Lyricists

"A popular speaker, however unpopular and insignificant, has only to wind up his speech with half-a-dozen lines of Shakespeare (and to make it clearly understood that they are Shakespeare's) and he will sit down amid thunders of applause."

"So I fell in love with a rich attorney's Elderly, ugly daughter."

"She may very well pass for forty three In the dusk with the light behind her."

"But I submit, my lord, with all submission, To marry two at once is Burglaree!"

"Oh! my name is John Wellington Wells, I'm a dealer in magic and spells, In blessings and curses And ever-filled purses, In prophecies, witches, and knells. If you want a proud foe to "make tracks"— If you'd melt a rich uncle in wax— You've but to look in On our resident Djinn, Number seventy, Simmery Axe!"

"Or you or I must yield up his life to Ahrimanes. I would rather it were you."

"From such a face and form as mine, the noblest sentiments sound like the black utterances of a depraved imagination! It's human nature! I'm resigned."

"What, never? / No, never! / What, never? / Well, hardly ever!"

"Things are seldom what they seem; Skim milk masquerades as cream."

"Now landsmen all, whoever you may be, If you want to rise to the top of the tree, If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool, Be careful to be guided by this golden rule— Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, And you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navee."

"I am the monarch of the sea, The Ruler of the Queen's Navee, Whose praise Great Britain loudly chants And we are his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts!"

"When I was a lad I served a term As office boy to an attorney's firm. I cleaned the wndows and I swept the floor, And I polished up the handle of the big front door. I polished up that handle so carefullee That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!"

"In spite of all temptations To belong to other nations, He remains an Englishman!"

"The last three ships we took proved to be manned entirely by orphans, and so we had to let them go. One would think that Great Britain’s mercantile navy was recruited solely from her orphan asylums – which we know is not the case."

"When your process of extermination begins, let our deaths be as swift and painless as you can conveniently make them."

"No, Frederic, it cannot be. I don’t think much of our profession, but, contrasted with respectability, it is comparatively honest."

"Against our wills, papa—against our wills!"

"Exactly – you said "often" ('frequently') only once."

"Oh, dry the glistening tear That dews that martial cheek; Thy loving children hear, In them thy comfort seek. With sympathetic care Their arms around thee creep, For oh, they cannot bear To see their father weep!"

"Yes, but you don't go!"

"If you want a receipt for that popular mystery, Known to the world as a Heavy Dragoon - Take all the remarkable people in history, Rattle them off to a popular tune!"

"Art stopped short at the cultivated court of the Empress Josephine."

"Then a sentimental passion of a vegetable fashion must excite your languid spleen, An attachment à la Plato for a bashful young potato, or a not-too-French French bean! Though the Philistines may jostle, you will rank as an apostle in the high aesthetic band, If you walk down Piccadilly with a poppy or a lily in your medieval hand."

"Yes, I am the Apostle of Simplicity. I am called Archibald the All-Right, for I am infallible."

"Archibald: To understand this, it is not necessary to think of anything at all. Saphir: Let us think of nothing at all!"

"I know what love is. There was a happy time when I didn't, but bitter experience has taught me."

"A pallid and thin young man, A haggard and lank young man, A greenery-yallery, Grosvenor Gallery, Foot-in-the-grave young man!"

"The Law is the true embodiment Of everything that’s excellent. It has no kind of fault or flaw, And I, my Lords, embody the Law."

"The House of Peers, thoughout the war Did nothing in particular And did it very well."

"Never, never, never, Faint heart never won fair lady! Nothing venture, nothing win – Blood is thick, but water’s thin – In for a penny, in for a pound – It's Love that makes the world go round!"

"I can tell a woman's age in half a minute — and I do!"

"...Darwinian Man, though well-behav’d, At best is only a monkey shav’d!"

"Man is nature's sole mistake."

"Ah pray, make no mistake, we are not shy; We're very wide awake, The moon and I!"

"I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, of pre-Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell you that I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule. Consequently, my family pride is something inconceivable. I can’t help it. I was born sneering."

"No money, no grovel! (Actually an ad-lib introduced by Rutland Barrington when playing the rôle of Pooh-Bah, to the annoyance of Gilbert.)"

"…in the first place, self decapitation is an extremely difficult, not to say dangerous, thing to attempt; and, in the second, it’s suicide, and suicide is a capital offence."

"Pooh Bah: This professional conscientiousness is highly creditable to you, but it places us in a very awkward position. Koko: My good sir, the awkwardness of your position is grace itself compared with that of a man engaged in the act of cutting off his own head."

"To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock, Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock, From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!"

"[Koko is negotiating the terms by which he can behead Nanki-Poo in his place, and they involve letting the latter be married to his fiance until he is executed] Koko: But my position during the next month will be most unpleasant, most unpleasant! Nanki-Poo: Not nearly so unpleasant as mine at the end of it."

"I have a left shoulder-blade that is a miracle of loveliness. People come miles to see it. My right elbow has a fascination that few can resist."

"Ko-Ko: Well, a nice mess you've got us into, with your nodding head and the deference due to a man of pedigree! Pooh-Ba: Merely corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative."

"...but it's an unjust world, and virtue is triumphant only in theatrical performances."

"The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, All centuries but this and every country but his own."

"As someday it may happen that a victim must be found I've got a little list, I've got a little list Of society offenders who might well be underground, And who never would be missed—who never would be missed!"

"My object all sublime I shall achieve in time— To let the punishment fit the crime, The punishment fit the crime."

"I know a youth who loves a little maid— (Hey, but his face is a sight for to see!) Silent is he, for he's modest and afraid (Hey, but he's timid as a youth can be!)"

"Some word that teems with hidden meaning, like "Basingstoke". It might recall me to my saner self. For, after all, I am only Mad Margaret! Daft Meg! Poor Meg! He! he! he!"

"My eyes are fully open to my awful situation, I shall go at once to Roderic and make him an oration, I shall tell him I've recovered my forgotten moral senses, and I don't care tuppence ha'penny for any consequences. Now I do not want to perish by the sword or by the dagger, but a martyr may indulge a little pardonable swagger And a word or two of compliment my vanity would flatter, but I've got to die to-morrow, so it really doesn't matter!"

"When maiden loves, she sits and sighs, She wanders to and fro - Unbidden tear-drops fill her eyes, And to all questions she replies With a sad "heigh ho!""

"Heigh-dy! Heigh-dy! Misery me, lack-a-day-dee! He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb, As he sighed for the love of a ladye!"

"I've jibe and joke, And quip and crank, For lowly folk And men of rank."

"Is life a boon? If so it must befall That death when e're he call Must call too soon."

"I should have preferred to ride through the streets of Venice; but owing, I presume, to an unusually wet season, the streets are in such a condition that equestrian exercise is impractical."

"In enterprise of martial kind, When there was any fighting, He led his regiment from behind— He found it less exciting."

"One of you may be Baptisto's son, for anything I know to the contrary; but the other is no less a personage than the only son of the late King of Barataria. ... And I trust — I trust it was that one who slapped me on the shoulder and called me his man!"

"Of that there is no manner of doubt— No probable, possible shadow of doubt— No possible doubt whatever."

