The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

‘Tehee!’ quod she, and clapte the wyndow to.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Miller’s Tale’ l. 3740

For certein, whan that Fortune list to flee, Ther may no man the cours of hire withholde.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Monk’s Tale’ l. 1995

Ful wys is he that kan hymselven knowe!

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Monk’s Tale’ l. 2139

Redeth the grete poete of Ytaille That highte Dant, for he kan al devyse

Fro point to point; nat o word wol he faille.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Monk’s Tale’ l. 2460

His coomb was redder than the fyn coral, And batailled as it were a castel wal;

His byle was blak, and as the jeet it shoon; Lyk asure were his legges and his toon; His nayles whitter than the lylye flour, And lyk the burned gold was his colour, This gentil cok hadde in his governaunce Sevene hennes for to doon al his plesaunce, Whiche were his sustres and his paramours, And wonder lyk to hym, as of colours;

Of whiche the faireste hewed on hir throte Was cleped fair damoysele Pertelote.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ l. 2859

Whan that the month in which the world bigan, That highte March, whan God first maked man.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ l. 3187

And on a Friday fil al this meschaunce.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ l. 3341

Mordre wol out; that se we day by day.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ l. 3052

Thanne peyne I me to strecche forth the nekke, And est and west upon the peple I bekke.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Pardoner’s Prologue’ l. 395

O wombe! O bely! O stynkyng cod Fulfilled of dong and of corrupcioun!

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ l. 534

‘What, carl, with sory grace!’

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ l. 717

And lightly as it comth, so wol we spende.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ l. 781

Yet in oure asshen olde is fyr yreke.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Reeve’s Prologue’ l. 3882

‘The gretteste clerkes been noght wisest men.’

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Reeve’s Tale’ l. 4054

So was hir joly whistle wel ywet.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Reeve’s Tale’ l. 4155

Thou lookest as thou woldest fynde an hare, For evere upon the ground I se thee stare.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘Prologue to Sir Thopas’ l. 696

He hadde a semely nose.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘Sir Thopas’ l. 729

‘By God,’ quod he, ‘for pleynly, at a word, Thy drasty rymyng is nat worth a toord!’

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘Sir Thopas’ l. 929

Experience, though noon auctoritee Were in this world, is right ynogh for me To speke of wo that is in mariage.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ l. 1

Yblessed be god that I have wedded fyve! Welcome the sixte, whan that evere he shal. For sothe, I wol nat kepe me chaast in al. Whan myn housbonde is fro the world ygon, Som Cristen man shall wedde me anon.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ l. 44

But—Lord Crist!—what that it remembreth me Upon my yowthe, and on my jolitee,

It tikleth me aboute myn herte roote. Unto this day it dooth myn herte boote That I have had my world as in my time.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ l. 469

And for to se, and eek for to be seye Of lusty folk.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ l. 552

But yet I hadde alwey a coltes tooth. Gat-tothed I was, and that bicam me weel.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ l. 602

Of which mayde anon, maugree hir heed, By verray force, he rafte hire maydenhed.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ l. 887

‘My lige lady, generally,’ quod he, ‘Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee As wel over hir housbond as hir love.’

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ l. 1037

That he is gentil that dooth gentil dedis.

‘The Canterbury Tales’ ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ l. 1170

Venus clerk Ovide,

That hath ysowen wonder wide The grete god of Loves name.

‘The House of Fame’ l. 1487

A thousand tymes have I herd men telle That ther ys joy in hevene and peyne in helle, And I acorde wel that it ys so;

But, natheles, yet wot I wel also

That ther nis noon dwellyng in this contree That eyther hath in hevene or helle ybe, Ne may of hit noon other weyes witen

But as he hath herd seyd or founde it writen; For by assay ther may no man it preve.

But God forbede but men shulde leve

Wel more thing then men han seen with ye! Men shal not wenen every thing a lye

But yf himself yt seeth, or elles dooth;

For, God wot, thing is never the lasse sooth, Thogh every wight ne may it nat ysee. Bernard the monk ne saugh nat all, pardee!

‘The Legend of Good Women’ ‘The Prologue’ l. l

And as for me, though that I konne but lyte, On bokes for to rede I me delyte,

And to hem yive I feyth and ful credence, And in myn herte have hem in reverence So hertely, that ther is game noon

That fro my bokes maketh me to goon, But yt be seldom on the holyday,

Save, certeynly, whan that the month of May Is comen, and that I here the foules synge, And that the floures gynnen for to sprynge, Farewel my bok and my devocioun!

