Composers From England

"Yes, I am in favor of censorship, but it has to be conducted by people like me. And that's the difficulty (laughs). I'm in favor of encouraging every possible form of self-restraint and parental control. And I certainly don't think that pornography should be protected under the American Constitution."

"The modern world gives proof at every point that it is far easier to destroy institutions than to create them. Nevertheless, few people seem to understand this truth."

"Kant's position is extremely subtle — so subtle, indeed, that no commentator seems to agree with any other as to what it is."

"An international socialism is the stated ideal of most socialists; an international liberalism is the unstated tendency of the liberal. To neither system is it thinkable that men live, not by universal aspirations but by local attachments; not by a “solidarity” that stretches across the globe from end to end, but by obligations that are understood in terms which separate men from most of their fellows—in terms such as national history, religion, language, and the customs that provide the basis of legitimacy."

"Schopenhauer argues that the empirical world exists only as a representation: ‘every object, whatever its origin, is, as object, already conditioned by the subject, and thus is essentially only the subject’s representation.’ A representation is a subjective state that has been ordered according to space, time and causality – the primary forms of sensibility and understanding. So long as we turn our thoughts towards the natural world, and search for the thing-in-itself behind the representation is futile. Every argument and every experience leads only to the same end: the system of representations, standing like a veil between the subject and the thing-in-itself. No scientific investigation can penetrate the veil; and yet it is only a veil, Schopenhauer affirms, a tissue of illusions which we can, if we choose, penetrate by other means. The way to penetrate the veil was stumbled upon by Kant."

"Of course, there are those — Sandel, Walzer and Dworkin, for example — who propose "communitarian" ways of thinking, as a further move in the direction which a sophisticated liberalism requires. But none of them is prepared to accept the real price of community: which is sanctity, intolerance, exclusion, and a sense that life's meaning depends upon obedience, and also on vigilance against the enemy."

"In argument about moral problems, relativism is the first refuge of the scoundrel."

"Race is at best an influence on behaviour, not the moral source of it. It is the individual alone who acts, and he alone who should bear the benefits and the burdens of moral judgment. In all questions of right and duty, it is both wicked and nonsensical to refer to a person's race – whether the purpose be to accuse him, or to exonerate him. To do so is to place the crucial attribute of responsibility where it does not belong – with the abstract totality, rather than with the concrete individual. The racist ignores every genuine right and obligation in pursuit of a merely abstract reckoning: he seeks to reward or punish the individual in respect of qualities which are not of his own choosing and for which he can in truth be neither praised nor blamed. It is surely obvious that racism is an evil. Even if it were not obvious from its intrinsic nature, it is obvious from its effects. Millions have died precisely because, in the eyes of the racist, they were already dead, being of "inferior" race, without rights, condemned by their very existence."

"Schopenhauer was not the only one of Hegel’s opponents to rest his faith in the unsayable. Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), in his attack on the prevailing Hegelian rationalism, sought to undermine the claim that ‘the real is the rational and the rational the real’, and so to reaffirm the value of that which, while real, lies beyond the reach of reason. But, lacking Schopenhauer’s gift of argument, and being indeed more literary than philosophical in his inclination, he did not set up any elaborate system of ideas whereby to postpone the recognition of his ultimate refuge. His principal interest was the vindication of the Christian faith, and he wrote directly or indirectly towards this end, inventing in the process the name, if not the philosophy of ‘existentialism’, for which achievement he is now chiefly known. His philosophy is a clear example of a reaction against idealism which is not also a form either of empiricism or skepticism. In the course of this reaction, it is once again the subject that is reaffirmed, as the ground of all philosophical thought."

