The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (29 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
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Balmain, Pierre
1914–82
1
The trick of wearing mink is to look as though you were wearing a cloth coat. The trick of wearing a cloth coat is to look as though you are wearing mink.

in
Observer
25 December 1955

Balzac, Honoré de
1799–1850
1
Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and abilities.

La Comédie Humaine
(1842) vol. 1, foreword

2
Hatred is a tonic, it makes one live, it inspires vengeance; but pity kills, it makes our weakness weaker.

La Peau de Chagrin
(1831) ch. 1

Bankhead, Tallulah
1903–68
1
Cocaine habit-forming? Of course not. I ought to know. I've been using it for years.

Tallulah
(1952)

2
I'm as pure as the driven slush.

in
Saturday Evening Post
12 April 1947

Barbour, John
c.
1320–95
1
Storys to rede ar delitabill,
Suppos that thai be nocht bot fabill.

The Bruce
(1375) bk. 1, l. 1

2
A! fredome is a noble thing!
Fredome mayse man to haiff liking.

The Bruce
(1375) bk. 1, l. 225

Barclay, Alexander
c.
1475–1552
1
The lords will alway that people note and see
Between them and servants some diversity,
Though it to them turn to no profit at all;
If they have pleasure, the servant shall have small.

Eclogues
(1514) no. 2, l. 790

Barham, R. H.
1788–1845
1
The Jackdaw sat on the Cardinal's chair!
Bishop, and abbot, and prior were there.

The Ingoldsby Legends
(First Series, 1840) "The Jackdaw of Rheims"

2
Heedless of grammar, they all cried, "That's him!"

The Ingoldsby Legends
(First Series, 1840) "The Jackdaw of Rheims"

3
Here's a corpse in the case with a sad swelled face,
And a "Crowner's Quest" is a queer sort of thing!
in later editions: "a Medical Crowner's a queer sort of thing!"

The Ingoldsby Legends
(First Series, 1840) "A Lay of St Gengulphus"

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