The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (293 page)

Malory, Thomas
d. 1471

1
Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise King born of all England.

Le Morte D'Arthur
(finished 1470, printed by Caxton 1485) bk. 1, ch. 4

2
The questing beast…had in shape like a serpent's head and a body like a leopard, buttocked like a lion and footed like a hart. And in his body there was such a noise as it had been twenty couple of hounds questing.
"questing" = yelping

Le Morte D'Arthur
(1485) bk. 9, ch. 12

3
Thus endeth the story of the Sangreal, that was briefly drawn out of French into English, the which is a story chronicled for one of the truest and the holiest that is in this world.

Le Morte D'Arthur
(1485) bk. 17, ch. 23

4
And many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse:
Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus
[Here lies Arthur, the once and future king].

Le Morte d'Arthur
(1485) bk. 31, ch. 7

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Malraux, André
1901–76

1
La condition humaine.The human condition.

title of book (1933)

2
L'art est un anti-destin.Art is a revolt against fate.

Les Voix du silence
(1951) pt. 4, ch. 7

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Malthus, Thomas Robert
1766–1834

1
Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence only increases in an arithmetical ratio.

Essay on the Principle of Population
(1798) ch. 1

2
The perpetual struggle for room and food.

Essay on the Principle of Population
(1798) ch. 3

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Mancroft, Lord
1914–87

1
Cricket—a game which the English, not being a spiritual people, have invented in order to give themselves some conception of eternity.

Bees in Some Bonnets
(1979)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

1
Up and down the City Road,
In and out the Eagle,
That's the way the money goes—
Pop goes the weasel!

"Pop Goes the Weasel" (1853 song); also attributed to Charles Twiggs

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Mandela, Nelson
1918–

1
I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realized. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

speech at his trial in Pretoria, 20 April 1964

2
No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Long Walk to Freedom
(1994)

3
True reconciliation does not consist in merely forgetting the past.

speech, 7 January 1996

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search