"Oh, philosophers may sing Of the troubles of a King, But of pleasures there are many and of worries there are none; And the culminating pleasure That we treasure beyond measure Is the gratifying feeling that our duty has been done."

"The end is easily foretold, When every blessed thing you hold Is made of silver, or of gold, You long for simple pewter. When you have nothing else to wear But cloth of gold and satins rare, For cloth of gold you cease to care— Up goes the price of shoddy. In short, whoever you may be, To this conclusion you'll agree, When everyone is somebodee, Then no one's anybody!"

"There's a little group of isles beyond the wave, So tiny you might almost wonder where it is— That nation is the bravest of the brave, And cowards are the rarest of all rarities. The proudest nations kneel at her command, She terrifies all foreign-born rap-scallions; And holds the peace of Europe in her hand With half a score invincible battalions."

"By doing so, we shall, in course of time, Regenerate completely our entire land— Great Britain is that monarchy sublime, To which some add (but others do not) Ireland."

"You have a daughter, Captain Reese, Ten female cousins and a niece, A ma, if what I'm told is true, Six sisters and an aunt or two. Now, somehow, Sir, it seems to me, More friendly-like we all should be If you united of them to Unmarried members of the crew."

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold And the mate of the Nancy brig, And a bo'sun tight and a midshipmite And the crew of the captain's gig."

"Roll on, thou ball, roll on Through pathless realms of space, Roll on!"

"It's true I've got no shirts to wear, It's true my butcher's bill is due, It's true my prospects all look blue, But don't let that unsettle you! Never you mind! Roll on! (It rolls on.)"

"He is an Englishman! For he himself has said it, And it's greatly to his credit, That he is an Englishman!. For he might have been a Rooshian A French or Turk or Proosian, Or perhaps Itali-an. But in spite of all temptations To belong to other nations, He remains an Englishman."

"I love my fellow-creatures, I do all the good I can, Yet everybody says I'm such a disagreeable man And I can't think why!"

"Ah, take one consideration with another A policeman's lot is not a happy one!"

"Bad language or abuse I never, never use, Whatever the emergency; Though "Bother it" I may Occasionally say, I never use a big, big D-"

"On a tree by a river a little tomtit Sang "Willow, titwillow, titwillow" And I said to him, "Dicky-bird, why do you sit Singing ‘Willow, titwillow, titwillow?'. "Is it weakness of intellect, birdie?" I cried, "Or a rather tough worm in your little inside?" With a shake of his poor little head he replied, "Oh, Willow, titwillow, titwillow!""

"Life's a pudding full of plums; Care's a canker that benumbs, Wherefore waste our elocution On impossible solution? Life's a pleasant institution, Let us take it as it comes!"

"As innocent as a new-laid egg."

"Gin a body meet a body Comin thro' the rye, Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body cry?"

"Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie, O what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi' bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, Wi' murd'ring pattle!"

"I'm truly sorry Man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle, At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal!"

"The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley; And leave us naught but grief and pain For promised joy."

"O L--d thou kens what zeal I bear, When drinkers drink, and swearers swear, And singin' there, and dancin' here, Wi' great an' sma'; For I am keepet by thy fear, Free frae them a'. But yet—O L--d—confess I must— At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust... O L--d—yestreen thou kens—wi' Meg— Thy pardon I sincerely beg! O may 't ne'er be a living plague, To my dishonour! And I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg Again upon her."

"All in this mottie, misty clime, I backward mus'd on wasted time, How I had spent my youthfu' prime An' done nae-thing, But stringing blethers up to rhyme For fools to sing."

"When chill November's surly blast Made fields and forests bare."

"Nature's law, That man was made to mourn."

"Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn."

"O Death! the poor man's dearest friend, The kindest and the best!"

"Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire, That's a' the learning I desire."

"For thus the royal mandate ran, When first the human race began, "The social, friendly, honest man, Whate'er he be, 'Tis he fulfills great Nature's plan, And none but he!""

"On ev'ry hand it will allowed be, He's just—nae better than he should be."

"It's hardly in a body's pow'r, To keep, at times, frae being sour."

"Misled by fancy's meteor ray, By passion driven; But yet the light that led astray Was light from heaven."

"And like a passing thought, she fled In light away."

"His lockèd, lettered, braw brass collar Showed him the gentleman an' scholar."

"An' there began a lang digression About the lords o' the creation."

"Rejoiced they were na men, but dogs."

"O, wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, An' foolish notion. What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us An' ev'n Devotion"

"Wee, modest, crimson-tippèd flow'r, Thou's met me in an evil hour; For I maun crush amang the stoure Thy slender stem: To spare thee now is past my pow'r, Thou bonie gem."

"Stern Ruin's plowshare drives elate, Full on thy bloom."

"O thou! whatever title suit thee, Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie."

"Freedom and Whisky gang thegither."

"Perhaps it may turn out a sang: Perhaps turn out a sermon."

"I waive the quantum o' the sin, The hazard of concealing; But, Och! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling!"

"An atheist-laugh's a poor exchange For Deity offended!"

"What's done we partly may compute, But know not what's resisted."

"O Life! how pleasant is thy morning, Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning! Cold-pausing Caution's lesson scorning, We frisk away, Like schoolboys at th' expected warning, To joy and play."

"O life! thou art a galling load, Along a rough, a weary road, To wretches such as I!"

"Here, some are thinkin' on their sins, An' some upo' their claes."

"Leeze me on drink! it gi'es us mair Than either school or college."

"There's some are fou o' love divine; There's some are fou o' brandy."

"Just now I've taen the fit o' rhyme, My barmie noddle's working prime."

"Some rhyme a neebor's name to lash; Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu' cash; Some rhyme to court the countra clash, An' raise a din; For me, an aim I never fash; I rhyme for fun."

"An' fareweel dear, deluding woman, The joy of joys!"

"Green grow the rashes, O; Green grow the rashes, O; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend, Are spent amang the lasses, O."

"There's nought but care on ev'ry han', In every hour that passes, O: What signifies the life o' man, An 'twerna for the lasses, O."

"Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes, O: Her prentice han' she tried on man, An' then she made the lasses, O."

"Green grow the rashes, O; Green grow the rashes, O; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend Are spent among the lasses, O."

"Some books are lies frae end to end."

"I was na fou, but just had plenty."

"Some wee short hours ayont the twal."

"John Barleycorn got up again, And sore surprised them all."

"The heart benevolent and kind The most resembles God."

"Affliction's sons are brothers in distress; A brother to relieve,—how exquisite the bliss!"

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o' a grace As lang's my arm."

"Ye high, exalted, virtuous dames, Tied up in godly laces, Before ye gie poor Frailty names, Suppose a change o' cases: A dear-lov'd lad, convenience snug, A treach'rous inclination— But, let me whisper i' your lug, Ye're aiblins nae temptation. Then gently scan your brother man, Still gentler sister woman; Tho' they may gang a kennin wrang, To step aside is human."

"If naebody care for me, I'll care for naebody."

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o' auld lang syne?"

"We twa hae run about the braes, And pu'd the gowans fine."

"For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne!"