‘The Legend of Good Women’ ‘The Prologue’ l. 29

Of al the floures in the mede,

Thanne love I most thise floures white and rede, Swiche as men callen daysyes in our toun.

‘The Legend of Good Women’ ‘The Prologue’ l. 41

That wel by reson men it calle may The ‘dayesye,’ or elles the ‘ye of day,’ The emperice and flour of floures alle. I pray to God that faire mote she falle,

And alle that loven floures, for hire sake!

‘The Legend of Good Women’ ‘The Prologue’ l. 183

And she was fayr as is the rose in May.

‘The Legend of Good Women’ ‘Cleopatra’ l. 613

That lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne, Th’ assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge.

‘The Parliament of Fowls’ l. 1.

Thou shalt make castels thanne in Spayne And dreme of joye, all but in vayne.

‘The Romaunt of the Rose’ l. 2573

For it is seyd, ‘Man maketh ofte a yerde With which the maker is hymself ybeten In sondry manere.’

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 1, l. 740

But love a womman that she woot it nought, And she wol quyte it that show shalt nat fele; Unknowe, unkist, and lost, that is unsought.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 1, l. 807

O wynd, O wynd, the weder gynneth clere.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 2, l. 2

So longe mote ye lyve, and alle proude, Til crowes feet be growe under youre yë.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 2, l. 402

And we shall speek of the somwhat, I trowe, Whan thow art gon, to don thyn eris glowe!

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 2, l. 1021

It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 3, l. 764

For I have seyn of a ful misty morwe Folowen ful ofte a myrie someris day.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 3, l. 1060

Right as an aspes leef she gan to quake.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 3, l. 1200

With sownes ful of hevenyssh melodie.

And down from thennes faste he gan avyse This litel spot of erthe, that with the se Embraced is, and fully gan despise

This wrecched world, and held al vanite To respect of the pleyn felicite

That is in hevene above.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 5, l. 1807

O yonge, fresshe folkes, he or she,

In which that love up groweth with youre age, Repeyreth hom fro worldly vanyte,

And of youre herte up casteth the visage To thilke God that after his ymage

Yow made, and thynketh al nys but a faire, This world that passeth soone as floures faire.

And loveth hym the which that right for love Upon a crois, our soules for to beye,

First start, and roos, and sit in hevene above; For he nyl falsen no wight, dar I seye,

That wol his herte al holly on hym leye. And syn he best to love is, and most meke, What nedeth feynede loves for to seke?

Lo here, of payens corsed olde rites!

Lo here, what alle hire goddes may availle! Lo here, thise wrecched worldes appetites! Lo here, the fyn and guerdoun for travaille

Of Jove, Appollo, of Mars, of swich rascaille!

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 5, l. 1835

O moral Gower, this book I directe To the.

‘Troilus and Criseyde’ bk. 5, l. 1856

Flee fro the prees, and dwelle with sothfastnesse.

‘Truth: Balade de Bon Conseyle’ l. 1

Forth, pilgrim, forth! Forth, beste, out of thy stal! Know thy contree, look up, thank God of al; Hold the heye wey, and lat thy gost thee lede, And trowth thee shal delivere, it is no drede.

‘Truth: Balade de Bon Conseyle’ l. 18

3.84 Anton Chekhov 1860-1904

When a lot of remedies are suggested for a disease, that means it can’t be cured.

‘The Cherry Orchard’ (1904) act 2

Great God in Heaven, the Cherry Orchard is now mine...I’ve bought the estate where my father and grandfather were slaves, where they weren’t even allowed inside the kitchen. I must be dreaming, I must be imagining it all.

‘The Cherry Orchard’ (1904) act 3

Medvedenko: Why do you wear black all the time? Masha: I’m in mourning for my life, I’m unhappy.

‘The Seagull’ (1896) act 1

Nina: Your play’s hard to act, there are no living people in it.

Treplev: Living people! We should show life neither as it is nor as it ought to be, but as we see it in our dreams.

‘The Seagull’ (1896) act 1

Women can’t forgive failure.

‘The Seagull’ (1896) act 2

Nina: I’m a seagull. No, that’s wrong. Remember you shot a seagull? A man happened to come along, saw it and killed it, just to pass the time. A plot for a short story.

‘The Seagull’ (1896) act 4

People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy. If I lived in Moscow I don’t think I’d care what the weather was like.

