Quotes by British Authors | Beyond Motive 41/376

top of page

Quotes by British Authors

"How can a rational being be ennobled by any thing that is not obtained by its own exertions?"

"How can a rational being be ennobled by any thing that is not obtained by its own exertions?"

Mary Wollstonecraft, British Writer

19

"The Border Ballads, for instance, and the Robin Hood Ballads, clearly suppose a state of society which is nothing but a very circumscribed and not very important heroic age."

"The Border Ballads, for instance, and the Robin Hood Ballads, clearly suppose a state of society which is nothing but a very circumscribed and not very important heroic age."

Lascelles Abercrombie, British Poet

Age, Society, Ballads, Nothing

19

"Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth discourtesy."

"Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth discourtesy."

George Herbert, British Poet

Truth, Error, Fault

19

"Ideals jump across the hierarchies of the printed word."

"Ideals jump across the hierarchies of the printed word."

Dennis Potter, British Dramatist

Ideal, Ideals, Word

19

"The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress."

"The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress."

W. Somerset Maugham, British Playwright

Misfortune, Sight, World

19

"Sometimes I write notes that I have difficulty singing."

"Sometimes I write notes that I have difficulty singing."

Elvis Costello, British Musician

Difficulty, Singing

19

"The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall."

"The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall."

Denis Healey, British Politician

Difference, Tax, Prison

19

"Nova Scotia as a British colony also came into being as another result of these adventurous British expeditions to North America in the reign of James I."

"Nova Scotia as a British colony also came into being as another result of these adventurous British expeditions to North America in the reign of James I."

Harry Johnston, British Explorer

Exploration, America, Being, Result

19

"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that."

"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that."

G. H. Hardy, British Mathematician

Time, People, Majority, Man

19

"How would you compare Polanski or Kubrick? I try not to do any comparisons."

"How would you compare Polanski or Kubrick? I try not to do any comparisons."

Tim Roth, British Actor

Comparison, Comparisons

19

"I think hearts are very much like glasses. If they do not break with the first ring, they usually last a considerable time."

"I think hearts are very much like glasses. If they do not break with the first ring, they usually last a considerable time."

Letitia Landon, British Poet

19

"I can make a lord, but only God can make a gentleman."

"I can make a lord, but only God can make a gentleman."

King James I, British Royalty

19

"Air power is indivisible. If you split it up into compartments, you merely pull it to pieces and destroy its greatest asset, its flexibility."

"Air power is indivisible. If you split it up into compartments, you merely pull it to pieces and destroy its greatest asset, its flexibility."

Bernard Law Montgomery, British Soldier

Power, Flexibility

19

"Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music."

"Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music."

Elvis Costello, British Musician

Music, People, Choices, Listening

19

"Expenditures rise to meet income."

"Expenditures rise to meet income."

C. Northcote Parkinson, British Historian

19

"I drink booze, I smoke, and I'm hooked on caffeine. I actually have been known to swear at times and belch and even raise my voice when provoked. And I'm not physically repressed!"

"I drink booze, I smoke, and I'm hooked on caffeine. I actually have been known to swear at times and belch and even raise my voice when provoked. And I'm not physically repressed!"

Helena Bonham Carter, British Actress

19

"Sometimes it's literally just a feeling that you get that somebody is more interested than someone else; and they may both say they're interested, but you get a feeling."

"Sometimes it's literally just a feeling that you get that somebody is more interested than someone else; and they may both say they're interested, but you get a feeling."

John Badham, British Director

Emotional, Feeling, May

19

"The best rules to form a young man, are, to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one's own opinions, and value others that deserve it."

"The best rules to form a young man, are, to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one's own opinions, and value others that deserve it."

William Temple, British Archbishop

Company, Distrust, Man, Opinions

19

"For myself I can say that, having had every good thing that money can buy, an experience like another, I could part without a pang with every possession I have. We live in uncertain times and our all may yet be taken from us. With enough plain food to satisfy my small appetite, a room to myself, books from a public library, pens and paper, I should regret nothing."

"For myself I can say that, having had every good thing that money can buy, an experience like another, I could part without a pang with every possession I have. We live in uncertain times and our all may yet be taken from us. With enough plain food to satisfy my small appetite, a room to myself, books from a public library, pens and paper, I should regret nothing."