"Dweller in yon dungeon dark, Hangman of creation, mark! Who in widow weeds appears, Laden with unhonoured years, Noosing with care a bursting purse, Baited with many a deadly curse?"

"May coward shame distain his name, The wretch that dares not die!"

"A man may drink and no be drunk; A man may fight and no be slain; A man may kiss a bonnie lass, And aye be welcome back again."

"Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes, Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise. My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream, Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream."

"To make a happy fireside clime To weans and wife,— That is the true pathos and sublime Of human life."

"This day, Time winds th' exhausted chain, To run the twelvemonth's length again."

"The voice of Nature loudly cries, And many a message from the skies, That something in us never dies."

"Ay waukin, Oh, Waukin still and weary: Sleep I can get nane, For thinking on my Dearie."

"John Anderson my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonny brow was brent."

"Go fetch to me a pint o' wine, An' fill it in a silver tassie."

"The minister kiss'd the fiddler's wife, An' could na preach for thinkin' o't."

"It is the moon, I ken her horn, That's blinkin in the lift sae hie; She shines sae bright to wyle us hame, But by my sooth she'll wait a wee!"

"Some have meat and cannot eat, Some cannot eat that want it: But we have meat and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit."

"Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it; But we hae meat, and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit.<!--"

"When Nature her great masterpiece designed, And framed her last, best work, the human mind, Her eye intent on all the wondrous plan, She formed of various stuff the various Man."

"Suspense is worse than disappointment."

"While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things, The fate of empires and the fall of kings; While quacks of State must each produce his plan, And even children lisp the Rights of Man; Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention, The Rights of Woman merit some attention."

"She is a winsome wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a lo'esome wee thing, This sweet wee wife o' mine."

"The golden Hours on angel wings Flew o'er me and my Dearie; For dear to me as light and life Was my sweet Highland Mary."

"But, oh! fell death's untimely frost, That nipt my flower sae early."

"There's threesome reels, there's foursome reels, There's hornpipes and strathspeys, man, But the ae best dance ere came to the Land Was, the deil's awa wi' the Exciseman."

"What can a young lassie, what shall a young lassie, What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man?"

"O whistle, an' I'll come to you, my lad: O whistle, an' I'll come to you, my lad: Tho' father and mither should baith gae mad, O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad."

"O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad: Tho' father and mither and a' should gae mad."

"If there's a hole in a' your coats, I rede you tent it; A chield's aman you takin' notes, And faith he'll prent it."

"O Mary, at thy window be! It is the wished, the trysted hour."

"I've seen sae mony changefu' years, On earth I am a stranger grown: I wander in the ways of men, Alike unknowing and unknown."

"The wan moon sets behind the white wave, And time is setting with me, Oh."

"Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed Or to Victorie! Now's the day, and now's the hour; See the front o' battle lour! See approach proud Edward's power— Chains and slaverie!"

"Lay the proud usurpers low! Tyrants fall in every foe! Liberty's in every blow— Let us do or die!"

"The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The man's the gowd for a' that."

"Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord, Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that; Tho' hundreds worship at his word, He's but a coof for a' that: For a' that, an' a' that, His ribband, star, an' a' that: The man o' independent mind He looks an' laughs at a' that. A prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, an' a' that; But an honest man's aboon his might, Gude faith, he maunna fa' that! For a' that, an' a' that, Their dignities an' a' that; The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth, Are higher rank than a' that. Then let us pray that come it may, (As come it will for a' that,) That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth, Shall bear the gree, an' a' that. For a' that, an' a' that, It's coming yet for a' that, That Man to Man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that."

"Drumossie moor — Drumossie day — A waefu' day it was to me! For there I lost my father dear, My father dear, and brethren three."

"Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair, Whene'er I forgather wi' Sorrow and Care, I gie them a skelp, as they're creeping alang, Wi' a cog o' gude swats and an auld Scottish sang."

"'Tis sweeter for thee despairing Than aught in the world beside,—Jessy!"

"O, saw ye bonnie Leslie As she gaed o’er the border? She’s gane, like Alexander, To spread her conquests farther. To see her is to love her, And love but her forever; For nature made her what she is, And ne’er made sic anither!"

"O, gie me the lass that has acres o' charms, O, gie me the lass wi' the weel-stockit farms."

"Come, Firm Resolve, take thou the van, Thou stalk o' carl-hemp in man! And let us mind, faint heart ne'er wan A lady fair; Wha does the utmost that he can, Will whyles do mair."

"Good Lord, what is man! for as simple he looks, Do but try to develop his hooks and his crooks, With his depths and his shallows, his good and his evil, All in all he's a problem must puzzle the devil."

"Their sighan', cantan', grace-proud faces, Their three-mile prayers, and half-mile graces."

"There's death in the cup-so beware!"

"Don't let the awkward squad fire over me."

"We labour soon, we labour late, To feed the titled knave, man; And a' the comfort we're to get, Is that ayont the grave, man."

"What's a' your jargon o' your schools, Your Latin names for horns and stools? If honest Nature made you fools What sairs your grammars? Ye'd better taen up spades and shools Or knappin hammers. Gie' me ae spark o' Nature's fire! That's a' the learning I desire: Then, tho' I drudge thro' dub and mire At plough or cart, My muse, though homely in attire, May touch the heart."

"Th' expectant wee-things, toddlin, stacher through To meet their dad, wi flichterin noise and glee."

"Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new."

"They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright."

"Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale."

"The halesome parritch, chief o Scotia's food."

"The sire turns o'er, wi patriarchal grace, The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride."

"He wales a portion with judicious care; And "Let us worship God" he says, with solemn air."

"Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise, Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name."

"From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs, That makes her loved at home, revered abroad: Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, "An honest man's the noblest work of God.""

"The fear o' hell 's a hangman's whip To haud the wretch in order; But where ye feel your honour grip, Let that aye be your border."

"And may you better reck the rede, Than ever did the adviser!"

"A gaudy dress and gentle air May slightly touch the heart; But it's innocence and modesty that polished the dart."

"Oh, my Luve is like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June. O, my Luve is like the melodie, That's sweetly played in tune."

"Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair."

"Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary fu' o' care! Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird, That wantons thro' the flowering thorn! Thou minds me o' departed joys, Departed never to return."

"But my fause luver staw my rose, And left the thorn wi' me."

"Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure Thrill the deepest notes of woe."

"Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae farewell, alas, forever!"

"But to see her was to love her; Love but her, and love for ever. Had we never lov'd sae kindly, Had we never lov'd sae blindly, Never met—or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted."

"It was a' for our rightfu' King We left fair Scotland's strand."

"Now a' is done that men can do, And a' is done in vain."

"He turn'd him right and round about Upon the Irish shore; And gae his bridle reins a shake, With adieu forevermore, My dear— And adieu forevermore!"

"John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonie brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw, But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo!"

"My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer; A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe, My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go."

"Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North; The birth-place of valour, the country of worth."

"Where sits our sulky, sullen dame, Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm."

"Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet To think how monie counsels sweet, How monie lengthened, sage advices, The husband frae the wife despises!"

"The landlady and Tam grew gracious Wi' favours secret, sweet, and precious."