"Attitudes to death go hand in hand with attitudes to sex. And it is in the sphere of sex that some of the greatest of medical confusions have arisen. I refer in particular to the "sex change" – again, an operation which has exhilarated the public, with its implication that sexuality is an elaborate accident, which can be tailored to the individual need. A person's sexuality is no longer regarded as part of his essence. It has become an attribute, which he might change as he changes his clothes. The possibility of thinking in such a way shows a deep change in perception. The obligation to accept one's sex has dwindled, in the same way as the obligation to accept one's death. Consequently people call upon doctors to help them, demanding painful, expensive and dangerous operations, whose moral effects cannot really be envisaged in advance, and whose premise is a kind of delusion which, however it might arouse our compassion, ought not to inspire our connivance. No doubt the time is not far distant when sex-change operations will be obtainable on the National Health, granted on the advice of "experts" able to discern the "real" gender identity of the soul sheathed within each human envelope."

"It goes without saying that apartheid is offensive. It was adopted, however, as the lesser of two evils. The Afrikaners believe that black majority rule has, in almost every case, led to the collapse of the constitutional government which they brought to South Africa, and upon which their freedoms and privileges – and perhaps even their lives – depend. And it did not seem so very bad to deny to blacks a vote which they would, when in power, promptly deny to themselves."

"A developed legal system, with elaborate common law rights, and supported by a system of natural justice, was the most precious legacy of our empire. If it were still permissible to defend colonization, I should justify it in terms of this bequest, and at the same time contrast the colonization of Africa with the Soviet "colonization" of eastern Europe, which has advanced not by the generation but by the destruction of law."

"a postmodern rural consultancy"

"Why is it after a century of socialist disasters, and an intellectual legacy that has been time and again exploded, the left-wing position remains, as it were, the default position to which thinking people gravitate when called upon for a comprehensive philosophy? Why are "right-wingers" marginalised in the educational system, denounced in the media and regarded by our political class as untouchable, fit only to clean up after the orgies of luxurious nonsense indulged in by their moral superiors?"

"Many Britons...feel strongly about something which was once called "the alien wedge". And surely it cannot be doubted, even by those who profess allegiance to the "multicultural society", that our society, unlike America, is not of that kind, and therefore that immigration cannot be an object of merely passive contemplation on the part of the present citizenship. There is perhaps no greater sign of the strength of liberalism (a strength which issues, not from popular consensus, but from the political power of the liberal elite) than that it has made it impossible for any but the circumlocutory to argue that the English, the Scots and the Welsh have a prior claim to the benefits of the civilization that their ancestors created, which entitles them to reserve its benefits for themselves."

"If all be true that I do think, There are five reasons we should drink: Good wine, a friend, or being dry, Or lest we should be by and by, Or any other reason why."

"It is an immortal masterpiece. Anybody and everybody today would, I should say, give the rest of their lives to have written it. Anyway I would."

"There is only one man to follow me who has genius, and that is Edward German."

"My music cannot possibly have given you one hundredth part of the joy your music has given me."

"If you can't do anything as good as or even better than what you have already done, then don't do it."

"Every picture shop is filled with pictures of the Emperor; every photographer's with photos--all sizes and in all kinds of positions, in and out of uniform, in different uniforms, looking condescending, looking dignified, on horseback in uniform, on horseback in plain clothes, on donkeyback, head and shoulders without legs, legs without head and shoulders, helmet in hand, helmet on head, helmet on tail, flying in mid air etc. etc. All the statuary too turns on the Emperor. There are busts chiselled in all sizes and the number of different varieties to be seen in halls, houses, shop windows etc. is something quite unbearable. The toy shops are filled with toy Emperors; when he was young the boy Emperor; then the man Emperor; in fact Berlin is saturated with the blessed Emperor as man, woman, boy, girl, soldier, tinker, tailor. The end of it all will be that the people will go stark staring mad and the Emperor himself will go off with a bang the verdict being: "Death from explosion owing to his receiving more hero-worship than the human frame can bear!""

"I should like to shake Eric Coates but I won't. When I meet him he says, "I just love every note you have written." and I believe he does--but--as you say--well!"

"When Adam and Eve were dispossessed / Of the garden hard by Heaven / They planted another one down in the West / Twas Devon, glorious Devon"

"I am one of those men who never enter into controversies but I shall certainly speak my views to anybody whom I may meet on the subject."

"He must have been a gardener that cared a lot Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop. But now it all looks strange, it's funny how one insect Can damage so much grain."

