Quotes by English Authors | Beyond Motive 24/419

top of page

Quotes by English Authors

"In No. 1 of this street the cholera first appeared seventeen years ago, and spread up it with fearful virulence; but this year it appeared at the opposite end, and ran down it with like severity."

"In No. 1 of this street the cholera first appeared seventeen years ago, and spread up it with fearful virulence; but this year it appeared at the opposite end, and ran down it with like severity."

Henry Mayhew, English Journalist

Location, End, First, Years

25

"In tragedy every moment is eternity; in comedy, eternity is a moment."

"In tragedy every moment is eternity; in comedy, eternity is a moment."

Christopher Fry, English Playwright

Comedy, Eternity, Tragedy

25

"Law is king of all."

"Law is king of all."

Henry Alford, English Clergyman

25

"But the child's sob curses deeper in the silence than the strong man in his wrath!"

"But the child's sob curses deeper in the silence than the strong man in his wrath!"

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English Poet

25

"A severe though not unfriendly critic of our institutions said that the cure for admiring the House of Lords was to go and look at it."

"A severe though not unfriendly critic of our institutions said that the cure for admiring the House of Lords was to go and look at it."

Walter Bagehot, English Author

25

"God's finger touched him, and he slept."

"God's finger touched him, and he slept."

Alfred Lord Tennyson, English Poet

25

"Reality TV is here, it's been here really since the Carol Levis Discovery Show in 1957. It's never changed. It just looks a bit different."

"Reality TV is here, it's been here really since the Carol Levis Discovery Show in 1957. It's never changed. It just looks a bit different."

Pete Waterman, English Producer

Discovery, Reality

25

"To escape jury duty in England, wear a bowler hat and carry a copy of the Daily telegraph."

"To escape jury duty in England, wear a bowler hat and carry a copy of the Daily telegraph."

John Mortimer, English Novelist

Duty, England, Jury

25

"They are not long, the days of wine and roses."

"They are not long, the days of wine and roses."

Ernest Dowson, English Poet

Time, Roses, Wine

25

"At the end of April I archived 'Curses' and Inform, and announced them on the newsgroups."

"At the end of April I archived 'Curses' and Inform, and announced them on the newsgroups."

Graham Nelson, English Mathematician

25

"If you want to cut your own throat, don't come to me for a bandage."

"If you want to cut your own throat, don't come to me for a bandage."

Margaret Thatcher, English Leader

25

"Civilization in its present form hasn't got long."

"Civilization in its present form hasn't got long."

James Lovelock, English Scientist

Civilization, Present

25

"I was dating this guy and we would spend all day text messaging each other. And he thought that he could tell that he liked me more because he actually spelt the word 'YOU' and I just put the letter 'U'."

"I was dating this guy and we would spend all day text messaging each other. And he thought that he could tell that he liked me more because he actually spelt the word 'YOU' and I just put the letter 'U'."

Kelly Osbourne, English Actress

Dating, Thought, Day, Word

25

"I don't think there's been any writer like Samuel Beckett. He's unique. He was a most charming man and I used to send him my plays."

"I don't think there's been any writer like Samuel Beckett. He's unique. He was a most charming man and I used to send him my plays."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

25

"For me, the guitar synthesizer is a great writing instrument."

"For me, the guitar synthesizer is a great writing instrument."

Andy Summers, English Musician

Guitar, Writing

25

"In Genesis we saw ourselves as song-writers. After Peter Gabriel left I was the first to say: 'It's OK - we can just do instrumentals.'"

"In Genesis we saw ourselves as song-writers. After Peter Gabriel left I was the first to say: 'It's OK - we can just do instrumentals.'"

Phil Collins, English Musician

25

"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."

"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."

Richard Dawkins, English Scientist

Faith, Belief, Evaluate

25

"We have heeded no wisdom offering guidance."

"We have heeded no wisdom offering guidance."

Dora Russell, English Celebrity

Wisdom, Guidance

25

"There is a pleasure in being mad which none but madmen know."

"There is a pleasure in being mad which none but madmen know."

John Dryden, English Poet

Being, Pleasure

25

"It was both Abraham's and the Jews' privilege also that they should have this promise to all generations."

"It was both Abraham's and the Jews' privilege also that they should have this promise to all generations."

Thomas Goodwin, English Clergyman

Generations, Privilege, Promise

25

"In the evolution of mankind there has always been a certain degree of social coherence."

"In the evolution of mankind there has always been a certain degree of social coherence."

Herbert Read, English Poet

Unity, Evolution, Mankind

25

"I used to like writing for comedians - I enjoyed the challenge of making other people funny."

"I used to like writing for comedians - I enjoyed the challenge of making other people funny."

Denis Norden, English Writer

Fun, Funny, People, Challenge, Comedians

25

"Life is made of ever so many partings welded together."

"Life is made of ever so many partings welded together."

Charles Dickens, English Novelist

25

"To speak and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks."

