The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (36 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Online
Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
1542–1621
Nobody can remember more than seven of anything.
reason for omitting the eight beatitudes from his catechism
John Bossy
Christianity in the West 1400–1700
(1985)
1870–1953
Child! do not throw this book about;
Refrain from the unholy pleasure
Of cutting all the pictures out!
Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.
A Bad Child's Book of Beasts
(1896) dedication
I shoot the Hippopotamus
With bullets made of platinum,
Because if I use leaden ones
His hide is sure to flatten 'em.
A Bad Child's Book of Beasts
(1896) "The Hippopotamus"
And mothers of large families (who claim to common sense)
Will find a Tiger well repay the trouble and expense.
A Bad Child's Book of Beasts
(1896) "The Tiger"
Believing Truth is staring at the sun.
title of poem (1938)
Physicians of the Utmost Fame
Were called at once; but when they came
They answered, as they took their Fees,
"There is no Cure for this Disease."
Cautionary Tales
(1907) "Henry King"
And always keep a-hold of Nurse
For fear of finding something worse.
Cautionary Tales
(1907) "Jim"
Sir! you have disappointed us!
We had intended you to be
The next Prime Minister but three:
The stocks were sold; the Press was squared;
The Middle Class was quite prepared.
But as it is!…My language fails!
Go out and govern New South Wales!
Cautionary Tales
(1907) "Lord Lundy"
For every time She shouted "Fire!"
They only answered "Little Liar!"
Cautionary Tales
(1907) "Matilda"
Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician's corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged.
"Epitaph on the Politician Himself" (1923)
I said to Heart, "How goes it ?" Heart replied:
"Right as a Ribstone Pippin!" But it lied.
"The False Heart" (1910)
I'm tired of Love: I'm still more tired of Rhyme.
But Money gives me pleasure all the time.
"Fatigued" (1923)
Remote and ineffectual Don
That dared attack my Chesterton.
"Lines to a Don" (1910)
Whatever happens we have got
The Maxim Gun, and they have not.
The Modern Traveller
(1898) pt. 6
The Llama is a woolly sort of fleecy hairy goat,
With an indolent expression and an undulating throat
Like an unsuccessful literary man.
More Beasts for Worse Children
(1897) "The Llama"
Oh! let us never, never doubt
What nobody is sure about!
More Beasts for Worse Children
(1897) "The Microbe"
Lord Finchley tried to mend the Electric Light
Himself. It struck him dead: And serve him right!
It is the business of the wealthy man
To give employment to the artisan.
More Peers
(1911) "Lord Finchley"
Like many of the Upper Class
He liked the Sound of Broken Glass.
New Cautionary Tales
(1930) "About John".
I am a sundial, and I make a botch
Of what is done much better by a watch.
"On a Sundial" (1938)
When I am dead, I hope it may be said:
"His sins were scarlet, but his books were read."
"On His Books" (1923)
Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight,
But Roaring Bill (who killed him) thought it right.
"The Pacifist" (1938)
Do you remember an Inn,
Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?
"Tarantella" (1923)
There's nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends.
Verses
(1910) "Dedicatory Ode"
1915–
If I am out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.
Herzog
(1961)
It is sometimes necessary to repeat what we all know. All mapmakers should place the Mississippi in the same location, and avoid originality.
Mr Sammler's Planet
(1969)
Nobody likes being written about in their lifetime, it's as though the FBI and the CIA were suddenly to splash your files in the paper.
in
Guardian
10 September 1997
1725–75
The more foreigners I saw, the more I loved my homeland.
Le Siège de Calais
(1765) act 2, sc. 3