Quotes by English Authors | Beyond Motive 116/434

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Quotes by English Authors

"Revenge is the naked idol of the worship of a semi-barbarous age."

"Revenge is the naked idol of the worship of a semi-barbarous age."

Percy Bysshe Shelley, English Poet

Age, Revenge, Worship

48

"I like nice clothes, whether they're dodgy or not."

"I like nice clothes, whether they're dodgy or not."

David Beckham, English Athlete

Appearance, Clothes

48

"Keep smiling - it takes 10 years off!"

"Keep smiling - it takes 10 years off!"

Jane Birkin, English Actress

48

"I think the cinema you like has more to do with silence, and the theater you like has more to do with language."

"I think the cinema you like has more to do with silence, and the theater you like has more to do with language."

Ben Kingsley, English Actor

Cinema, Language, Silence, Theater

48

"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame."

"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English Poet

Dream, Dreams, God, Gifts, Man

48

"Those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art."

"Those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art."

Izaak Walton, English Writer

Nature, Art, Musicians, Shame

48

"A defence in the Inquisition is of little use to the prisoner, for a suspicion only is deemed sufficient cause of condemnation, and the greater his wealth the greater his danger."

"A defence in the Inquisition is of little use to the prisoner, for a suspicion only is deemed sufficient cause of condemnation, and the greater his wealth the greater his danger."

John Foxe, English Writer

Wealth, Cause, Danger, Suspicion

48

"If someone talks about union, fidelity, a monogamous relationship, love, blessing; I would say it sounds like marriage to me. And blessing, you see, I think is undermining our sacrament of marriage."

"If someone talks about union, fidelity, a monogamous relationship, love, blessing; I would say it sounds like marriage to me. And blessing, you see, I think is undermining our sacrament of marriage."

George Carey, English Clergyman

Marriage, Love, Fidelity

48

"It may be very generous in one person to offer what it would be ungenerous in another to accept."

"It may be very generous in one person to offer what it would be ungenerous in another to accept."

Samuel Richardson, English Novelist

Generosity, May

48

"The Beatles were something everyone had in common; this was thirty years ago, there was Dr. Who and everybody knew who the Daleks were and there was The Beatles and everybody knew who George Harrison was."

"The Beatles were something everyone had in common; this was thirty years ago, there was Dr. Who and everybody knew who the Daleks were and there was The Beatles and everybody knew who George Harrison was."

Robyn Hitchcock, English Musician

48

"I get appalled when I see good drivers being left on the sidelines because they haven't come up with the half million to a million to put themselves in a competitive car."

"I get appalled when I see good drivers being left on the sidelines because they haven't come up with the half million to a million to put themselves in a competitive car."

John Surtees, English Athlete

48

"We are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth's creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still."

"We are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth's creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still."

Lewis Thomas, English Scientist

Idea, Discontent, Dying, Earth

48

"I've never had a huge circle of friends. I can't spread myself that thin and go 100 million miles an hour all the time. I choose to give truly of myself, entirely of myself, to the people I choose to do that with, and I can't do that with everyone."

"I've never had a huge circle of friends. I can't spread myself that thin and go 100 million miles an hour all the time. I choose to give truly of myself, entirely of myself, to the people I choose to do that with, and I can't do that with everyone."

Jeremy Northam, English Actor

Time, People, Friends

48

"Marxism is like a classical building that followed the Renaissance; beautiful in its way, but incapable of growth."

"Marxism is like a classical building that followed the Renaissance; beautiful in its way, but incapable of growth."

Harold MacMillan, English Politician

Growth, Building, Marxism

48

"I started doing a paper round when I was about 10. I started earning 10 pounds a week and then I was obsessed with earning money until I was about 15."

"I started doing a paper round when I was about 10. I started earning 10 pounds a week and then I was obsessed with earning money until I was about 15."

Robert Pattinson, English Actor

48

"What I like about playing America is you can be pretty sure you're not going to get hit with a full can of beer when you're singing and I really enjoy that!"

"What I like about playing America is you can be pretty sure you're not going to get hit with a full can of beer when you're singing and I really enjoy that!"

