Quotes by British/United Kingdom authors (page 4)

"Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides"

Margaret Thatcher, Leader

"A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us"

Margaret Thatcher, Leader

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by"

Douglas Adams, Writer

"I don't believe it. Prove it to me and I still won't believe it"

Douglas Adams, Writer

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen"

Douglas Adams, Writer

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools"

Douglas Adams, Writer

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair"

Douglas Adams, Writer

"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"

Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

"Human judges can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal"

Arthur C. Clarke, Writer

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean"

Arthur C. Clarke, Writer

"The truest characters of ignorance are vanity and pride and arrogance"

Samuel Butler, Poet

"I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy"

Samuel Butler, Poet

"There is no such thing as darkness; only a failure to see"

Malcolm Muggeridge, Journalist

"A central claim of the Bush administration's foreign policy is that the spread of democracy in the Middle East is the cure for terrorism"

Timothy Garton Ash, Author

"Developments in information technology and globalised media mean that the most powerful military in the history of the world can lose a war, not on the battlefield of dust and blood, but on the battlefield of world opinion"

Timothy Garton Ash, Author

"My hope is that people will be repulsed by the character's complete lack of ethics and obsession with consumerism - that's what I was saying about the difference between the character's message and the film's message"

Christian Bale, Actor

"Suddenly, as rare things will, it vanished"

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Poet

"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame"

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Poet

"I want to paint big, bright, optimistic pictures of the place I love"

John Dyer, Artist

"Men will die upon dogma but will not fall victim to a conclusion"

John Henry Newman, Clergyman

"All civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution"

Henry Ellis, Psychologist

"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks"

Lord Acton, Historian

"It is a curious thing... that every creed promises a paradise which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilized taste"

Evelyn Waugh, Author

"The best scheme of Phonetics is a stiff uncertain thing"

Thomas Edward Brown, Poet

"A man is literally what he thinks"

James Allen, Author

"Truth, like the burgeoning of a bulb under the soil, however deeply sown, will make its way to the light"

Ellis Peters, Author

"The early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese"

Jeremy Paxman, Journalist

"There is no cannibalism in the British navy, absolutely none, and when I say none, I mean there is a certain amount"

Graham Chapman, Comedian

"Poetry is of so subtle a spirit, that in the pouring out of one language into another it will evaporate"

John Denham, Politician

"The mouse that hath but one hole is quickly taken"

George Herbert, Poet

"He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea"

George Herbert, Poet

"It is well known that Beauty does not look with a good grace on the timid advances of Humour"

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

"You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences"

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

"There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless"

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

"The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress"

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

"Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five"

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

"Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's a mistake to make a habit out of it"

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

"Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor"

Benjamin Disraeli, Statesman

"The right honourable gentleman caught the Whigs bathing, and walked away with their clothes. He has left them in the full enjoyment of their liberal positions, and he is himself a strict conservative of their garments"

Benjamin Disraeli, Statesman

"Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power"

Benjamin Disraeli, Statesman

Page 4 of 260

Quotes by British authors