W. Somerset Maugham, British Playwright

Minimalism, Simplicity, Possession, Freedom, Books

19

"Why in the world would anyone want to photograph an old woman like me?"

"Why in the world would anyone want to photograph an old woman like me?"

Lillie Langtry, British Actress

Old, Want, Woman, World

19

"As the winter set in with its customary Canadian severity the real trouble of the French began. They did not suffer from the cold, but they were dying of scurvy."

"As the winter set in with its customary Canadian severity the real trouble of the French began. They did not suffer from the cold, but they were dying of scurvy."

Harry Johnston, British Explorer

Dying, Trouble, Winter

19

"The animators are absolutely extraordinary. It's mind-boggling."

"The animators are absolutely extraordinary. It's mind-boggling."

Helena Bonham Carter, British Actress

19

"When I get off the plane in England I always feel about two inches shorter."

"When I get off the plane in England I always feel about two inches shorter."

Alan Rickman, British Actor

19

"There's nothing so rewarding as to make people realize they are worthwhile in this world."

"There's nothing so rewarding as to make people realize they are worthwhile in this world."

Bob Anderson, British Film Sword Master

People, Nothing, World

19

"In fact I am quite snappy and irritable, and I don't know if I'd like to make myself worse in that respect."

"In fact I am quite snappy and irritable, and I don't know if I'd like to make myself worse in that respect."

Nigella Lawson, British Journalist

19

"Never feel that a piece of criticism or advice is too much trouble to give, or that it exceeds your province."

"Never feel that a piece of criticism or advice is too much trouble to give, or that it exceeds your province."

Lord Mountbatten, British Soldier

Advice, Criticism, Trouble

19

"The fight training was very extensive, a lot of stretching, a lot of coordination of balance exercises."

"The fight training was very extensive, a lot of stretching, a lot of coordination of balance exercises."

Jason Statham, British Actor

Balance, Fight, Training

19

"We're given the springboard of the text, a plane ticket, told to report to Alabama, and there's a group of people all ready to make a film and it's a marvelous life."

"We're given the springboard of the text, a plane ticket, told to report to Alabama, and there's a group of people all ready to make a film and it's a marvelous life."

Albert Finney, British Actor

Life, People, Film

19

"I did not think much what I was writing them for, except that I knew I wanted my next novel to be in some less conventional form than straight narrative."

"I did not think much what I was writing them for, except that I knew I wanted my next novel to be in some less conventional form than straight narrative."

Nicholas Mosley, British Novelist

19

"If you want to call it that. But it is a very specific sort of magic. There's a magic you take from death. Something leaves the world, something else comes into it."

"If you want to call it that. But it is a very specific sort of magic. There's a magic you take from death. Something leaves the world, something else comes into it."

Neil Gaiman, British Author

Mysticism, Magic, Death, Change, Life

19

"Pilots have their names painted just beneath the canopy of their aircraft. This gives the pilot a sense of ownership for his or her jet. What's more, like cars, each aircraft has its own personality, so it's important for a pilot to get to know and love his aircraft."

"Pilots have their names painted just beneath the canopy of their aircraft. This gives the pilot a sense of ownership for his or her jet. What's more, like cars, each aircraft has its own personality, so it's important for a pilot to get to know and love his aircraft."

Simon Sinek, British Author

Work, Pilots, Ownership, Passion

19

"My own position is, that it is largely up to the work itself to suggest the nature of these referential points without dimensions in and through the processes by which the distance between them is maintained."

"My own position is, that it is largely up to the work itself to suggest the nature of these referential points without dimensions in and through the processes by which the distance between them is maintained."

Brian Ferneyhough, British Composer

19

"We are afraid that Heaven is a bribe, and that if we make it our goal we shall no longer be disinterested. It is not so. Heaven offers nothing that the mercenary soul can desire. It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to. There are rewards that do not sully motives. A man's love for a woman is not mercenary because he wants to marry her, nor his love for poetry mercenary because he wants to read it, nor his love of exercise less disinterested because he wants to run and leap and walk. Love, by definition, seeks to enjoy its object."