Joe Strummer, English Musician

America, Beer, Pretty, Singing

48

"I'm not really one of those people who believes that if you're a musician you can just leave that behind and start getting into politics."

"I'm not really one of those people who believes that if you're a musician you can just leave that behind and start getting into politics."

Damon Albarn, English Musician

Politics, People

48

"In this life he laughs longest who laughs last."

"In this life he laughs longest who laughs last."

John Masefield, English Poet

48

"The hope that poverty and ignorance may gradually be extinguished, derives indeed much support from the steady progress of the working classes during the nineteenth century."

"The hope that poverty and ignorance may gradually be extinguished, derives indeed much support from the steady progress of the working classes during the nineteenth century."

Alfred Marshall, English Economist

Progress, Hope, Ignorance, May

48

"The fans have played a massive part in getting us to where we are, but the job's not finished."

"The fans have played a massive part in getting us to where we are, but the job's not finished."

Steven Gerrard, English Athlete

Sports, Fans, Job

48

"We were five heterosexual, good-looking men. We competed against each other for the sexiest girls... I won."

"We were five heterosexual, good-looking men. We competed against each other for the sexiest girls... I won."

Simon Le Bon, English Musician

48

"Make men wise, and by that very operation you make them free. Civil liberty follows as a consequence of this; no usurped power can stand against the artillery of opinion."

"Make men wise, and by that very operation you make them free. Civil liberty follows as a consequence of this; no usurped power can stand against the artillery of opinion."

William Godwin, English Writer

Man, Men, Power, Liberty, Opinion

48

"I try to exist in a world where there is freedom of opinion, where you're allowed to make jokes. I don't want to live in some PC world where no-one's allowed to say anything."

"I try to exist in a world where there is freedom of opinion, where you're allowed to make jokes. I don't want to live in some PC world where no-one's allowed to say anything."

Boy George, English Musician

Freedom, Jokes, Opinion, Want

48

"Ambition makes more trusty slaves than need."

"Ambition makes more trusty slaves than need."

Ben Jonson, English Poet

48

"I would love to work with someone like Kevin Spacey as he could pass on what I need to learn."

"I would love to work with someone like Kevin Spacey as he could pass on what I need to learn."

Rachel Stevens, English Musician

48

"Even the Beatles lived their lives as a soap opera."

"Even the Beatles lived their lives as a soap opera."

Chris Lowe, English Musician

48

"The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it."

"The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it."

Lytton Strachey, English Critic

Age, History, Will

48

"And so, at the age of thirty, I had successively disgraced myself with three fine institutions, each of which had made me free of its full and rich resources, had trained me with skill and patience, and had shown me nothing but forbearance and charity when I failed in trust."

"And so, at the age of thirty, I had successively disgraced myself with three fine institutions, each of which had made me free of its full and rich resources, had trained me with skill and patience, and had shown me nothing but forbearance and charity when I failed in trust."

Simon Raven, English Novelist

Age, Trust, Charity, Nothing

48

"Violence among young people is an aspect of their desire to create. They don't know how to use their energy creatively so they do the opposite and destroy."

"Violence among young people is an aspect of their desire to create. They don't know how to use their energy creatively so they do the opposite and destroy."

Anthony Burgess, English Novelist

People, Desire, Energy, Violence

48

"I'd rather live on my own than live with a face that looks at me with the wrong eyes."

"I'd rather live on my own than live with a face that looks at me with the wrong eyes."

Jane Birkin, English Actress

Eye, Eyes, Wrong

48

"When a Piece or Pawn is in a situation to be taken by the enemy, it is said to be en prise. To put a piece en prise, is to play it so that it may be captured."

"When a Piece or Pawn is in a situation to be taken by the enemy, it is said to be en prise. To put a piece en prise, is to play it so that it may be captured."

Howard Staunton, English Celebrity

Enemy, May, Play

48

"Foxes was a movie that didn't do a lot of business but it didn't do too badly critically and eventually they offered me other things. The interesting thing was that next I tried a film called Star Man, which Michael Douglas was producing."

"Foxes was a movie that didn't do a lot of business but it didn't do too badly critically and eventually they offered me other things. The interesting thing was that next I tried a film called Star Man, which Michael Douglas was producing."

