Author Archive

Oh, when shall Britain, conscious of her claim, Stand emulous of Greek and Roman fame? In living medals see her wars enroll’d, And vanquished realms supply recording gold? Alexander Pope, Moral Essays, Epistle to Addison, line 53 Favorite0

[King Edward] was careful not to tear England violently from the splendid isolation in which she had wrapped herself. Poincaré, speech at Cannes (April 13, 1912). Favorite0

Not only England, but every Englishman is an island. [Non seulement l’Angleterre, mais chaque Anglais est une ile.] Novalis, Fragments (1799). Favorite0

Whether splendidly isolated or dangerously isolated, I will not now debate; but for my part, I think splendidly isolated, because this isolation of England comes from her superiority. Sir Wilfred Laurier, speech in the Canadian House of Assembly (Feb. 5, 1896) Favorite0

The English race is the best at weeping and the worst at laughing. (The English take their pleasures sadly). [Anglica gens est optima flens et pessima ridens.] Thomas Hearne, Reliquiæ Hearnianæ (Ed. 1857), Volume I, p. 136. (Source referred to Chamberlayne, Anglicæ Notitia (1669). From old Latin saying quoted in Kornmannus, De

We have stood alone in that which is called isolation—our splendid isolation, as one of our Colonial friends was good enough to call it. Lord Goschen, speech at Lewes (Feb. 26, 1896). Favorite0

They [the English] amuse themselves sadly as is the custom of their country. [Ils s’amusaient tristement selon la coutume de leur pays.] Attributed to Froissart. Not found in his works. Same in Duc de Sully’s Memoirs (1630). (“l’usage” instead of “coutume.”) See Emerson—English Traits, Chapter VIII. Hazlitt—Sketches and Essays. Merry England. (“se

In England there are sixty different religions, and only one sauce. [Il y a en Angleterre soizante sectes religieuses différentes, et une seule sauce.] Marquis Caraccioli Favorite0

It was part of war; men died, more would die, that was past, and what mattered now was the business in hand; those who lived would get on with it. Whatever sorrow was felt, there was no point in talking or brooding about it, much less in making, for form’s sake, a

Depression is not sobbing and crying and giving vent, it is plain and simple reduction of feeling… People who keep stiff upper lips find that it’s damn hard to smile. Judith Guest Favorite0