"We are afraid that Heaven is a bribe, and that if we make it our goal we shall no longer be disinterested. It is not so. Heaven offers nothing that the mercenary soul can desire. It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to. There are rewards that do not sully motives. A man's love for a woman is not mercenary because he wants to marry her, nor his love for poetry mercenary because he wants to read it, nor his love of exercise less disinterested because he wants to run and leap and walk. Love, by definition, seeks to enjoy its object."

C. S. Lewis, British Author

Spiritual, Heaven, Purity, Love, Reward

19

"I remember in the early days when we played six nights a week for a month and I was doing my long drum solo every night. My hands were covered in blisters."

"I remember in the early days when we played six nights a week for a month and I was doing my long drum solo every night. My hands were covered in blisters."

John Bonham, British Musician

19

"I wouldn't know how to handle serenity if somebody handed it to me on a plate."

"I wouldn't know how to handle serenity if somebody handed it to me on a plate."

Dusty Springfield, British Musician

19

"I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills."

"I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

19

"I mean, yeah, I'm sure that Python and the other things have paved the way for a greater understanding of the British sense of humor, but I don't think it's all that different than the American sense of humor."

"I mean, yeah, I'm sure that Python and the other things have paved the way for a greater understanding of the British sense of humor, but I don't think it's all that different than the American sense of humor."

Simon Pegg, British Comedian

Humor, American, Sense, Understanding

19

"It is much more difficult to measure nonperformance than performance."

"It is much more difficult to measure nonperformance than performance."

Harold S. Geneen, British Businessman

Performance, Measure

19

"We've all got to look at ourselves, start with yourself, that's all you can do. I believe that we can act responsibly as a group, it's just that there are vested interests telling us not to bother."

"We've all got to look at ourselves, start with yourself, that's all you can do. I believe that we can act responsibly as a group, it's just that there are vested interests telling us not to bother."

Ben Elton, British Comedian

19

"In Mozart and Salieri we see the contrast between the genius which does what it must and the talent which does what it can."

"In Mozart and Salieri we see the contrast between the genius which does what it must and the talent which does what it can."

Maurice Baring, British Writer

Talent, Genius, Contrast

19

"The Romans used every housing form known today and they have a remarkably modern look."

"The Romans used every housing form known today and they have a remarkably modern look."

Stephen Gardiner, British Architect

19

"I'm trying to die correctly, but it's very difficult, you know."

"I'm trying to die correctly, but it's very difficult, you know."

Lawrence Durrell, British Writer

Personal, Trying

19

"I see myself on the cover of a magazine and I don't think that it looks like me at all. My first-ever photo shoot was for the cover of a lads' magazine."

"I see myself on the cover of a magazine and I don't think that it looks like me at all. My first-ever photo shoot was for the cover of a lads' magazine."

Elize Du Toit, British Actress

19

"People are predominant in my paintings. Although they are not obvious, you can feel their presence."

"People are predominant in my paintings. Although they are not obvious, you can feel their presence."

Ralph Allen, British Politician

People, Obvious

19

"That is ever the way. 'Tis all jealousy to the bride and good wishes to the corpse."

"That is ever the way. 'Tis all jealousy to the bride and good wishes to the corpse."

James M. Barrie, British Playwright

Jealousy, Wishes

19

"The most useless are those who never change through the years."

"The most useless are those who never change through the years."

James M. Barrie, British Playwright

19

"The great advantage about telling the truth is that nobody ever believes it."

"The great advantage about telling the truth is that nobody ever believes it."

Dorothy L. Sayers, British Author

19

"The roster of Nobel Peace Prize winners, though it has some strange people on it from time to time, tends to feature folks who fought for social justice in a nonviolent and constructive way somehow."

"The roster of Nobel Peace Prize winners, though it has some strange people on it from time to time, tends to feature folks who fought for social justice in a nonviolent and constructive way somehow."

Guy Burgess, British Criminal

Peace, Time, People, Justice

19

"Men don't want any responsibility, and neither do I."

"Men don't want any responsibility, and neither do I."

Julie Christie, British Actress

Men, Responsibility, Want

19

"I like stories where women save themselves."

"I like stories where women save themselves."

Neil Gaiman, British Author

Empowerment, Women, Self, Strength

19

bottom of page