"The landlord's laugh was ready chorus."

"His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony: Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither— They had been fou for weeks thegither."

"Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious, O'er a' the ills o' life victorious."

"But pleasures are like poppies spread— You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed; Or like the snow falls in the river— A moment white—then melts forever."

"Nae man can tether time or tide."

"That hour, o' night's black arch the keystane."

"Inspiring bold John Barleycorn! What dangers thou canst make us scorn! Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil; Wi' usquabae, we'll face the devil!"

"As Tammie glow'red, amazed, and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious."

"Her cutty sark, o' Paisley harn, That while a lassie she had worn, In longitude tho' sorely scanty, It was her best, and she was vauntie."

"Tam tint his reason a' thegither, And roars out — "Weel done, Cutty-sark!""

"Ah, Tam! Ah! Tam! Thou'll get thy fairin! In hell they'll roast you like a herrin!"

"For a' that, and a' that An' twice as muckle 's a' that, I've lost but ane, I've twa behin', I've wife eneugh for a' that."

"I once was a maid, tho' I cannot tell when, And still my delight is in proper young men."

"Partly wi' o'ercome sae sair, And partly she was drunk."

"A fig for those by law protected! 's a glorious feast! Courts for cowards were erected, Churches built to please the ."

"Life is all a , We regard not how it goes; Let them cant about , Who have characters to lose."

"God knows, I'm no the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be."

"If there's another world, he lives in bliss; If there is none, he made the best of this."

"In durance vile here must I wake and weep, And all my frowsy couch in sorrow steep."

"It's guid to be merry and wise, It's guid to be honest and true, It's guid to support Caledonia's cause And bide by the buff and the blue."

"There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing."

"Beauty's of a fading nature Has a season and is gone!"

"The white moon is setting behind the white wave, And Time is setting with me, O!"

"Burns stood, as regarded the old and the new world of poetry, both in Scotland and in England, at the parting of the ways. He was at once the climax of the old and the harbinger of the new. He brought to perfection what many of his Scottish predecessors and models had practised with much charm and ability. In the vernacular Scottish song, in the satire, in the familiar Epistle, in dramatic narrative, he rose to a height which no successor could depose him. He was the greatest of Scottish poets. ... More than any one else, more than Cowper or Wordsworth, did he serve to break up the frost that seemed to be settling upon the lyric flow in England at the end of the last century. The renaissance of poetry early in this century owed much to him, and those who owed to poetry no small part of their higher education would not grudge him their thoughtful gratitude."

"Their great national poet spoke to Scotland in her language, that he read the hearts of her people, and gave eloquent utterance to their dumb thoughts. In his scathing words he was able to condemn everything that was ignoble, selfish, and mean; and he stimulated everything that was noblest and best in the hearts of the people. He gave lessons of the loftiest patriotism and of aspirations for political freedom, while at the same time he maintained a steadfast devotion to the cause of everything that savoured of uncompromising hatred of oppression and wrong."

"Now, Robert Burns was a great man and a great poet, and the influence of his truly tremendous satiric and lyrical genius has been one of the great factors in the disintegration of Scottish superstition."

"Scottish virtues were due...to Wallace, who started the idea of independence, to John Knox for the ineradicable reverence for the Kirk, and to Robert Burns for that feeling of brotherhood and sense of humanity that got below all differences of rank."

"There was neither fortune nor title in the man's pedigree, and yet he sprang from the salt of the earth, for he came from that lowland Scottish peasant stock which was one of the finest stocks that the world could show, if one might judge from its results. The limitations of these men might be marked, but there sprang from them every now and again one who could voice the feelings of his fellow men, and such a man was Robert Burns."

"He has given voice to all the experiences of common life; he has endeared the farm-house and cottage, patches and poverty, beans and barley; ale, the poor man's wine; hardship, the fear of debt, the dear society of weans and wife, of brothers and sisters, proud of each other, knowing so few, and finding amends for want and obscurity in books and thought. ... And, as he was thus the poet of the poor, anxious, cheerful, working humanity, so had he the language of low life. He grew up in a rural district, speaking a patois unintelligible to all but natives, and he has made that Lowland Scotch a Doric dialect of fame. It is the only example in history of a language made classic by the genius of a single man."

"He speaks for a community he is rooted in, as Chaucer and Langland did. He is a lyrical poet of simple tenderness; but he is also a comic and satirical poet with a hard and definite moral vision, a very sharp eye indeed for permanent kinds of human folly, and a glancing and flickering wit... He is also a poet of the people as no modern English poet worth anything has been. He thus fills a gap for the English reader; and if young English poets, ingenious but academic, were to read him to-day they might learn to double their strength by touching the earth."

"I also liked the Romantic poets. Wordsworth, Keats, Burns and Blake were some of my favourites. There was something about their rebellious spirit against the evils of industrialization that moved me. Of course now, some of their pessimism, mysticism and limited critical realist visions make me quite uncomfortable."

"He was a leading Liberal, certainly. It had been said by a great statesman in the old days that he did not care who made the laws so long as he could make the ballads. In the last century the accents of freedom were heard in Scotland in the ballads of Burns. "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled" and "A man's a man for a' that" were regarded as almost revolutionary in the days when he wrote."

"The economic truths of Socialism, its industrialism, and its sociology, must remain the vainest of vain dreamings unless we preserve among the people the political frame of mind which can appreciate democratic liberty and worth. When "a man's a man for a' that" is recited without making the blood tingle, the man has ceased to be."

"The influence of Burns on the imaginative literature of Scotland has been deep and abiding. Many Scotsmen have been so touched, moved, and stirred by his writings, as to arouse an irrepressible feeling within them to compose verse themselves; and to-day there are many in the humble walks of life who can write passable and even animated verse and song, and appreciate the highest works of the imaginative and elaborate faculties of the race. Burns has exercised much influence over the mind of the Scottish people by removing prejudice and superstition, fostering liberty and independence of spirit, and greater freedom of thought."

"Burns had intellectual breadth and religious susceptibility enough to appropriate what was best in the two phases of the religious thought of his time. Thus it happened that while the average Moderate looked upon Calvinism as represented by the Covenanters as a detestable fanaticism, an enemy to the amenities of social life, Burns paid tribute to their magnificent stand for liberty... Burns, who had Covenanting blood in his veins, had no need to go to Rousseau for his democratic fervour. His "A man's a man for a' that" owes infinitely more to Samuel Rutherford than to Rousseau."

"There was a world of well-dressed company that evening in Dumfries; for the aristocracy of the adjacent country for twenty miles round had poured in to attend a county ball, and were fluttering in groupes along the sunny side of the street, gay as butterflies. On the other side, in the shade, a solitary individual paced slowly along the pavement. Of the hundreds who fluttered past, no one took notice of him; no one seemed to recognise him. He was known to them all as the exciseman and poet, Robert Burns; but he had offended the stately Toryism of the district by the freedom of his political creed; and so, tainted by the plague of Liberalism, he lay under strict quarantine. He was shunned and neglected; for it was with the man Burns that these his contemporaries had to deal. Let the reader contrast with this truly melancholy scene, the scene of his festival a fortnight since. Here are the speeches of the Earl of Eglinton and of Sir John M'Neill, and here the toast of the Lord Justice-General. Let us just imagine these gentlemen, with all their high aristocratic notions about them, carried back half a century into the past, and dropped down, on the sad evening to which we refer, in the main street of Dumfries. Which side, does the reader think, would they have chosen to walk upon? Would they have addressed the one solitary individual in the shade, or not rather joined themselves to the gay groupes in the sunshine who neglected and contemned him? They find it an easy matter to deal with the phantom idea of Burns now: how would they have dealt with the man then?"

