
Dominus illuminatio mea.
The Lord is my light.
motto of the University of Oxford
Et in Arcadia ego.And I too in Arcadia.
tomb inscription, of disputed meaning, often depicted in classical paintings, notably by Poussin in 1655; E. Panofsky "Et in Arcadia ego" in R. K. Klibansky and H. J. Paton (eds.)
Philosophy and History: Essays Presented to E. Cassirer
(1936)
Gaudeamus igitur,
Juvenes dum sumus.
Let us then rejoice,
While we are young.
medieval students' song, traced to 1267, but revised in the 18th century
Nemo me impune lacessit.No one provokes me with impunity.
motto of the Crown of Scotland and of all Scottish regiments
Nisi Dominus frustra.