"To speak and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks."

Ben Jonson, English Poet

Fool, Man, May, Talk

25

"The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own."

"The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own."

Aldous Huxley, English Novelist

Politics, War, Fact, Murder

25

"There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory."

"There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory."

Francis Drake, English Soldier

Beginning, End, Glory

25

"Television has brought back murder into the home - where it belongs."

"Television has brought back murder into the home - where it belongs."

Alfred Hitchcock, English Director

Home, Murder, Television

25

"I do not know which makes a man more conservative - to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past."

"I do not know which makes a man more conservative - to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past."

John Maynard Keynes, English Economist

Conservative, Man, Nothing, Past

25

"Marketing is a very good thing, but it shouldn't control everything. It should be the tool, not that which dictates."

"Marketing is a very good thing, but it shouldn't control everything. It should be the tool, not that which dictates."

Nicolas Roeg, English Director

Control, Marketing

25

"If egotism means a terrific interest in one's self, egotism is absolutely essential to efficient living."

"If egotism means a terrific interest in one's self, egotism is absolutely essential to efficient living."

Arnold Bennett, English Novelist

Egotism, Interest, Living, Self

25

"Elves are like trees, grounded and focused from the trunk down but graceful and agile on top."

"Elves are like trees, grounded and focused from the trunk down but graceful and agile on top."

Orlando Bloom, English Actor

25

"At the centre of Christianity is community; we are gathered by the Lord around the altar."

"At the centre of Christianity is community; we are gathered by the Lord around the altar."

Timothy Radcliffe, English Clergyman

Christianity, Community

25

"I do remember actually learning chords to Beatles songs. I thought they were great songwriters."

"I do remember actually learning chords to Beatles songs. I thought they were great songwriters."

Mick Taylor, English Musician

Thought, Learning, Songs

25

"For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to every one that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still."

"For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to every one that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still."

John Maynard Keynes, English Economist

God, Gods, Years

25

"The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with."

"The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with."

Marty Feldman, English Comedian

25

"A man of such obvious and exemplary charm must be a liar."

"A man of such obvious and exemplary charm must be a liar."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

Trustworthiness, Charm, Man, Obvious

25

"I believe the right question to ask, respecting all ornament, is simply this; was it done with enjoyment, was the carver happy while he was about it?"

"I believe the right question to ask, respecting all ornament, is simply this; was it done with enjoyment, was the carver happy while he was about it?"

John Ruskin, English Writer

Enjoyment, Question, Right

25

"I suppose that's one of the ironies of life doing the wrong thing at the right moment."

"I suppose that's one of the ironies of life doing the wrong thing at the right moment."

Charlie Chaplin, English Actor

Life, Right, Wrong

25

"God not only plays dice, He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen."

"God not only plays dice, He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen."

Stephen Hawking, English Physicist

25

"Production is something I've never come to terms with."

"Production is something I've never come to terms with."

Robyn Hitchcock, English Musician

25

"I like to fish. Fishing is always a way of relaxing."

"I like to fish. Fishing is always a way of relaxing."

Tom Felton, English Actor

25

"I think that NATO is itself a war criminal."

"I think that NATO is itself a war criminal."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

25

"I was definitely living fast. I was working, traveling a lot, playing. I didn't stop. It all became unbalanced."

"I was definitely living fast. I was working, traveling a lot, playing. I didn't stop. It all became unbalanced."

Kate Moss, English Model

Living, Traveling

25

"The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only."

"The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only."

Thomas Hobbes, English Philosopher

Freedom, Absurdity, Living, Man, Privilege

25

"There was one titanic guiding light on the film set, and I was in the presence of a true Mahatma, in the deepest and most profound sense of the word."

"There was one titanic guiding light on the film set, and I was in the presence of a true Mahatma, in the deepest and most profound sense of the word."

Ben Kingsley, English Actor

Film, Light, Sense, Word

25

"To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukaemia with leeches."

"To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukaemia with leeches."

Margaret Thatcher, English Leader

Cure, Disease, Socialism, Trying

25

"It is no good getting furious if you get stuck. What I do is keep thinking about the problem but work on something else. Sometimes it is years before I see the way forward. In the case of information loss and black holes, it was 29 years."

"It is no good getting furious if you get stuck. What I do is keep thinking about the problem but work on something else. Sometimes it is years before I see the way forward. In the case of information loss and black holes, it was 29 years."

Stephen Hawking, English Physicist

Work, Information, Loss, Thinking

25

"Don't ask me who my favourite monster was because I'm sick of saying Tom Baker."

"Don't ask me who my favourite monster was because I'm sick of saying Tom Baker."

Lalla Ward, English Actor

25

"Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking."

"Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking."

Anita Roddick, English Businessman

Survival, Thinking

25

"Composers are always going back to the past."

"Composers are always going back to the past."

Anne Dudley, English Composer

Composer, Composers, Past

25

bottom of page