Quotes

Quotes

Quotes to inspire and reflect

William Cowper
William Cowper

I am monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute;

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William Cowper
William Cowper

I would not enter on my list of friends

(Tho’ graced with polished manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man

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William Cowper
William Cowper

Wisdom in minds attentive to their own.

The Task (1785) bk. 6 ‘The Winter Walk at Noon’ l. 89

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William Cowper
William Cowper

Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;

Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

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William Cowper
William Cowper
Knowledge dwells
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William Cowper
William Cowper
In heads replete with thoughts of other men;
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William Cowper
William Cowper

I was a stricken deer, that left the herd

Long since.

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William Cowper
William Cowper

And, while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn

Throws up a steamy column, and the cups,

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William Cowper
William Cowper

England, with all thy faults, I love thee still—

My country!

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William Cowper
William Cowper

Slaves cannot breathe in England, if their lungs

Receive our air, that moment they are free;

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William Cowper
William Cowper

Remorse, the fatal egg by pleasure laid.

‘The Progress of Error’ (1782) l. 239

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William Cowper
William Cowper

Philologists, who chase

A panting syllable through time and space,

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William Cowper
William Cowper

Toll for the brave—

The brave! that are no more:

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William Cowper
William Cowper

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

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William Cowper
William Cowper

My sister and my sister’s child,

Myself and children three,

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William Cowper
William Cowper

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

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William Cowper
William Cowper

John Gilpin was a citizen

Of credit and renown,

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William Cowper
William Cowper

We perished, each alone:

But I beneath a rougher sea,

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Just say the lines and don’t trip over the furniture.

advice on acting

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Television is for appearing on, not looking at.

D. Richards The Wit of Noël Coward (1968)

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Extraordinary how potent cheap music is.

Private Lives (1930) act 1

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs.

Private Lives (1930) act 3

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Very flat, Norfolk.

Private Lives (1930) act 1

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Poor little rich girl.

title of song (1925)

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Don’t put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington,

Don’t put your daughter on the stage.

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Mad dogs and Englishmen

Go out in the midday sun.

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

The most I’ve had is just

A talent to amuse.

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Mad about the boy.

title of song (1932)

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Noël Coward
Noël Coward

Don’t let’s be beastly to the Germans When our Victory is ultimately won.

‘Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans’ (1943 song)

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Frances Cornford
Frances Cornford

That branch of the art of lying which consists in very nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies.

of propaganda

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Frances Cornford
Frances Cornford

Every public action, which is not customary, either is wrong, or, if it is right, is a dangerous precedent. It follows that nothing should ever be done for the first time.

Microcosmographia Academica (1908) ch. 7

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Frances Cornford
Frances Cornford

O fat white woman whom nobody loves,

Why do you walk through the fields in gloves …

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Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille

Do your duty, and leave the outcome to the Gods.

Horace (1640) act 2, sc. 8

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Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille

A first impulse was never a crime.

Horace (1640) act 5, sc. 3; see Montrond 243:10

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

A belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

Under Western Eyes (1911) pt. 2, ch. 4

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Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille

When there is no peril in the fight, there is no glory in the triumph.

Le Cid (1637) act 2, sc. 2

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art, as of life.

Some Reminiscences (1912) ch. 1

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

The terrorist and the policeman both come from the same basket.

The Secret Agent (1907) ch. 4

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

My task which I am trying to achieve is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see. That—and no more, and it is everything.

The Nigger of the Narcissus (1897) preface

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

Mistah Kurtz—he dead.

Heart of Darkness (1902) ch. 3

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

Exterminate all the brutes!

Heart of Darkness (1902) ch. 2

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

The horror! The horror!

Heart of Darkness (1902) ch. 3

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it.

Heart of Darkness (1902) ch. 1

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Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad

We live, as we dream—alone.

Heart of Darkness (1902) ch. 1

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William Congreve
William Congreve

These articles subscribed, if I continue to endure you a little longer, I may by degrees dwindle into a wife.

The Way of the World (1700) act 4, sc. 5

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William Congreve
William Congreve

I confess freely to you, I could never look long upon a monkey, without very mortifying reflections.

letter to John Dennis, 10 July 1695

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William Congreve
William Congreve

They come together like the Coroner’s Inquest, to sit upon the murdered reputations of the week.

The Way of the World (1700) act 1, sc. 1

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William Congreve
William Congreve

Say what you will, ’tis better to be left than never to have been loved.

The Way of the World (1700) act 2, sc. 1; see Tennyson 332:29

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