The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (348 page)
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Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
1930–
If only I could get down to Sidcup! I've been waiting for the weather to break. He's got my papers, this man I left them with, it's got it all down there, I could prove everything.
The Caretaker
(1960) act 1
The weasel under the cocktail cabinet.
on being asked what his plays were about
J. Russell Taylor
Anger and After
(1962)
1867–1936
Six characters in search of an author.
title of play (1921)
1928–
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.
title of book (1974)
That's the classical mind at work, runs fine inside but looks dingy on the surface.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
(1974) pt. 3, ch. 26
, Earl of Chatham 1708–78
The atrocious crime of being a young man…I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny.
speech, House of Commons, 2 March 1741
Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.
speech, House of Lords, 9 January 1770.
I invoke the genius of the Constitution!
speech, House of Lords, 18 November 1777
The parks are the lungs of London.
quoted by William Windham in the House of Commons, 30 June 1808
1759–1806
England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, as I trust, save Europe by her example.
replying to a toast in which he had been described as the saviour of his country in the wars with France
R. Coupland
War Speeches of William Pitt
(1915)
Roll up that map; it will not be wanted these ten years.
of a map of Europe, on hearing of Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, December 1805
Earl Stanhope
Life of the Rt. Hon. William Pitt
vol. 4 (1862) ch. 43
Oh, my country! how I leave my country!
also variously reported as "How I love my country"; and "My country! oh, my country!"
Earl Stanhope
Life of the Rt. Hon. William Pitt
vol. 3 (1879) ch. 43; Earl Stanhope
Life of the Rt. Hon. William Pitt
(1st ed.), vol. 4 (1862) ch. 43; and G. Rose
Diaries and Correspondence
(1860) vol. 2, 23 January 1806; oral tradition reports, "I think I could eat one of Bellamy's veal pies"