The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (52 page)

1900-1967

Loyalty is the Tory's secret weapon.

In Anthony Sampson Anatomy of Britain (1962) ch. 6

11.28 Martin Luther King =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1929-1968

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Letter from Birmingham Jail, Alabama, 16 Apr. 1963, in Atlantic Monthly

Aug. 1963, p. 78

I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great

stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens

Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more

devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is

the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of

justice.

Letter from Birmingham Jail, Alabama, 16 Apr. 1963, in Atlantic Monthly

Aug. 1963, p. 81

I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for,

he isn't fit to live.

Speech in Detroit, 23 June 1963, in J. Bishop Days of M. L. King Jr.

(1971) ch. 4

I want to be the white man's brother, not his brother-in-law.

In New York Journal-American 10 Sept. 1962, p. 1

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties

of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted

in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise

up and live out the true meaning of its creed:--"We hold these truths to

be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former

slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down

together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state

sweltering with the people's injustice, sweltering with the heat of

oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation

where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the

content of their character.

Speech at Civil Rights March in Washington, 28 Aug. 1963, in New York

Times 29 Aug. 1963, p. 21

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've been to the mountain top. I

won't mind. Like anybody, I would like to have a long life. Longevity has

its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's

will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over,

and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want

you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So

I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any

man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Speech in Memphis, 3 Apr. 1968 (the day before King was assassinated), in

New York Times 4 Apr. 1968, p. 24

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort

and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and

controversy.

Strength to Love (1963) ch. 3

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and

conscientious stupidity.

Strength to Love (1963) ch. 4

Jesus eloquently affirmed from the cross a higher law. He knew that the

old eye-for-an-eye philosophy would leave everyone blind. He did not seek

to overcome evil with evil. He overcame evil with good.

Strength to Love (1963) ch. 4

The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided

missiles and misguided men.

Strength to Love (1963) ch. 7

If we assume that mankind has a right to survive, then we must find an

alternative to war and destruction. In our day of space vehicles and

guided ballistic missiles, the choice is either nonviolence or

nonexistence.

Strength to Love (1963) ch. 17

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Speech at St. Louis, 22 Mar. 1964, in St Louis Post-Dispatch 23 Mar. 1964

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

Where Do We Go From Here? (1967) ch. 4

11.29 Stoddard King =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1889-1933

There's a long, long trail awinding

Into the land of my dreams,

Where the nightingales are singing

And a white moon beams;

There's a long, long night of waiting

Until my dreams all come true,

Till the day when I'll be going down

That long, long trail with you.

There's a Long, Long Trail (1913 song; music by Zo (Alonso) Elliott)

11.30 David Kingsley, Dennis Lyons, and Peter Lovell-Davis =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Yesterday's men (they failed before!).

Advertising slogan for the Labour Party (referring to the Conservatives),

1970, in David Butler and Michael Pinto-Duschinsky British General

Election of 1970 (1971) ch. 6

11.31 Hugh Kingsmill (Hugh Kingsmill Lunn) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1889-1949

Friends...are God's apology for relations.

In Michael Holroyd Best of Hugh Kingsmill (1970) p. 12

What still alive at twenty-two,

A clean upstanding chap like you?

Sure, if your throat 'tis hard to slit,

Slit your girl's, and swing for it.

Like enough, you won't be glad,

When they come to hang you, lad:

But bacon's not the only thing

That's cured by hanging from a string.

Table of Truth (1933) "Two Poems, after A. E. Housman," no. 1

'Tis Summer Time on Bredon,

And now the farmers swear:

The cattle rise and listen

In valleys far and near,

And blush at what they hear.

But when the mists in autumn

On Bredon top are thick,

And happy hymns of farmers

Go up from fold and rick,

The cattle then are sick.

Table of Truth (1933) "Two Poems, after A. E. Housman," no. 2

11.32 Neil Kinnock =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1942-

If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday, I warn you not to be ordinary, I

warn you not to be young, I warn you not to fall ill, and I warn you not

to grow old.

Speech at Bridgend, 7 June 1983, in Guardian 8 June 1983

Mr Shultz went off his pram.