Adrian Lyne, English Director

Business, Film, Man

48

"I don't really count myself as a very sophisticated businessperson. I'm a creative artist. All I know from business I've picked up along the way."

"I don't really count myself as a very sophisticated businessperson. I'm a creative artist. All I know from business I've picked up along the way."

Mick Jagger, English Musician

Business, Artist

48

"The art of advertisement, after the American manner, has introduced into all our life such a lavish use of superlatives, that no standard of value whatever is intact."

"The art of advertisement, after the American manner, has introduced into all our life such a lavish use of superlatives, that no standard of value whatever is intact."

Wyndham Lewis, English Author

Life, Art, American, Value

48

"I am a hopeless romantic and I love to spoil my girlfriends."

"I am a hopeless romantic and I love to spoil my girlfriends."

Orlando Bloom, English Actor

Love, Girlfriends, Romantic

48

"Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put."

"Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put."

Winston Churchill, English Statesman

Humor, Ending, Will

48

"That men should live honestly, quietly, and comfortably together, it is needful that they should live under a sense of God's will, and in awe of the divine power, hoping to please God, and fearing to offend Him, by their behaviour respectively."

"That men should live honestly, quietly, and comfortably together, it is needful that they should live under a sense of God's will, and in awe of the divine power, hoping to please God, and fearing to offend Him, by their behaviour respectively."

Isaac Barrow, English Mathematician

Men, Power, God, Sense

48

"God forgive you, but I never can."

"God forgive you, but I never can."

Elizabeth I, English Royalty

48

"The guitar was my weapon, my shield to hide behind."

"The guitar was my weapon, my shield to hide behind."

Brian May, English Musician

48

"There are no signposts in the sea."

"There are no signposts in the sea."

Vita Sackville-West, English Novelist

48

"Some virtues are only seen in affliction and others only in prosperity."

"Some virtues are only seen in affliction and others only in prosperity."

Joseph Addison, English Writer

Virtue, Affliction, Prosperity

48

"It can't be Nature, for it is not sense."

"It can't be Nature, for it is not sense."

Charles Churchill, English Poet

48

"It is necessary to get a lot of men together, for the show of the thing, otherwise the world will not believe. That is the meaning of committees. But the real work must always be done by one or two men."

"It is necessary to get a lot of men together, for the show of the thing, otherwise the world will not believe. That is the meaning of committees. But the real work must always be done by one or two men."

Anthony Trollope, English Author

Man, Men, Work, Meaning, Will

48

"Knowing that you're the one who's been rejected, God it makes you feel isolated. I defy anybody not to be a bit upset. I felt as though I'd walked into the house trailing all this baggage."

"Knowing that you're the one who's been rejected, God it makes you feel isolated. I defy anybody not to be a bit upset. I felt as though I'd walked into the house trailing all this baggage."

Anthea Turner, English Entertainer

48

"But when I lose my temper, I find it difficult to forgive myself. I feel I've failed. I can be calm in a crisis, in the face of death or things that hurt badly. I don't get hysterical, which may be masochistic of me."

"But when I lose my temper, I find it difficult to forgive myself. I feel I've failed. I can be calm in a crisis, in the face of death or things that hurt badly. I don't get hysterical, which may be masochistic of me."

Emma Thompson, English Actress

Death, Crisis, Hurt, May

48

"Three-fourths of the mistakes a man makes are made because he does not really know what he thinks he knows."

"Three-fourths of the mistakes a man makes are made because he does not really know what he thinks he knows."

James Bryce, English Diplomat

48

"I think that pop, and to some extent rock, are like sport and fashion industry in that they're about the exuberance of youth. That's the sort of subliminal ideology."

"I think that pop, and to some extent rock, are like sport and fashion industry in that they're about the exuberance of youth. That's the sort of subliminal ideology."

Robert Wyatt, English Musician

Fashion, Ideology, Youth

48

"I succumbed to hedonism."

"I succumbed to hedonism."

Simon Le Bon, English Musician

48

"We always love those who admire us; we do not always love those whom we admire."

"We always love those who admire us; we do not always love those whom we admire."

Rupert Brooke, English Poet

48

"Genius is of no country."

"Genius is of no country."

Charles Churchill, English Poet

Genius, Country

48

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