The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (407 page)

Smith, Samuel Francis
1808–95

1
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring.

"America" (1831)

 
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Smith, Stevie
1902–71

1
Oh I am a cat that likes to
Gallop about doing good.

"The Galloping Cat" (1972)

2
A good time was had by all.

title of book (1937)

3
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

"Not Waving but Drowning" (1957)

4
This Englishwoman is so refined
She has no bosom and no behind.

"This Englishwoman" (1937)

 
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Smith, Sydney
1771–1845

1
A Curate—there is something which excites compassion in the very name of a Curate!!!

"Persecuting Bishops" in
Edinburgh Review
(1822)

2
I have no relish for the country; it is a kind of healthy grave.

letter to Miss G. Harcourt, 1838

3
That knuckle-end of England—that land of Calvin, oat-cakes, and sulphur.
of Scotland

Lady Holland
Memoir
(1855) vol. 1, ch. 2

4
Take short views, hope for the best, and trust in God.

Lady Holland
Memoir
(1855) vol. 1, ch. 6

5
No furniture so charming as books.

Lady Holland
Memoir
(1855) vol. 1, ch. 9.

6
My definition of marriage…it resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.

Lady Holland
Memoir
(1855) vol. 1, ch. 11

7
Deserves to be preached to death by wild curates.

Lady Holland
Memoir
(1855) vol. 1, ch. 11

8
Brighton Pavilion looks as if St Paul's had slipped down to Brighton and pupped.

attributed; Alan Bell (ed.)
The Sayings of Sydney Smith
(1993)

9
I never read a book before reviewing it; it prejudices a man so.

H. Pearson
The Smith of Smiths
(1934) ch. 3

10
My idea of heaven is, eating
pâté de foie gras
to the sound of trumpets.
view ascribed by Smith to his friend Henry Luttrell

H. Pearson
The Smith of Smiths
(1934) ch. 10.

 
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Smith, Walter Chalmers
1824–1908

1
Immortal, invisible, God only wise.

"God, All in All" (1867 hymn)

 
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Smollett, Tobias
1721–71

1
That great Cham of literature, Samuel Johnson.

letter to John Wilkes, 16 March 1759

 
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Smuts, Jan Christiaan
1870–1950

1
Mankind is once more on the move. The very foundations have been shaken and loosened, and things are again fluid. The tents have been struck, and the great caravan of humanity is once more on the march.
on the setting up of the League of Nations, in the wake of the First World War

W. K. Hancock
Smuts
(1968)

 
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