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Daily Inspiration Quote by Bette Midler

"When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London"

About this Quote

A throwaway time-zone gag becomes, in Bette Midler's hands, a sly little portrait of old-world stiffness. The joke rides on deliberate exaggeration: London isn’t just five hours behind New York, it’s decades behind. That leap from clock-time to cultural time is the engine here, turning a mundane fact into a jab at tradition, etiquette, and the idea of a city that moves at the speed of its own manners.

Midler’s intent is less geography than vibe. New York stands in for modernity: loud, fast, improvisational, always auditioning for the next thing. London becomes the foil: buttoned-up, ceremonious, still living under the long shadow of empire and class. “1938” is doing sharp work. It’s not a random antique date; it’s the eve of rupture, when Europe was poised between denial and disaster. Dropping that year loads the punchline with a faint sense of “stuckness,” a society clinging to normalcy right before history forces the issue.

As an actress and pop-cultural force, Midler deploys an easy, stage-ready one-liner that flatters American speed while teasing British reserve. The subtext is affectionate but pointed: there’s comfort in London’s continuity, but it can look like inertia from the outside. It’s the kind of line that lands because it turns cultural stereotype into a crisp, memorable image - time itself as attitude.

Quote Details

TopicWitty One-Liners
Source
Later attribution: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into New York (Bathroom Readers' Institute, 2012) modern compilationISBN: 9781607106517 · ID: IilZDwAAQBAJ
Text match: 95.00%   Provider: Google Books
Evidence:
... When it's three o'clock in New York , it's still 1938 in London . " -Bette Midler " The city is not a concrete jungle , it is a human zoo . " -Desmond Morris " One belongs to New York instantly , one belongs to it as much in five ...
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Midler, Bette. (2026, February 8). When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-its-three-oclock-in-new-york-its-still-1938-43515/

Chicago Style
Midler, Bette. "When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London." FixQuotes. February 8, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-its-three-oclock-in-new-york-its-still-1938-43515/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London." FixQuotes, 8 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-its-three-oclock-in-new-york-its-still-1938-43515/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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When it is three o clock in New York it is still 1938 in London
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About the Author

Bette Midler

Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945) is a Actress from USA.

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