"The worker is a mere appendage to the capitalist factory. Machinery has eliminated him. Robert Burns said: “O God, that men should be so cheap, and bread should be so dear!”"

"I think Burns was one of the most extraordinary men I ever met with; his poetry surprised me very much, his prose surprised me still more, and his conversation surprised me more than both his poetry and prose."

"I would claim that Burns is not merely Scotland's greatest poet, but that he is worthy to rank among the greatest poets of the world... Why I claim this place for Burns is this—that he was the poet of nature and of humanity. He raised the conception of the peasant and gave honour and dignity to toil. It is for that reason that all the labouring classes and masses of the world have found in Burns their truest interpreter and their truest friend; and it is as that friend and as that interpreter that I do claim for him a place in the innermost niches of the temple of Fame."

"His person was strong and robust; his manners rustic, not clownish; a sort of dignified plainness and simplicity, which received part of its effect, perhaps, from one's knowledge of his extraordinary talents. His features are represented in Mr. Nasmyth's picture, but to me it conveys the idea, that they are diminished as if seen in perspective. I think his countenance was more massive than it looks in any of the portraits. I would have taken the poet, had I not known what he was, for a very sagacious country farmer of the old Scotch school, i.e. none of your modern agriculturists, who keep labourers for their drudgery, but the douce gudeman who held his own plough. There was a strong expression of sense and shrewdness in all his lineaments; the eye alone, think, indicated the poetical character and temperament. It was large, and of a dark cast, which glowed (I say literally glowed) when he spoke with feeling or interest. I never saw such another eye in a human head, though I have seen the most distinguished men of my time. His conversation expressed perfect self-confidence, without the slightest presumption. Among the men who were the most learned of their time and country, he expressed himself with perfect firmness, but without the least intrusive forwardness; and when he differed in opinion, he did not hesitate to express it firmly, yet at the same time with modesty."

"[A]ll the faculties of Burns' mind were, as far as I could judge, equally vigorous; and his predilection for poetry, was rather the result of his own enthusiastic and impassioned temper, than of a genius exclusively adapted to that species of composition. From his conversation, I should have pronounced him to be fitted to excel in whatever walk of ambition he had chosen to exert his abilities."

"This prophecy of the unity of the [human] race [in "A man's a man for a' that"] is founded on the thoroughly Scottish sentiment, fostered by Scottish history from the days of Wallace till our own times, of the value of man as man, of the dignity of labour, whether physical or mental or moral, as compared with the tinsel shows of privileged indolence. The scorn for the empty "birkie ca'd a lord," and for the king-made dignities unbacked by merit, have persistently remained as Scottish qualities all down the ages, and they are becoming the qualities of men wherever thought has filtered down to the humbler classes, wherever the peasant has learned to venerate himself as man."

"Dear Rob! manly, witty, fond, friendly, full of weak spots as well as strong ones—essential type of so many thousands—perhaps the average, as just said, of the decent-born young men and the early mid-aged, not only of the British Isles, but America, too, North and South, just the same. I think, indeed, one best part of Burns is the unquestionable proof he presents of the perennial existence among the laboring classes, especially farmers, of the finest latent poetic elements in their blood."

"Though I have never been able to trace my ancestry to the Land o' Cakes, I have—and I know it is saying a great deal—a Scotchman's love for the poet whose fame deepens and broadens with years. The world has never known a truer singer. We may criticise his rustic verse and compare his brief and simple lyrics with the works of men of longer scrolls and loftier lyres; but after rendering to Wordsworth, Tennyson and Browning the homage which the intellect owes to genius, we turn to Burns, if not with awe and reverence, [yet] with a feeling of personal interest and affection. We admire others; we love him. As the day of his birth comes round, I take down his well-worn volume in grateful commemoration, and feel that I am communing with one whom living I could have loved as much for his true manhood and native nobility of soul as for those wonderful songs of his which shall sing themselves forever."

"God of Nations, at thy feet, In thy bonds of love we meet, Hear our voices, we entreat, God defend our free land. Guard Pacific's triple star From the shafts of strife and war, Make her presence heard afar, God Defend New Zealand!"

"Give me, give me God's own country! there to live and there to die,"

"How I prayed just to get away To carry me anywhere Sometimes the angels punish us By answering our prayers -- Carnies (2012)"

"...if the music stops and there's only the sound of the rain All the hope and glory -- All the sacrifice in vain (And) If love remains, though everything is lost We will pay the price, but we will not count the cost -- Bravado (1991)"

"Like a steely blade in a silken sheath We don't see what they're made of They shout about love, but when push comes to shove They live for the things they're afraid of And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them... - The Weapon (Part II of 'Fear') (1982)"

"Sometimes I freeze...until the light comes Sometimes I fly...into the night Sometimes I fight...against the darkness Sometimes I'm wrong...sometimes I'm right -- Freeze (Part IV of 'Fear') (2002)"

"Wave after wave Will flow with the tide And bury the world as it does Tide after tide Will flow and recede Leaving life to go on As it was... -- Natural Science (1980)"

"You don't get something for nothing You can't have freedom for free. You won't get wise With the sleep still in your eyes No matter what your dream might be. -- Something for Nothing (1976)"

"There's no bread, let 'em eat cake There's no end to what they'll take Flaunt the fruits of noble birth Wash the salt into the earth -- Bastille Day (1975)"

"All the same we take our chances, Laughed at by time, tricked by circumstances, Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, The more that things change, the more they stay the same. -- Circumstances (1978)"

"A scorching blast of golden fire as it slowly leaves the ground Tears away with a mighty force The air is shattered by the awesome sound -- Countdown (1982)"

"Features distorted in the flickering light Faces are twisted and grotesque Silent and stern in the sweltering night The mob moves like demons possessed Quiet in conscience, calm in their right Confident their ways are best -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1981)"

"I'm not looking back, but I want to look around me now. -- Time Stand Still (1987)"

"Today is different, and tomorrow the same. It's hard to take the world the way that it came. Too many rapids keep us sweeping along. Too many captains keep on steering us wrong. It's hard to take the heat. It's hard to lay blame. To fight the fire, while we're feeding the flames. -- Second Nature (1987)"

"Faith is cold as ice. Why are little ones born only to suffer for the want of immunity, or a bowl of rice? Well, who would hold a price on the heads of the innocent children if there's some immortal power to control the dice? -- Roll The Bones (1991)"

"You move me, you move me. with your buildings and your eyes Autumn woods and Winter skies. You move me, you move me. Open sea and city lights, busy streets and dizzy heights. You call me, you call me. -- The Analog Kid (1982)"

