Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Online
Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (360 page)
1939– and
Ragni, Gerome
1942–
When the moon is in the seventh house,
And Jupiter aligns with Mars…
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius.
"Aquarius" (1967 song) in
Hair
d. 1648
The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he.
during the Army debates at Putney, 29 October 1647
1908–
He has married me with a ring, a ring of bright water.
"The Marriage of Psyche" (1952)
c.
1552–1618
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
"Answer to Marlow"
Say to the court, it glows
And shines like rotten wood;
Say to the church, it shows
What's good, and doth no good:
If church and court reply,
Then give them both the lie.
"The Lie" (1608)
Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope's true gage,
And thus I'll take my pilgrimage.
"The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage" (1604)
But true love is a durable fire,
In the mind ever burning.
"Walsinghame"
Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.
line written on a window-pane, in Thomas Fuller
History of the Worthies of England
(1662) "Devonshire".
Even such is Time, which takes in trust
Our youth, our joys, and all we have,
And pays us but with age and dust;
Who in the dark and silent grave,
When we have wandered all our ways,
Shuts up the story of our days:
And from which earth, and grave, and dust,
The Lord shall raise me up, I trust.
written the night before his death, and found in his Bible in the Gate-house at Westminster
O eloquent, just, and mighty Death!…thou hast drawn together all the farstretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words,
Hic jacet
[Here lies].
The History of the World
(1614) bk. 5, ch. 6
'Tis a sharp remedy, but a sure one for all ills.
on feeling the edge of the axe prior to his execution
D. Hume
History of Great Britain
(1754) vol. 1, ch. 4
So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lies.
at his execution, on being asked which way he preferred to lay his head
W. Stebbing
Sir Walter Raleigh
(1891) ch. 30
1861–1922
In examinations those who do not wish to know ask questions of those who cannot tell.
Laughter from a Cloud
(1923) "Some Thoughts on Examinations"
I wish I loved the Human Race;
I wish I loved its silly face.
"Wishes of an Elderly Man" (1923)
An anthology is like all the plums and orange peel picked out of a cake.
letter to Mrs Robert Bridges, 15 January 1915
1773–1833
Never were abilities so much below mediocrity so well rewarded; no, not when Caligula's horse was made Consul.
on the appointment of Richard Rush as US Secretary of the Treasury
speech, 1 February 1828
He is a man of splendid abilities but utterly corrupt. He shines and stinks like rotten mackerel by moonlight.
of Edward Livingston
W. Cabell Bruce
John Randolph of Roanoke
(1923) vol. 2