The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (340 page)

Parnell, Charles Stewart
1846–91

1
My policy is not a policy of conciliation, but a policy of retaliation.
in 1877, on his parliamentary tactics in the House of Commons as leader of the Irish party

in
Dictionary of National Biography
(1917–)

2
No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation; no man has a right to say to his country—thus far shalt thou go and no further.

speech at Cork, 21 January 1885

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Parris, Matthew
1949–

1
of Lady Thatcher in the House of Lords:
A big cat detained briefly in a poodle parlour, sharpening her claws on the velvet.

Look Behind You!
(1993)

2
Being an MP feeds your vanity and starves your self-respect.

in
The Times
9 February 1994

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Parsons, Tony
1953–

1
I never saw a beggar yet who would recognise guilt if it bit him on his unwashed ass.

Dispatches from the Front Line of Popular Culture
(1994)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Pascal, Blaise
1623–62

1
I have made this [letter] longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

Lettres Provinciales
(1657) no. 16.

2
When we see a natural style, we are quite surprised and delighted, for we expected to see an author and we find a man.

Pensées
(1670, ed. L. Brunschvicg, 1909) sect. 1, no. 29

3
Had Cleopatra's nose been shorter, the whole face of the world would have changed.

Pensées
(1670, ed. L. Brunschvicg, 1909) sect. 2, no. 162

4
The eternal silence of these infinite spaces [the heavens] terrifies me.

Pensées
(1670, ed. L. Brunschvicg, 1909) sect. 2, no. 206

5
The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

Pensées
(1670, ed. L. Brunschvicg, 1909) sect. 4, no. 277

6
Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed.

Pensées
(1670, ed. L. Brunschvicg, 1909) sect. 6, no. 347

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Pasternak, Boris
1890–1960

1
Man is born to live, not to prepare for life.

Doctor Zhivago
(1958) pt. 2, ch. 9, sect. 14 (tr. Max Hayward and Manya Harari)

2
Yet the order of the acts is planned
And the end of the way inescapable.
I am alone; all drowns in the Pharisees' hypocrisy.
To live your life is not as simple as to cross a field.

Doctor Zhivago
(1958) "Zhivago's Poems: Hamlet"

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Pasteur, Louis
1822–95

1
Where observation is concerned, chance favours only the prepared mind.

address given on the inauguration of the Faculty of Science, University of Lille, 7 December 1854

2
There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science.

address, 11 September 1872

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search