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The Oxford Dictionary of QuotationsPreface
What is a “quotation”? It is a saying or piece of writing that strikes people as so true or
memorable that they quote it (or allude to it) in speech or writing. Often they will quote it
directly, introducing it with a phrase like “As——says” but equally often they will assume that
the reader or listener already knows the quotation, and they will simply allude to it without
mentioning its source (as in the headline “A rosè is a rosè is a rosè,” referring obliquely to a line
by Gertrude Stein).
This dictionary has been compiled from extensive evidence of the quotations that are actually
used in this way. The dictionary includes the commonest quotations which were found in a
collection of more than 200,000 citations assembled by combing books, magazines, and
newspapers. For example, our collections contained more than thirty examples each for Edward
Heath’s “unacceptable face of capitalism” and Marshal McLuhan’s “The medium is the
message,” so both these quotations had to be included.
As a result, this book is not—like many quotations dictionaries—a subjective anthology of the
editor’s favourite quotations, but an objective selection of the quotations which are most widely
known and used. Popularity and familiarity are the main criteria for inclusion, although no reader
is likely to be familiar with all the quotations in this dictionary.
The book can be used for reference or for browsing: to trace the source of a particular
quotation or to find an appropriate saying for a special need.
The quotations are drawn from novels, plays, poems, essays, speeches, films radio and
television broadcasts, songs, advertisements, and even book titles. It is difficult to draw the line
between quotations and similar sayings like proverbs, catch-phrases, and idioms. For example,
some quotations (like “The opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings”) become proverbial. These are
usually included if they can be traced to a particular originator. However, we have generally
omitted phrases like “agonizing reappraisal” which are covered adequately in the Oxford English
Dictionary. Catch-phrases are included if there is evidence that they are widely remembered or
used.
We have taken care to verify all the quotations in original or authoritative sources—something
which few other quotations dictionaries have tried to do. We have corrected many errors found in
other dictionaries, and we have traced the true origins of such phrases as “There ain’t no such
thing as a free lunch” and “Shaken and not stirred.”
The quotations are arranged in alphabetical order of authors, with anonymous quotations in the
,middle of “A.” Under each author, the quotations are arranged in alphabetical order of their first
words. Foreign quotations are, wherever possible, given in the original language as well as in
translation. Authors are cited under the names by which they are best known: for example,
Graham Greene (not Henry Graham Greene); F. Scott Fitzgerald (not Francis Scott Key
Fitzgerald); George Orwell (not Eric Blair); W. C. Fields (not William Claude Dukenfield).
Authors’ dates of birth and death are given when ascertainable. The actual writers of the words
are credited for quotations from songs, film-scripts, etc.
The references after each quotation are designed to be as helpful as possible, enabling the
reader to trace quotations in their original sources if desired.
The index (1) has been carefully prepared—with ingenious computer assistance—to help the
reader to trace quotations from their most important keywords. Each reference includes not only
the page and the number of the quotation on the page but also the first few letters of the author’s
name. The index includes references to book-titles which have become well known as quotations
in their own right.
This dictionary could not have been compiled without the work of many people, most notably
Paula Clifford, Angela Partington, Fiona Mullan, Penelope Newsome, Julia Cresswell, Michael
McKinley, Charles McCreery, Heidi Abbey, Jean Harder, Elizabeth Knowles, George
Chowdharay-Best, Tracey Ward, and Ernest Trehern. I am also very grateful to the OUP
Dictionary Department’s team of checkers, who verified the quotations at libraries in Oxford,
London, Washington, New York, and elsewhere. James Howes deserves credit for his work in
computerizing the index.
The Editor is responsible for any errors, which he will be grateful to have drawn to his
attention. As the quotation from Simeon Strunsky reminds us, “Famous remarks are very seldom
quoted correctly,” but we have endeavoured to make this book more accurate, authoritative, and
helpful than any other dictionary of modern quotations.
TONY AUGARDE
(1) Discussions of the index features in this preface and in the “How to Use this Dictionary”
section of this book refer to the hard-copy edition. No index has been included in this soft-copy
edition. See “Notices” in topic NOTICES for additional information about this soft-copy edition.
