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Quotes by English Authors
"Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues."
"Any one reflecting upon the thought he has of the delight, which any present or absent thing is apt to produce in him, has the idea we call love."
"We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion; and even if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still."
"Only a great actor finds the difficulties of the actor's art infinite."
"Perhaps this was one of the tragedies life plots for us: it is our destiny to become in old age what in youth we would have most despised."
"The will of God is eternal because He does not begin to will what He did not will before, nor cease to will what He willed before."
"That's history. I say history because it happened in the past."
"I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity."
"It would be so nice if something made sense for a change."
"Darwin himself said as much: 'If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find no such case.' Darwin could find no such case, and nor has anybody since Darwin's time, despite strenuous, indeed desperate, efforts. Many candidates for this holy grail of creationism have been proposed. None has stood up to analysis."
"Nine-tenths of the people were created so you would want to be with the other tenth."
"I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be."
"It is better, however, for his own reputation that the story-teller should risk a few actions for libel on account of these unfortunate coincidences than that he should adopt the melancholy device of using blanks or asterisks."
"Indeed in the full flush of journalistic passion and conviction I once told an interviewer that of course I would never get married. And I most definitely would never have children."
"Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another."
"When you get to a certain age, the work begins to thin out."
"I make music to generate atmospheres, not to complement already existing ones."
"Loads of computer graphics equals a terrible video in my book."
"Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us?"
"Leadership is particularly necessary to ensure ready acceptance of the unfamiliar and that which is contrary to tradition."
"Cut privet still smells of sour apples, as it did when I was sixteen; but this is a rare, lingering exception. At that age, everything seemed more open to analogy, to metaphor, than it does now. There were more meanings, more interpretations, a greater variety of available truths. There was more symbolism, Things contained more."
"I never mind scrubbing floors, vacuuming or bending and carrying stuff. Each time I do it I think, this is instead of going to the gym."
"I can't remember much about the early flights, except that it was ages before we got into First Class."
"Conceit is the finest armour a man can wear."
"All things make sense; you just have to fathom how they make sense."
"The ability to make music is a gift that you're born with; it's not something you can learn."
"Rituals are important. Nowadays it's hip not to be married. I'm not interested in being hip."
"Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing."
"Nothing is more unpleasant than a virtuous person with a mean mind."
"The excellency of every art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeable evaporate."
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