‘The Three Sisters’ (1901) act 2

Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he’s been given. But up to now he hasn’t been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life’s become extinct, the climate’s ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day.

‘Uncle Vanya’ (1897) act 1

A woman can become a man’s friend only in the following stages—first an acquaintance, next a mistress, and only then a friend.

‘Uncle Vanya’ (1897) act 2

When a woman isn’t beautiful, people always say, ‘You have lovely eyes, you have lovely hair.’

‘Uncle Vanya’ (1897) act 3

In Anna Karenina and Onegin not a single problem is solved, but they satisfy you completely just because all their problems are correctly presented. The court is obliged to submit the case fairly, but let the jury do the deciding, each according to its own judgement.

Letter to Alexei Suvorin, 27 October 1888, in L. Hellman (ed.) ‘Selected Letters of Anton Chekhov’ (1955, translated by S. Lederer)

It is necessary that on the stage everything should be as complex and simple as life. People are having dinner, and while they’re having it, their future happiness may be decided or their lives may be about to be shattered.

Letter to Alexei Suvorin, 4 May 1889

3.85Apsley Cherry-Garrard 1882-1959

See E. L. Atkinson (1.111)

3.86Lord Chesterfield (Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield) 1694-1773

Unlike my subject will I frame my song, It shall be witty and it sha’n’t be long.

Epigram on ‘Long’ Sir Thomas Robinson in the ‘Dictionary of National Biography’

The picture, placed the busts between, Gives satire all his strength:

Wisdom and Wit are little seen, But Folly at full length.

‘On Mr Nash’s Present of his own Picture at Full Length, fixed between the Busts of Mr Pope and Sir Is. Newton’

In scandal, as in robbery, the receiver is always thought as bad as the thief.

‘Advice to his Son’ (1775) ‘Rules for Conversation: Private Scandal’

In matters of religion and matrimony I never give any advice; because I will not have anybody’s torments in this world or the next laid to my charge.

‘Letters to Arthur Charles Stanhope, Esq.’ (1817) Letter to A. C. Stanhope, 12 October 1765

Religion is by no means a proper subject of conversation in a mixed company.

Letter 142 in the Earl of Carnarvon (ed.) ‘Letters...to his Godson and Successor’(1890)

Cunning is the dark sanctuary of incapacity.

Letter to his godson and heir, to be delivered after his own death, in the Earl of Carnarvon (ed.) ‘Letters...to his Godson and Successor’(1890)

In my opinion, parsons are very like men, and neither the better nor the worse for wearing a black gown.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 5 April 1746

The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 4 October 1746

An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 9 October 1746

Courts and camps are the only places to learn the world in.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 2 October 1747

Take the tone of the company that you are in.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 9 October 1747

Do as you would be done by is the surest method that I know of pleasing.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 16 October 1747

I recommend to you to take care of minutes: for hours will take care of themselves.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 6 November 1747.

Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the least.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 29 January 1748

Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 27 February 1748

Wear your learning, like your watch in a private pocket: and do not merely pull it out and strike it, merely to show that you have one.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 22 February 1748

In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 9 March 1748.

Women, then, are only children of a larger growth.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 5 September 1748.

It must be owned, that the Graces do not seem to be natives of Great Britain; and I doubt, the best of us here have more of rough than polished diamond.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 18 November 1748

Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 20 July 1749

Putting moral virtues at the highest, and religion at the lowest, religion must still be allowed to be a collateral security, at least, to virtue; and every prudent man will sooner trust to two securities than to one.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 8 January 1750

Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give lustre, and many more people see than weigh.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 8 May 1750

It is commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is the best test of truth.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) 6 February 1752.

The chapter of knowledge is very short, but the chapter of accidents is a very long one.

‘Letters to his Son’ (1774) Letter to Solomon Dayrolles, 16 February 1753

I...could not help reflecting in my way upon the singular ill-luck of this my dear country, which, as long as ever I remember it, and as far back as I have read, has always been governed by the only two or three people, out of two or three millions, totally incapable of governing, and unfit to be trusted.

M. Maty (ed.) ‘Miscellaneous Works’ (1777) vol. 2 ‘Miscellaneous Pieces’ no. 45 (first published in ‘The World’ 7 October 1756)

Tyrawley and I have been dead these two years; but we don’t choose to have it known.

In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1934) (3 April 1773)

Give Dayrolles a chair.

Last words, in W. H. Craig ‘Life of Lord Chesterfield’ (1907) p. 343

3.87 G. K. Chesterton 1874-1936