"The middle aged madonna calls her neighbor on the phone. Day by day, the seasons pass and leave her life alone. But she'll go walking out that door on some bright afternoon to go and paint big cities from a lonely attic room. -- Middletown Dreams (1985)"

"Miracles will have their claimers More will bow to Rome He and she are in the house But there's only me at home. -- Anagram (For Mongo) (1989)"

"I feel the sense of possibilities I feel the wrench of hard realities The focus is sharp in the city -- The Camera Eye (1981)"

"It takes a little more persistence to get up and go the distance I'm not giving in I'm not missing out I'm not giving up on implausible dreams -- The Enemy Within (Part I of 'Fear') (1984)"

"Growing up it all seems so one-sided Opinions all provided The future pre-decided Detached and subdivided In the mass production zone Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone -- Subdivisions (1982)"

"Cast in this unlikely role Ill-equipped to act With insufficient tact One must put up barriers To keep oneself intact -- Limelight (1981)"

"No hero in your tragedy, No daring in your escape, No salutes for your surrender, Nothing noble in your fate, Christ, what have you done? -- The Pass (1989)"

"The world weighs on my shoulders But what am I to do? You sometimes drive me crazy But I worry about you I know it makes no difference To what you’re going through But I see the tip of the iceberg And I worry about you... -- Distant Early Warning (1984)"

"Some are born to move the world, to live their fantasies But most of us just dream about the things we'd like to be Sadder still to watch it die, then never to have known it For you, the blind who once could see The bell tolls for thee... -- Losing It (1982)"

"Anarchist reactionary, running-dog revisionist Hindu, Muslim, Catholic creation, evolutionist Rational, romantic, mystic, cynical, idealist Minimal expressionist, post-modern neo-symbolist Armchair rocket scientist, graffiti existentialist Deconstruction primitive performance photo-realist Be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop, lite-pop-metallist Gold adult contemporary, urban country capitalist -- You Bet Your Life (1991)"

"I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate, Are the liberators here? Do I hope or do I fear? For my father and my brother, it’s too late but I must help my mother stand up straight. Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive? -- Red Sector A (1984)"

"Wheels can take you around. Wheels can cut you down. We can go from boom to bust. From dreams to a bowl of dust. We can fall from rockets' red glare, down to "Brother can you spare..." Another war. Another wasteland. And another lost generation -- Between The Wheels (1984)"

"I set a course just east of Lyra And northwest of Pegasus Flew into the light of Deneb Sailed across the Milky Way On my ship, the 'Rocinante' Wheeling through the galaxies Headed for the heart of Cygnus Headlong into mystery -- Cygnus X-1, Book One; The Voyage (1977)"

"They say there are strangers who threaten us In our immigrants and infidels They say there is strangeness too dangerous In our theaters and bookstore shelves That those who know what's best for us Must rise and save us from ourselves -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1980)"

"Now there's no more oak oppression For they passed a noble law And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, axe and saw -- The Trees (1978)"

"Imagine a man when it all began The pilot of 'Enola Gay' Flying out of the shockwave on that August day All the powers that be, and the course of history Would be changed forevermore -- Manhattan Project (1985)"

"We each pay a fabulous price For our visions of paradise But a spirit with a vision is a dream With a mission -- Mission (1987)"

"An ounce of perception, a pound of obscure Process information at half speed Pause, rewind, replay Warm memory chip Random sample, hold the one you need -- Vital Signs (1981)"

"A planet of playthings We dance on the strings of powers we cannot perceive The stars aren't aligned or the gods are maligned Blame is better to give than receive -- Freewill (1980)"

"Life is just a candle, and a dream must give it flame... -- The Fountain of Lamneth (1975)"

"Danger plus survival equals fun. --From A Work in Progress"

"All the busy little creatures chasing out their destinies. Living in their pools they soon forget about the sea... -- Natural Science (1980)"

"A few guys with guns can spoil everything. -- The Masked Rider (1996)"

"Everything in moderation, with occasional excess -- Ghost Rider (2002)"

"To you, is it movement, or is it action? Is it contact or just reaction? And you, revolution, just resistance? Is it living, or just existence? -- The Enemy Within (Part I of 'Fear') (1984)"

"Adventures suck when you're having them. -- Roadshow (2006)"

"How can anybody be enlightened? Truth is after all so poorly lit -- Turn The Page (1987)"

"Life is like an aimless river The time is now again -- Ceiling Unlimited (2002)"

"No one gets to their heaven without a fight -- Armor and Sword (2007)"

"Quick to judge -- Quick to anger -- Slow to understand Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1981)"

"When we are young Wandering the face of the Earth Wondering what our dreams might be worth Learning that we're only immortal For a limited time -- Dreamline (1991)"

"Unstable condition A symptom of life In mental and environmental change Atmospheric disturbance The feverish flux Of human interface and interchange -- Vital Signs (1981)"

"You can surrender Without a prayer But never really pray Pray without surrender You can fight Without ever winning But never ever win Without a fight -- Resist (1996)"

"Genius is the fire that lights itself. -Commenting on Buddy Rich."

"The secret to life is, you get up in the morning, and you go to work - from the book Travelling Music"

"I can't play to that! - on Rock Band"

"Among the people whose thinking I like is Ayn Rand, but there are a whole lot of others. It's a kind of disciple mentality that people are applying to me that they think I applied to her and it's all wrong. I'm nobody's disciple and you know 'No god, no government' none of that, so I don't like it applied to me any more than to them."

"I define my approach to each day I am given as, "What is the most excellent thing I can do today?" – from the book "Far and Near: On Days Like These""

"Name another drummer in the rock-pop-prog-fusion idiom who thoroughly composed his parts for every song, never deviating live or otherwise, applied his vision to a 30+ piece electric/acoustic 360 degree orchestral rock kit, and somehow managed to make every part musical, seamless, and iconic. He also wrote the lyrics almost every Rush song. I don't care if you don't like Rush, Neil is undeniable."

"Rush is another impressive array of three otherworldly musicians. The technicality and precision is jaw dropping. I was quite busy on drums early on in the Pixies because of him. Quite a formative band for me when I was younger and learning drums."

"Oh no well I / been there before / and I ain't a comin back around / there no more / no I'm not"

"Shall we go, you and I, while we can? Through... the transitive nightfall of diamonds"

"When I was just a little young boy, Papa said "Son, you'll never get far, I'll tell you the reason if you want to know, 'cause child of mine, there isn't really very far to go.""

"Well, the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry anymore. When life looks like Easy Street there is danger at your door."

"It's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one he knows. Like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go."

"Ain't no time to hate, barely time to wait. Wo-oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?"

"In the timbers of Fennario, the wolves are running round. The winter was so hard and cold, froze ten feet 'neath the ground...I sat down to my supper, 'twas a bottle of red whisky. I said my prayers and went to bed, that's the last they saw of me..."

"Nothing's for certain, It could always go wrong, Come in when it's raining, Go on out when it's gone, We could have us a high time, Living the good life, Well I know"

"See here how everything leads up to this day. And it's just like any other day that's ever been. Sun going up and then, the sun, it going down. Shine through my window, and my friends they come around."

