The Oxford dictionary of modern quotations (76 page)

"What mean?" "Who he?" and the like began to appear on manuscripts and

proofs.

Dale Kramer Ross and The New Yorker (1952) ch. 13

The New Yorker will be the magazine which is not edited for the old lady

in Dubuque.

In James Thurber The Years with Ross (1959) ch. 4

"I don't want you to think I'm not incoherent," he [Ross] once rattled off

to somebody in "21."

James Thurber The Years with Ross (1959) ch. 5

I understand the hero [of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms] keeps getting in

bed with women, and the war wasn't fought that way.

In James Thurber The Years with Ross (1959) ch. 7

18.70 Sir Ronald Ross =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1857-1932

This day relenting God

Hath placed within my hand

A wondrous thing; and God

Be praised. At his command,

Seeking His secret deeds

With tears and toiling breath,

I find thy cunning seeds,

O million-murdering Death.

I know this little thing

A myriad men will save,

O Death, where is thy sting?

Thy victory, O Grave?

Philosophies (1910) "In Exile" pt. 7 (describing his part in discovering

the life-cycle of the malaria parasite in 1897; cf. Oxford Dictionary of

Quotations (1979) 77:1)

18.71 Jean Rostand =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1894-1977

Mon pessimisme va jusqu'� suspecter la sinc�rit� des pessimistes.

My pessimism goes to the point of suspecting the sincerity of the

pessimists.

Journal d'un caract�re(Journal of a Character, 1931)

�tre adulte, c'est �tre seul.

To be adult is to be alone.

Pens�es d'un biologiste (Thoughts of a Biologist, 1954) p. 134

On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On tue des millions d'hommes, on est

conqu�rant. On les tue tous, on est un dieu.

Kill a man, and you are an assassin. Kill millions of men, and you are a

conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a god.

Pens�es d'un biologiste (Thoughts of a Biologist, 1939) p. 116

18.72 Leo Rosten =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1908-

The only thing I can say about W. C. Fields, whom I have admired since the

day he advanced upon Baby LeRoy with an ice pick, is this: any man who

hates dogs and babies can't be all bad.

Speech at Hollywood dinner in honour of W. C. Fields, 16 Feb. 1939, in

Saturday Review 12 June 1976

18.73 Philip Roth =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1933-

A Jewish man with parents alive is a fifteen-year-old boy, and will remain

a fifteen-year-old boy until they die!

Portnoy's Complaint (1967) p. 111

Doctor, my doctor, what do you say, LET'S PUT THE ID BACK IN YID!

Portnoy's Complaint (1967) p. 124

18.74 Dan Rowan and Dick Martin =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Dan Rowan 1922-1987

Dick Martin 1923-

Very interesting...but stupid.

Catch-phrase in Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (American television series,

1967-73)

18.75 Helen Rowland =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1875-1950

A husband is what is left of a lover, after the nerve has been extracted.

A Guide to Men (1922) p. 19

Somehow a bachelor never quite gets over the idea that he is a thing of

beauty and a boy forever.

A Guide to Men (1922) p. 25

The follies which a man regrets most, in his life, are those which he

didn't commit when he had the opportunity.

A Guide to Men (1922) p. 87

When you see what some girls marry, you realize how they must hate to work

for a living.

Reflections of a Bachelor Girl (1909) p. 45

18.76 Richard Rowland =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

?1881-1947

The lunatics have taken charge of the asylum.

Comment on take-over of United Artists by Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford,

Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith, in Terry Ramsaye A Million and One

Nights (1926) vol. 2, ch. 79

18.77 Maude Royden =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1876-1956

The Church should go forward along the path of progress and be no longer

satisfied only to represent the Conservative Party at prayer.

Address at Queen's Hall, London, 16 July 1917, in The Times 17 July 1917

18.78 Naomi Royde-Smith =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1875?-1964

I know two things about the horse

And one of them is rather coarse.

Weekend Book (1928) p. 231

18.79 Paul Alfred Rubens =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1875-1917

Oh! we don't want to lose you but we think you ought to go

For your King and your Country both need you so;

We shall want you and miss you but with all our might and main

We shall cheer you, thank you, kiss you

When you come back again.

Your King and Country Want You (1914 song)

18.80 Damon Runyon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1884-1946

I do see her in tough joints more than somewhat.

Collier's 22 May 1930, "Social Error"

"You are snatching a hard guy when you snatch Bookie Bob. A very hard guy,

indeed. In fact," I say, "I hear the softest thing about him is his front

teeth."

