The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (227 page)

Hume, David
1711–76

1
Custom, then, is the great guide of human life.

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
(1748) sect. 5, pt. 1

2
If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask,
Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number?
No.
Does it contain any experimental reasoning, concerning matter of fact and existence?
No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
(1748) sect. 12, pt. 3

3
Avarice, the spur of industry.

Essays: Moral and Political
(1741–2) "Of Civil Liberty"

4
Money…is none of the wheels of trade: it is the oil which renders the motion of the wheels more smooth and easy.

Essays: Moral and Political
(1741–2) "Of Money"

5
Never literary attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise of Human Nature. It fell
dead-born from the press.

My Own Life
(1777) ch. 1

6
It is not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.

A Treatise upon Human Nature
(1739) bk. 2, pt. 3

 
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Hunt, G. W.
c.
1829–1904

1
We don't want to fight, but, by jingo if we do,
We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too.

"We Don't Want to Fight" (1878 music hall song)

 
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Hunt, Leigh
1784–1859

1
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace.

"Abou Ben Adhem" (1838)

2
Write me as one that loves his fellow-men.

"Abou Ben Adhem" (1838)

3
The laughing queen that caught the world's great hands.
referring to Cleopatra

"The Nile" (1818)

4
Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in.

"Rondeau" (1838)

5
This Adonis in loveliness was a corpulent man of fifty.
of the Prince Regent

in
The Examiner
22 March 1812

 
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Hunter, Anne
1742–1821

1
My mother bids me bind my hair
With bands of rosy hue,
Tie up my sleeves with ribbons rare,
And lace my bodice blue.

"A Pastoral Song" (1794)

 
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Hunter, Robert
1941–

1
The word
Greenpeace
had a ring to it—it conjured images of Eden; it said ecology and antiwar in two syllables; it fit easily into even a one-column headline.

Warriors of the Rainbow
(1979).

 
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Hupfeld, Herman
1894–1951

1
You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh;
The fundamental things apply,
As time goes by.

"As Time Goes By" (1931 song)

 
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