"And we are so amazed, we're crippled and we're dazed. A gardener like that one, no one can replace. And I've been knocking, but no one answers. And I've been knocking most all the day. Oh, and I've been calling Oh, "Hey, Hey, Johnny" "Can't you come out to play?""

"He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas day When the New York Times said God is dead And the war's begun."

"And he shall be Levon, And he shall be a good man. And he shall be Levon, In tradition with the family plan. And he shall be Levon, And he shall be a good man. He shall be Levon."

"And I want you to be my acrobat, I want you to be my lover. Oh there were others who would treat you cruel, But oh Jeannie, I will always be your fool."

"Don't you know I'm still standing, better than I ever did? Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid. I'm still standing after all this time Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind."

"But oh how it feels so real, Lying here with no one near. Only you and you can't hear me When I say softly, slowly.Hold me closer tiny dancer, Count the headlights on the highway. Lay me down in sheets of linen, You had a busy day today."

"And he said grow some funk of your own amigo, Grow some funk of your own. We no like to with the gringo fight, But there might be a death in Mexico tonight If you can't grow some funk of your own amigo."

"And you can cage the songbird, But you can't make her sing. And you can trap the free bird, But you'll have to clip her wings. `Cause she'll soar like a hawk when she flies, But she'll dive like an eagle when she dies."

"Lately I've been thinking how much I miss my lady. Amoreena's in the cornfield brightening the daybreak, Living like a lusty flower, running through the grass for hours, Rolling through the hay like a puppy child."

"They said get back honky cat, Better get back to the woods. Well I quit those days and my redneck ways. And oh the change is gonna do me good.You better get back honky cat, Living in the city ain't where it's at. It's like trying to find gold in a silver mine. It's like trying to drink whiskey from a bottle of wine."

"Don't wish it away, Don't look at it like it's forever. Between you and me I could honestly say That things can only get better.And while I'm away, Dust out the demons inside. And it won't be long before you and me run To the place in our hearts where we hide."

"What have I got to do to make you love me? What have I got to do to make you care? What do I do when lightning strikes me And I wake to find that you're not there?What do I do to make you want me? What have I got to do to be heard? What do I say when it's all over? And sorry seems to be the hardest word."

"Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band. Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man. Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand. And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand."

"Island girl, What you wanting with the white man's world? Island girl, Black boy want you in his island world. He want to take you from the racket boss, He want to save you but the cause is lost."

"So where to now St. Peter, If it's true I'm in your hands? I may not be a Christian, But I've done all one man can. I understand I'm on the road Where all that was is gone. So where to now St. Peter? Show me which road I'm on,br>Which road I'm on."

"Don't give us none of your aggravation, We had it with your discipline. Saturday night's alright for fighting, Get a little action in."

"I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch, Oh the bitch is back, Stone cold sober as a matter of fact. I can bitch, I can bitch `Cause I'm better than you. It's the way that I move, The things that I do."

"So goodbye yellow brick road, Where the dogs of society howl. You can't plant me in your penthouse, I'm going back to my plough."

"Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet? But they're so spaced out, Bennie and the Jets. Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful, Oh Bennie she's really keen. She's got electric boots, a mohair suit. You know I read it in a magazine. Bennie and the Jets."

"When are you gonna come down? When are you going to land? I should have stayed on the farm, I should have listened to my old man."

"Don't let the sun go down on me. Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see. I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free. But losing everything is like the sun going down on me."

"In the quiet silent seconds I turned off the light switch And I came down to meet you in the half light the moon left. While a cluster of night jars sang some songs out of tune, A mantle of bright light shone down from a room."

"And love lies bleeding in my hand. Oh it kills me to think of you with another man. I was playing rock and roll and you were just a fan. But my guitar couldn't hold you, So I split the band. Love lies bleeding in my hands."

"And it seems to me you lived your life Like a candle in the wind, Never knowing who to cling to When the rain set in. And I would have liked to have known you, But I was just a kid. Your candle burned out long before Your legend ever did."

"Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking, When your feet just can't keep still. I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will."