Comment after a meeting with the US Secretary of State, in Guardian 15

Feb. 1984

I would die for my country but I could never let my country die for me.

Speech at Labour Party Conference, 30 Sept. 1986, in Guardian 1 Oct. 1986

Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to

a university? Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand

generations to be able to get to a university? Was it because all our

predecessors were thick? Did they lack talent? Those people who could sing

and play and write poetry? Those people who could make wonderful beautiful

things with their hands? Those people who could dream dreams, see visions?

Was it because they were weak, those people who could work eight hours

underground and then come up and play football, weak? Does anybody really

think that they didn't get what we had because they didn't have the talent

or the strength or the endurance or the commitment? Of course not. It's

because they didn't have a platform on which they could stand.

Speech in party political broadcast, 21 May 1987, in New York Times 12

Sept. 1987, p. 1 (this speech was later plagiarized by the American

politician Joe Biden)

11.33 Rudyard Kipling =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1865-1936

But I consort with long-haired things

In velvet collar-rolls,

Who talk about the Aims of Art,

And "theories" and "goals,"

And moo and coo with women-folk

About their blessed souls.

Abaft the Funnel (1909) "In Partibus"

When you've shouted "Rule Britannia," when you've sung "God save the

Queen"--

When you've finished killing Kruger with your mouth--

Will you kindly drop a shilling in my little tambourine

For a gentleman in Kharki ordered South?

He's an absent-minded beggar and his weaknesses are great--

But we and Paul must take him as we find him--

He is out on active service, wiping something off a slate--

And he's left a lot o' little things behind him!

Absent-Minded Beggar (1899) p. 1

There is sorrow enough in the natural way

From men and women to fill our day;

But when we are certain of sorrow in store,

Why do we always arrange for more?

Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware

Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Actions and Reactions (1909) "The Power of the Dog"

There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays,

And--every--single--one--of--them--is--right!

Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads (1893) "In the Neolithic Age"

"What are the bugles blowin' for?" said Files-on-Parade.

"To turn you out, to turn you out," the Colour-Sergeant said.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Danny Deever"

For they're hangin' Danny Deever, you can hear the Dead March play,

The regiment's in 'ollow square--they're hangin' him to-day;

They've taken of his buttons off an' cut his stripes away,

An' they're hangin' Danny Deever in the mornin'.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Danny Deever"

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";

But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Tommy"

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an "Tommy 'ow's yer soul?"

But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Tommy"

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"

But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Tommy"

So 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your 'ome in the Soudan;

You're a pore benighted 'eathen but a first-class fightin' man;

An' 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your 'ayrick 'ead of 'air--

You big black boundin' beggar--for you broke a British square!

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Fuzzy-Wuzzy"

The uniform 'e wore

Was nothin' much before,

An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Gunga Din"

Though I've belted you and flayed you,

By the livin' Gawd that made you,

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Gunga Din"

'Ave you 'eard o' the Widow at Windsor

With a hairy gold crown on 'er 'ead?

She 'as ships on the foam--she 'as millions at 'ome,

An' she pays us poor beggars in red.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "The Widow at Windsor"

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains

And the women come out to cut up what remains

Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains

An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "The Young British Soldier"

By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea,

There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;

For the wind is in the palm-trees, an' the temple-bells they say:

"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"

Come you back to Mandalay,

Where the old Flotilla lay:

Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?

On the road to Mandalay,

Where the flyin'-fishes play,

An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Mandalay"

An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,

An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Mandalay"

Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,

Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Mandalay"

We're poor little lambs who've lost our way,

Baa! Baa! Baa!

We're little black sheep who've gone astray,

Baa-aa-aa!

Gentlemen-rankers out on the spree,

Damned from here to Eternity,

God ha' mercy on such as we,

Baa! Yah! Bah!

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "Gentlemen-Rankers"

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgement Seat;

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of

earth!

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "The Ballad of East and West"

And the talk slid north, and the talk slid south,

With the sliding puffs from the hookah-mouth.

Four things greater than all things are,--

Women and Horses and Power and War.

Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) "The Ballad of the King's Jest"

When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,

Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the

mould;

And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty