"So Shakespeare's page, the flower of poesy, Ere Garrick rose had charms for every eye; 'Twas Nature's genuine image wild and grand, The strong-marked picture of a master's hand. But when his Garrick, Nature's Pallas, came, The bard's bold painting burst into a flame: Each part new force and vital warmth received, As touched by Heaven—and all the picture lived."

"Here lies Nolly Goldsmith, for shortness called Noll, Who wrote like an angel, and talk’d like poor Poll."

"Heart of oak are our ships, Heart of oak are our men; We always are ready."

"Here lies James Quinn. Deign, reader, to be taught, Whate’er thy strength of body, force of thought, In Nature’s happiest mould however cast, To this complexion thou must come at last."

"O, saw ye the lass wi’ the bonnie blue een? Her smile is the sweetest that ever was seen, Her cheek like the rose is, but fresher, I ween, She ’s the loveliest lassie that trips on the green."

"Are these the choice dishes the Doctor has sent us? Is this the great poet whose works so content us? This Goldsmith’s fine feast, who has written fine books? Heaven sends us good meat, but the Devil sends cooks?"

"Corrupted freemen are the worst of slaves."

"Their cause I plead,—plead it in heart and mind; A fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind."

"Prologues like compliments are loss of time; ’T is penning bows and making legs in rhyme."

"Let others hail the rising sun: I bow to that whose course is run."

"This scholar, rake, Christian, dupe, gamester, and poet."

"Too innocent for coquetry, too fond for idle scorning— Oh friend, I fear the lightest heart makes sometimes heaviest mourning."

"Every poet hopes that after-times Shall set some value on his votive lay."

"O Twilight! Spirit that dost render birth To dim enchantments; melting heaven with earth, Leaving on craggy hills and running streams A softness like the atmosphere of dreams."

"A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers; There was lack of woman’s nursing, there was dearth of woman’s tears."

"We have been friends together In sunshine and in shade. Since first beneath the chestnut-tree In fancy we played But coldness dwells within thine heart A cloud is on thy brow. We have been friends together,— Shall a light word part us now?"

"I am listening for the voices Which I heard in days of old."

"For death and life, in ceaseless strife, Beat wild on this world’s shore, And all our calm is in that balm— Not lost but gone before."

"Love not! love not! ye hopeless sons of clay; Hope’s gayest wreaths are made of earthly flowers— Things that are made to fade and fall away, Ere they have blossomed for a few short hours."

"Since knowledge is but sorrow's spy, It is not safe to know."

"For angling-rod he took a sturdy oake; For line, a cable that in storm ne'er broke; His hooke was such as heads the end of pole To pluck down house ere fire consumes it whole; The hook was baited with a dragon's tale,— And then on rock he stood to bob for whale."

"I found [Davenant] of so quick a Fancy that nothing was propos'd to him, on which he could not suddenly produce a thought extremely pleasant and surprizing: and those first thoughts of his, contrary to the old Latine Proverb, were not always the least happy. And as his fancy was quick, so likewise were the products of it remote and new. He borrowed not of any other; and his imaginations were such as could not easily enter into any other Man."

"The assembled souls of all that men held wise."

"The best book yet published about life in the trenches."

"Charles II, still in exile, embittered by what he regarded as acts of treachery by Lord Baltimore, deposed him and appointed instead Sir William Davenant as royal governor, for Baltimore "did visibly adhere to the rebels in England, and admit all kinds of sectaries and schismatics and ill-affected persons into the plantation." Davenant sailed from France to try to seize Maryland but was himself captured by the English."

"This is the most riotous satire on legal procedure that has ever been written."

"Justice should be cheap but judges expensive."

"The whole Constitution has been erected upon the assumption that the King not only is capable of doing wrong but is more likely to do wrong than other men if he is given the chance."

"Mr. Herbert's is one of the most interesting and moving English war books."

"Was the cow crossed?" "No, your worship, it was an open cow."

"The critical period in matrimony is breakfast-time."

"The Englishman never enjoys himself except for a noble purpose. He does not play cricket because it is a good game, but because it creates good citizens. He does not love motor-races for their own sake, but for the advantages they bring to the engineering firms of his country. And it is common knowledge that the devoted persons who conduct and regularly attend horse-races do not do so because they like it, but for the benefit of the breed of the English horse."

"A man who has made up his mind on a given subject twenty-five years ago and continues to hold his political opinions after he has been proved to be wrong is a man of principle; while he who from time to time adapts his opinions to the changing circumstances of life is an opportunist."

"This story of a valiant heart tested to destruction took rank when it was first published a few months after the Armistice, as one of the most moving of the novels produced by the war. It was at that time a little swept aside by the revulsion of the public mind from anything to do with the awful period just ended. But on rereading it nine years later it seems to hold its place, and indeed a permanent place, in war literature. It was one of those cries of pain wrung from the fighting troops by the prolonged and measureless torment through which they passed; and like the poems of Siegfried Sassoon should be read in each generation, so that men and women may rest under no illusion about what war means."

"It is like the thirteenth stroke of a crazy clock, which not only is itself discredited but casts a shade of doubt over all previous assertions."

"It cannot be too clearly understood that this is not a free country, and it will be an evil day for the legal profession when it is."

"People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any Act of Parliament."

"A highbrow is the kind of person who looks at a sausage and thinks of Picasso."

"The portions of a woman which appeal to man's depravity Are constructed with considerable care."

"It [The Secret Battle] is one of the most moving books I have ever read."

"Citizens who take it upon themselves to do unusual actions which attract the attention of the police should be careful to bring these actions into one of the recognized categories of crimes and offences, for it is intolerable that the police should be put to the pains of inventing reasons for finding them undesirable."

"The laws were very comical; to bet was voted lax, But your betting was the only thing that nobody could tax."

"Bus driver, bus driver, the sirens have gone, The bombs may come down, but the buses go on; Bus driver, I know you won't think me a snobIf I whisper: "Bus driver, I don't want your job"."

"How proud upon your quarterdeck you stand, Conductor, Captain of the mighty bus! Like some Columbus you survey the Strand,A calm newcomer in a sea of fuss."

"Let's stop somebody from doing something! Everybody does too much."

"For I must write to The Times tonight, and save the world from sin."

"Don't let's go to the dogs tonight, For mother will be there."

"As my poor father used to say In 1863, Once people start on all this Art Goodbye, moralitee! And what my father used to say Is good enough for me."

"Nobody's wrong but England – and England's always wrong, Too late – or else too early – too soft – or else too strong. And when for once the wide world begins to praise her name Her own sons crowd and hurry to shout her back to shame."

"The race is run - the winner wears the laurels, But you and I not empty go away; For we have seen the least unkind of quarrels; The young men glowing in the friendly way. Let us be glad - but not because of winning, Let us go home, to family today. God make our Games a glorious beginning, And hand in hand, together guide us on our way."