"Trouble ahead, Trouble behind, and you know that notion just crossed my mind"

"Trouble ahead. A lady in red. Take my advice. You'd be better off dead!"

"Trouble with you is The trouble with me Got two good eyes But you still don't see Come round the bend You know it's the end The fireman screams and The engine just gleams"

"There is a road, no simple highway, between the dawn and the dark of night. And if you go, no one may follow. That path is for your steps alone."

"You who choose to lead must follow, But if you fall, you fall alone, If you should stand then who's to guide you? If I knew the way I would take you home"

"Let there be songs to fill the air."

"Lovers come and go, the river roll, roll, roll."

"Such a long, long time to be gone, and a short time to be here."

"In the secret space of dreams, Where I dreaming lay amazed, When the secrets all are told, And the petals all unfold. When there was no dream of mine, You dreamed of me"

"Sometimes the light's all shining on me, Other times I can barely see, Lately it occurs to me, What a long strange trip it's been..."

"It seems like all this life was just a dream"

"Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world, but the heart has its beaches, its homeland, and thoughts of its own. Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings, but the heart has its seasons its evenings, and songs of its own"

"Sometimes we live no particular way but our own"

"I like your smile but I ain't your type, Don't shake the tree when the fruit ain't ripe"

"Once in a while, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if you look at it right."

"I won't slave for beggar's pay, likewise gold and jewels, but I would slave to learn the way, to sink your ship of fools."

"In another time's forgotten space, your eyes looked through your mother's face, Wildflower seed on the sand and stone, may the four winds blow you safely home. Roll away ... the dew"

"Crippled but free, I was blind all the time I was learning to see."

"Let my inspiration flow, in token lines suggesting rhythm, that will not forsake me, till my tale is told and done"

"The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice, his job is to shed light, and not to master"

"Inspiration, move me brightly, light the song with sense and color, hold away despair"

"While you were gone, these spaces filled with darkness. The obvious was hidden. With nothing to believe in. The compass always points to Terrapin."

"Ain't nobody messin' with you but you"

"There are things you can replace, and others you cannot. The time has come to weigh those things, this space is getting hot."

"But never give your love, my friend, Unto a foolish heart"

"There are times when you get hit upon, Try hard but you cannot give. Other times you'd gladly part, With what you need to live"

"Don't waste the breath to save your face, When you have done your best, And even more is asked of you, Let fate decide the rest."

"Swanee! How I love you, how I love you, My dear ol' Swanee! I'd give the world to be Among the folks in D-I-X-I-E"

"Picture you upon my knee, Just tea for two and two for tea"

"Sometimes I'm happy sometimes I'm blue my disposition depends on you."

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true."

"Indeed, there is a moment on the first CD — the electrifying opening to "I Got Loaded," which sounds like an R&B standard but isn’t — when you might find yourself asking whether anyone who has ever been smitten by pop music can fail to have his heart stopped by the chords, the swing, and, once again, Steve Berlin’s wonderfully greasy sax."

"Self-pity is an ignoble emotion, but we all feel it, and the orthodox critical line that it represents some kind of artistic flaw is dubious, a form of emotional correctness."

"I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it."

"By the early seventies I had become an Englishman — that is to say, I hated England just as much as half my compatriots seemed to do."

"As I get older, the tyranny that football exerts over my life, and therefore over the lives of the people around me, is less reasonable and less attractive."

"Where's the superficial? I was, and therefore am, dim, gloomy, a drag, unfashionable, unfanciable, and awkward. This doesn't seem like superficial to me. These aren't flesh wounds. These are life-threatening thrusts into the internal organs."

"I’ve been thinking with my guts since I was fourteen years old, and, frankly, I think my guts have shit for brains."

"Then I lost it. Kinda lost it all, you know. Faith, dignity, about fifteen pounds."

"There had been times when he knew, somewhere in him, that he would get used to it, whatever it was, because he had learnt that some hard things became softer after a very little while."

"Single mothers — bright, attractive, available women, thousands of them all over London — they were the best invention Will had ever heard of."

"Each day was a bad day, but he survived by kidding himself that each day was somehow unconnected to the day before."

"These feelings were exactly what he had been so afraid of, and this was why he had been so sure that falling in love was rubbish, and, surprise surprise, it was rubbish, and ... and it was too late."

"And after tea, we play Junior Scrabble. We are the ideal nuclear family. We eat together, we play improving board games instead of watching television, we smile alot. I fear that at any moment I may kill somebody."

"What if a sense of humour is like hair — something a lot of man lose as they get older?"

"I'm sorry, but there's no disturbed mental balance here, my friend. I'd say he got it just right. Bad thing upon bad thing upon bad thing... Surely that's fair enough? Surely the coroner's report should read, "He took his own life after sober and careful contemplation of the fucking shambles it had become.""

"But I'd felt as if I'd pissed my life away in the same way that you can piss money away. I'd had a life, full of kids and wives and jobs and all the usual stuff, and I'd somehow managed to mislay it. No, you see, that's not right. I knew where my life was, just as you know where the money goes when you piss it away. I hadn't mislaid it at all. I'd spent it."

"And another way of explaining it is that shit happens, and there's no space too small, too dark and airless and fucking hopeless, for people to crawl into."

"I couldn't get the mood back; it was as if one of the kids had woken up just as Cindy and I were starting to make love. I hadn't changed my mind, and I still knew that I'd have to do it sometime. It's just that I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it in the next five minutes."

"I wanted to make my life short, and I was at a party in Toppers' Hose, and the coincidence was too much. It was like a message from God. OK, it was disappointing that all God had to say to me was, like, Jump off a roof, but I didn't blame him. What else was he supposed to tell me?"

"You've made my life so glamorous, You can't blame me for feeling amorous. 'S wonderful, 's marvellous That you should care for me."

"I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man Who could ask for anything more?"

"Summertime and the livin' is easy, Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high. Oh yo' daddy's rich, and yo' ma is good lookin', So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry."

"It ain't necessarily so, It ain't necessarily so. De t'ings dat yo' li'ble To read in de Bible, It ain't necessarily so."

"Nice work if you can get it, And you can get it if you try."

"You like potato and I like po-tah-to, You like tomato and I like to-mah-to; Potato, po-tah-to, tomato, to-mah-to – Let's call the whole thing off!"

"They all laughed at Christopher Columbus When he said the world was round; They all laughed when Edison recorded sound."

"The way you wear your hat, The way you sip your tea, The mem'ry of all that – No, no! They can't take that away from me!"

"In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, They're only made of clay, But our love is here to stay."

"Poor Jenny, bright as a penny! Her equal would be hard to find. She lost one dad and mother, A sister and a brother-- But she would make up her mind."

"New York is a woman holding, according to history, a rag called liberty with one hand and strangling the earth with the other."

"I wanted to break the linearity of poetic text to mess with it, if you will. The poem is meant to be a network rather than a single rope of thought."

"Poetry can only change the notion of relationships between things. Culture cannot change without a change in institutions."

"Come o'er the moonlit sea, The waves are brightly glowing."