How to Use this Dictionary
HOW TO.1 General Principles
The arrangement is alphabetical by the names of authors: usually the names by which each
person is best known. So look under Maya Angelou, not Maya Johnson; Princess Anne, not HRH
The Princess Royal; Lord Beaverbrook, not William Maxwell Aitken; Irving Berlin, not Israel
Balin; Greta Garbo, not Greta Lovisa Gustafsson,
Anonymous quotations are all together, starting in “Anonymous” in topic 1.68 They are
arranged in alphabetical order of their first significant word.
, Under each author, quotations are arranged by the alphabetical order of the titles of the works
from which they come, even if those works were not written by the person who is being quoted.
Poems are usually cited from the first book in which they appeared.
Quotations by foreign authors are, where possible, given in the original language and also in an
English translation.
A reference is given after each quotation to its original source or to an authoritative record of
its use. The reference usually consists of either (a) a book-title with its date of publication and a
reference to where the quotation occurs in the book; or (b) the title of a newspaper or magazine
with its date of publication. The reference is preceded by “In” if the quotation comes from a
secondary source: for example if a writer is quoted by another author in a newspaper article, or if
a book refers to a saying but does not indicate where or when it was made.
HOW TO.2 Examples
Here are some typical entries, with notes to clarify the meaning of each part.
Charlie Chaplin (Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin) 1889-1977
All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.
‘My Autobiography’ (1964) ch. 10
Charlie Chaplin is the name by which this person is best known but Sir Charles Spencer
Chaplin is the name which would appear in reference books such as Who’s Who. Charlie Chaplin
was born in 1889 and died in 1977. The quotation comes from the tenth chapter of Chaplin’s
autobiography, which was published in 1964.
Martin Luther King 1929-1968
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Letter from Birmingham Jail, Alabama, 16 Apr. 1963, in ‘Atlantic Monthly’ Aug. 1963, p. 78
Martin Luther King wrote these words in a letter that he sent from Birmingham Jail on 16
April 1963. The letter was published later that year on page 78 of the August issue of the Atlanta
Monthly.
Dorothy Parker 1893-1967
One more drink and I’d have been under the host.
In Howard Teichmann ‘George S. Kaufman’ (1972) p. 68
Dorothy Parker must have said this before she died in 1967 but the earliest reliable source we
can find is a 1972 book by Howard Teichmann. “In” signals the fact that the quotation is cited
from a secondary source.
HOW TO.3 Index
If you remember part of a quotation and want to know the rest of it, or who said it, you can
trace it by means of the index (1). The index lists the most significant words from each quotation.
These keywords are listed alphabetically in the index, each with a section of the text to show the
, context of every keyword. These sections are listed in strict alphabetical order under each
keyword. Foreign keywords are included in their alphabetical place. The references show the first
few letters of the author’s name, followed by the page and item numbers (e.g. 163:15 refers to the
fifteenth quotation on page 163).
As an example, suppose that you want to verify a quotation which you remember contains the
line “to purify the dialect of the tribe.” If you decide that tribe is a significant word and refer to it
in the index, you will find this entry:
tribe: To purify the dialect of the t. ELIOT 74:19
This will lead you to the poem by T. S. Eliot which is the nineteenth quotation on page 74.
Table of Contents
Preface
How to Use this Dictionary
HOW TO.1 General Principles
HOW TO.2 Examples
HOW TO.3 Index
Table of Contents
1.0 A
1.1 Peter Abelard 1079-1142
1.2 Dannie Abse 1923—
1.3 Accius 170-c.86 B.C.
1.4 Goodman Ace 1899-1982
1.5 Dean Acheson 1893-1971
1.6 Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dahlberg, first Baron Acton) 1834-1902
1.7 Abigail Adams 1744-1818
1.8 Charles Francis Adams 1807-86
1.9 Douglas Adams 1952—
1.10 Frank Adams and Will M. Hough
1.11 Franklin P. Adams 1881-1960
1.12 Henry Brooks Adams 1838-1918
1.13 John Adams 1735-1826
1.14 John Quincy Adams 1767-1848
1.15 Samuel Adams 1722-1803
1.16 Sarah Flower Adams 1805-48
1.17 Harold Adamson 1906-80
1.18 Joseph Addison 1672-1719
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