Quotes Archive

Good ale, the true and proper drink of Englishmen. He is not deserving of the name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is good ale. George Borrow, Lavengro, 1851 Favorite0

Whenever I think of Hell I cannot visualise it as a place of eternal fire, but as one of your English industrial towns on a day when the rain is pattering on the slate roofs and the wind is moaning up the street; a place where the horizon is bounded by dark

We were wrong to believe that the British are our friends. You are obsessed solely with your own selfish interests and treat us as a people beyond the pale. But your attitude is a matter of profound disinterest. Your democratic system has already erupted into chaos. We shall soon overtake you and

When Britain first, at heaven’s command, Arose from out of the azure main, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain: “Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves.” James Thomson, Alfred: a Masque, II, V. Favorite0

I think what is British about me is my feelings and awareness of others and their situations. English people are always known to be well mannered and cold but we are not cold—we don’t interfere in your situation. If we are heartbroken, we don’t scream in your face with tears—we go home

FIRST CLOWN: He that is mad, and sent to England. HAMLET: Ay, marry; why was he sent to England? FIRST CLOWN: Why, because he was mad; he shall recover his wits there; or, if he do not, ’tis no great matter there. HAMLET: Why? FIRST CLOWN: ’Twill not be seen in him

Gorgonised me from head to foot, With a stony British stare. Lord Tennyson (1809-92), English poet. Maud, pt. I, set. 13, st. 2. Favorite0

There’s nothing the British like better than a bloke who comes from nowhere, makes it, and then gets clobbered. Melvyn Bragg (b. 1939), British broadcaster, author. Quoted in: Cuardian (London, 23 Sept. 1 988), referring to actor Richard Burton. Favorite0

Think of what our Nation stands for, Books from Boots’ and country lanes, Free speech, free passes, class distinction, Democracy and proper drains. John Betjeman (1906-84), British poet. In Westminster Abbey, St. 4 (published in Old Lights for New Chancels, 1 940). Favorite0

Britain today is suffering from galloping obsolescence. Tony Benn (b. 1925), British Labour politician. Speech, 31 Jan. 1963. Favorite0