The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (29 page)
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Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
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Balmain, Pierre
1914–82
1914–82
1
The trick of wearing mink is to look as though you were wearing a cloth coat. The trick of wearing a cloth coat is to look as though you are wearing mink.
The trick of wearing mink is to look as though you were wearing a cloth coat. The trick of wearing a cloth coat is to look as though you are wearing mink.
in
Observer
25 December 1955
Balzac, Honoré de
1799–1850
1799–1850
1
Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and abilities.
Hatred is a tonic, it makes one live, it inspires vengeance; but pity kills, it makes our weakness weaker.
Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and abilities.
La Comédie Humaine
(1842) vol. 1, foreword
Hatred is a tonic, it makes one live, it inspires vengeance; but pity kills, it makes our weakness weaker.
La Peau de Chagrin
(1831) ch. 1
Bankhead, Tallulah
1903–68
1903–68
1
Cocaine habit-forming? Of course not. I ought to know. I've been using it for years.
I'm as pure as the driven slush.
Cocaine habit-forming? Of course not. I ought to know. I've been using it for years.
Tallulah
(1952)
I'm as pure as the driven slush.
in
Saturday Evening Post
12 April 1947
Barbour, John
c.
1320–95
c.
1320–95
1
Storys to rede ar delitabill,
Suppos that thai be nocht bot fabill.
A! fredome is a noble thing!
Fredome mayse man to haiff liking.
Storys to rede ar delitabill,
Suppos that thai be nocht bot fabill.
The Bruce
(1375) bk. 1, l. 1
A! fredome is a noble thing!
Fredome mayse man to haiff liking.
The Bruce
(1375) bk. 1, l. 225
Barclay, Alexander
c.
1475–1552
c.
1475–1552
1
The lords will alway that people note and see
Between them and servants some diversity,
Though it to them turn to no profit at all;
If they have pleasure, the servant shall have small.
The lords will alway that people note and see
Between them and servants some diversity,
Though it to them turn to no profit at all;
If they have pleasure, the servant shall have small.
Eclogues
(1514) no. 2, l. 790
Barham, R. H.
1788–1845
1788–1845
1
The Jackdaw sat on the Cardinal's chair!
Bishop, and abbot, and prior were there.
Heedless of grammar, they all cried, "That's him!"
Here's a corpse in the case with a sad swelled face,
And a "Crowner's Quest" is a queer sort of thing!
in later editions: "a Medical Crowner's a queer sort of thing!"
The Jackdaw sat on the Cardinal's chair!
Bishop, and abbot, and prior were there.
The Ingoldsby Legends
(First Series, 1840) "The Jackdaw of Rheims"
Heedless of grammar, they all cried, "That's him!"
The Ingoldsby Legends
(First Series, 1840) "The Jackdaw of Rheims"
Here's a corpse in the case with a sad swelled face,
And a "Crowner's Quest" is a queer sort of thing!
in later editions: "a Medical Crowner's a queer sort of thing!"
The Ingoldsby Legends
(First Series, 1840) "A Lay of St Gengulphus"
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