"The morn was fair, the skies were clear, No breath came o'er the sea."

"Meek and lowly, pure and holy, Chief among the "blessed three.""

"Come, wander with me, for the moonbeams are bright On river and forest, o'er mountain and lea."

"A word in season spoken May calm the troubled breast."

"The bud is on the bough again, The leaf is on the tree."

"I have heard the mavis singing Its love-song to the morn; I've seen the dew-drop clinging To the rose just newly born."

"We have lived and loved together Through many changing years; We have shared each other's gladness, And wept each other's tears."

"'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there 's no place like home; A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, Which sought through the world is ne'er met with elsewhere."

"An exile from home splendour dazzles in vain, Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again; The birds singing gayly, that came at my call, Give me them, and that peace of mind dearer than all."

"I am what I am I am my own special creation So come take a look Give me the hook or the ovation It's my world that I want to have a little pride in My world and it's not a place I have to hide in Life's not worth a damn till you can say Hey world I am what I am."

"What kind of fool am I? I never fell in love."

"The Candy Man can"

"In my heart she's my kind of girl."

"Men of Harlech! On to glory, See your banner, famed in story, Waves these burning words before ye, "Britain scorns to yield!""

"The ultimate source of energy, the sun is ready to set. The leaves of the blooming lotus flower in the pond are losing their lustre. A bumblebee, sitting on that lotus is enjoying the romantic pleasure and murmuring passionate songs."

"O! Lover, Enjoyment on the soft body of a lotus is always risky and inconsistent because its route is always surrounded by thorns."

"No doubt, the poetry, overjoyed by swallowing the beverage of passionate thoughts, delights the mind. But she does not realize the sorrows and troubles of the poor. Forget depicting the beauty of passions and present your poetry as a necklace of thought gems to swell the soul."

"The wheel of Time wrote the first half of the poetry of mass destruction on the black board of the ashes of a funeral ground by dint of a pair of pens of nuclear bombs."

"The slippers of the mortal Earth, Now touched the chest of the Moon. Oh, It is shameful that"

"Dances an endless illusion, A woman of desire endures in my heart, I wait, O! Almighty cut the net of passion, You are the ultimate Source of light. Gitamohanam,(spiritual Hymns),"

"Pardon me, if I'm sentimental When we say goodbye , Don't be angry with me should I cry. When you're gone, yet I'll dream A little dream as years go by… Now and then there's a fool such as I."

"Now and then there's a fool such as I am over you. You taught me how to love And now you say that we are through. I'm a fool, but I'll love you dear Until the day I die Now and then there's a fool such as I."

"The man who wrote this classic was Bill Trader and he actually passed away in 2003 in South Carolina. Not a bad run from the sound of it. Mark Matthews continues the story by bringing in an old musician friend of Bill’s named Bud Orr. As Bud tells it, Bill couldn’t read or write music and would often bring him songs and for five bucks Bud would write out a lead sheet for him. Bill would then sell try to sell them in Nashville."

"Se um dia alguém perguntar por mim Diz que vivi para te amar. Antes de ti, só existi Cansado e sem nada para dar."

"…with any story there are infinite ways to tell it, infinite character arcs to follow, when you drop the needle into the story, and when you pick the needle up."

"I pretty much live in the details of them, and they teach me while I’m writing. I don’t come to it thinking, “I want this character to serve this function in the play.” I have a very inside out approach as opposed to outside in…"

"…As I was visualizing the play, before I even started writing it, I just imagined three characters and their lives happening, their stories happening, on top of each other. It just visually felt like a fugue to me. If you read music, you can picture a Bach fugue. You have one line and the line can come back inverted and they’ll be playing on top of each other and I was like, that’s cool. That feels like something to me. I also was excited about combining this Latin world and this very western music classics world…"

"In Latino culture the idea of the border is very contemporary. It’s very much of our world, its politics are important to us. It’s also a part of our emotional relationship to the rest of our family in Puerto Rico, or wherever, and our own relationship to roots—the land of our roots—and where we are now…"

"my ambition was to be an English Sondheim. Being a lyricist is the ideal job for a university-educated dilettante, because it uses up all the rubbish in your education."

"It's a very similar process in many ways to doing translation, if you translate an opera or a work were the music is inflexible and the words have to go from language to another you have a similar challenge."

"If you're judging any creative effort, longevity is the reward."

"Jesus Christ Superstar"

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"

"The Lion King"

"Where my caravan has rested, Flowers I leave you on the grass. All the flowers of love and memory, You will find them when you pass."

"Despite my age, I can almost say that I have never put pen to paper without worrying about censorship. The nightmare of censorship has always cast a shadow over my thoughts. Both under the previous state and under the Islamic state, I have said again and again that, when there is an apparatus for censorship that filters all writing, an apparatus comes into being in every writer’s mind that says: “Don’t write this, they won’t allow it to be published.” But the true writer must ignore these murmurings. The true writer must write. In the end, it will be published one day, on the condition that the writer writes the truth and does not dissemble. Of course, whenever censorship is stringent, most writers resort to metaphor and figurative and symbolic language. And this can help stimulate the imagination. But taking comfort from this fact doesn’t lessen the writer’s dream of attaining freedom."

"The Shāhnāmeh is the greatest epic in history. It is a treasure trove of ideas, wisdom, advice, help, guidance, and rites. With this immense work, Ferdowsi revived the spirit of serenity, magnanimity, and pride in the Iranian nation, which had lost itself under the weight of the Arab conquest of Iran. It empowered divided Iranian peoples to unite. Most of our poets, even those who worked as tyrannical kings’ eulogists, have used their poems to remind rulers of the right way to run the state, practice justice, and uphold the welfare of the people…In any age, writers have produced works which were in keeping with their society’s needs and which helped and guided the nation."

"the more sincere and intimate the relationship between a work and its reader, the better. So the countries that don’t have walls don’t need windows either, because the entire world is their field of vision and they can establish an unmediated relationship with their readers. I, in turn, envy them their free world."

"Being iconoclastic is only acceptable and desirable if the public—or at least a specific segment of society—is open to it. A literature that the public cannot relate to in any form will not endure. I have been iconoclastic, but I’ve never broken my ties with Iran’s past literature. No one can create a noteworthy work without knowing the tenets of their own language and literature. Language is renewed but it never changes its essence, because the contracts that have come about over time for communication cannot be rescinded so easily. It takes a thousand years before a word, among the thousands of words, dies away in a language or changes its meaning. Literature rests on language. It is a linguistic art. So it cannot sever its relationship with the past. But it can create new methods and styles that differ in structure, form, and content from the past."

"Our country, when you grew very old, your head was crowned with white hair. You carried steadfast your children in your arms and gave them what belonged to your coastland.We who here grew up with you as an immature people, as small children, we want to call ourselves kalâtdlit in front of your honorable head!And making use of all that belongs to you, we feel a desire to advance: bettering the conditions, which hold you back, we are firmly resolved to go forward, forward.We want very much to follow the mature people. We are longing to use the freedom of speech and press!There is not at all the slightest reason for holding back. Greenlanders, stand up on your feet, forward! It is well worth to live as men. Show that you can think for yourselves!"