The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

‘The Changeling’ (performed c.1622) act 3, sc. 4
O come not near me sir; I shall defile you.
I that am of your blood was taken from you
For your better health. Look no more upon’t,
But cast it to the ground regardlessly;
Let the common sewer take it from distinction.
Beneath the stars, upon yon meteor
Ever hung my fate, ’mongst things corruptible;
I ne’er could pluck it from him. My loathing
Was prophet to the rest, but ne’er believed.
‘The Changeling’ (performed c.1622) act 5, sc. 3
1.122 George Mikes 1912—
On the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners.
‘How to be an Alien’ (1946) p. 10
Continental people have sex life; the English have hot-water bottles.
‘How to be an Alien’ (1946) p. 25
An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.
‘How to be an Alien’ (1946) p. 44
1.123 John Stuart Mill 1806-73
Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.
‘Autobiography’ (1873) ch. 5
No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible, until a great change takes place in
the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought.
‘Autobiography’ (1873) ch. 7
As often as a study is cultivated by narrow minds, they will draw from it narrow conclusions.
‘Auguste Comte and Positivism’ (1865) pt. 1, p. 82
The Conservatives...being by the law of their existence the stupidest party.
‘Considerations on Representative Government’ (1861) ch. 7 (note)
When society requires to be rebuilt, there is no use in attempting to rebuild it on the old plan.
‘Dissertations and Discussions’ vol. 1 (1859) ‘Essay on Coleridge’
If we may be excused the antithesis, we should say that eloquence is heard, poetry is overheard.
‘Dissertations and Discussions’ vol. 1 (1859) ‘Thoughts on Poetry and its Varieties’
Detention by the State of the unearned increment of rent.
‘Dissertations and Discussions’ vol. 4 (1875) ‘The Right of Property in Land’
I will call no being good, who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellowcreatures;
and if such a being can sentence me to hell for not so calling him, to hell I will go.
‘Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy’ (1865) ch. 7
The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with