Collier's 26 Sept. 1931, "Snatching of Bookie Bob"

I always claim the mission workers came out too early to catch any sinners

on this part of Broadway. At such an hour the sinners are still in bed

resting up from their sinning of the night before, so they will be in good

shape for more sinning a little later on.

Collier's 28 Jan. 1933, "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown"

"In fact," Sam the Gonoph says, "I long ago come to the conclusion that

all life is 6 to 5 against."

Collier's 8 Sept. 1934, "A Nice Price"

"My boy," he says, "always try to rub up against money, for if you rub up

against money long enough, some of it may rub off on you."

Cosmopolitan Aug. 1929, "A Very Honourable Guy"

18.81 Dean Rusk =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1909-

We're eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked.

Comment on Cuban missile crisis, 24 Oct. 1962, in Saturday Evening Post

8 Dec. 1962

18.82 Bertrand Russell (Bertrand Arthur William, third Earl Russell) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1872-1970

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life:

the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for

the suffering of mankind.

Autobiography (1967) vol. 1, prologue

I was told that the Chinese said they would bury me by the Western Lake

and build a shrine to my memory. I have some slight regret that this did

not happen as I might have become a god, which would have been very chic

for an atheist.

Autobiography (1968) vol. 2, ch. 3

Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the

fact.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 1

Boredom is therefore a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins

of mankind are caused by the fear of it.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 4

One of the symptoms of approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that

one's work is terribly important, and that to take a holiday would bring

all kinds of disaster. If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a

holiday to any patient who considered his work important.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 5

Envy is the basis of democracy.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 6

One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to

avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond

this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to

interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 9

A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations.

People wish to be liked, not to be endured with patient resignation.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 10

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true

happiness.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 12

To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of

civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.

Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 14

Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was

twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by

examining his wives' mouths.

Impact of Science on Society (1952) ch. 1

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that

it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority

of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than

sensible.

Marriage and Morals (1929) ch. 5

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three

parts dead.

Marriage and Morals (1929) ch. 19

Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we

are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.

Mysticism and Logic (1917) ch. 4

Only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's

habitation henceforth be safely built.

Philosophical Essays (1910) no. 2

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme

beauty--a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.

Philosophical Essays (1910) no. 4

It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground

whatever for supposing it is true.

Sceptical Essays (1928) "On the Value of Scepticism"

The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to

moralists. That is why they invented Hell.

Sceptical Essays (1928) "On the Value of Scepticism"

Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting

convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.

Sceptical Essays (1928) "Dreams and Facts"

Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful, and valued because

they confer power; they are hated because they are hideous, and loathed

because they impose slavery.

Sceptical Essays (1928) "Machines and Emotions"

We have, in fact, two kinds of morality side by side: one which we preach

but do not practise, and another which we practise but seldom preach.

Sceptical Essays (1928) "Eastern and Western Ideals of Happiness"

It is obvious that "obscenity" is not a term capable of exact legal

definition; in the practice of the Courts, it means "anything that shocks

the magistrate."

Sceptical Essays (1928) "Recrudescence of Puritanism"

The fundamental defect of fathers, in our competitive society, is that

they want their children to be a credit to them.

Sceptical Essays (1928) "Freedom versus Authority in Education"

Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of

good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

Unpopular Essays (1950) "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish"

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of

cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom, in the pursuit of

truth as in the endeavour after a worthy manner of life.

Unpopular Essays (1950) "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish"

18.83 Dora Russell (Countess Russell) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1894-1986

We want better reasons for having children than not knowing how to prevent

them.

Hypatia (1925) ch. 4

18.84 George William Russell =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

See AE (1.15)

18.85 John Russell =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1919-

Certain phrases stick in the throat, even if they offer nothing that is

analytically improbable. "A dashing Swiss officer" is one such. Another

is "the beautiful Law Courts."

Paris (1960) ch. 11

18.86 Ernest Rutherford (Baron Rutherford of Nelson) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1871-1937

I do not...want to give the impression that the use of large machines or

of elaborate techniques is always justified; sometimes it contributes

merely to the sense of self-importance of the investigator, and it is

always salutary to remember Rutherford's "We haven't got the money, so

we've got to think!"

R. V. Jones in Bulletin of the Institute of Physics (1962) vol. 13, p. 102

All science is either physics or stamp collecting.

In J. B. Birks Rutherford at Manchester (1962) p. 108

18.87 Gilbert Ryle =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1900-1976

A myth is, of course, not a fairy story. It is the presentation of facts