The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

World War I song, to the tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, in John Brophy and Eric Partridge ‘Songs and Slang of
the British Soldier 1914-18’ (1930) p. 33
We’re number two. We try harder.
Advertising slogan for Avis car rentals
We shall not be moved.
Title of song (1931)
We shall not pretend that there is nothing in his long career which those who respect and
admire him would wish otherwise.
On Edward VII’s accession to the throne, in ‘The Times’ 23 January 1901, leading article
We shall overcome,
Title of song, originating from before the American Civil War, adapted as a Baptist hymn (‘I’ll Overcome
Some Day’, 1901) by C. Albert Tindley; revived in 1946 as a protest song by black tobacco workers and in
1963 during the black Civil Rights Campaign
Western wind, when will thou blow,
The small rain down can rain?
Christ, if my love were in my arms
And I in my bed again!
‘Western Wind’ (published 1790) in ‘Oxford Book of 16th Century Verse’
What wee gave, wee have;
What wee spent, wee had;
What wee kept, wee lost.
Epitaph on Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire (d. 1419), and his wife, at Tiverton, in Westcote ‘A View
of Devonshire in 1630’; variants appear in Risdon ‘Survey of the County of Devon’, and Edmund Spenser
‘The Shepherd’s Calendar’ (1579)
When Israel was in Egypt land,
Let my people go,
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses,
Way-down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go.
‘Go Down, Moses’ (Negro spiritual).
When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit,
’Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet;
Nor ever ever shall, until that I die,
For the longer I live the more fool am I.
‘Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy’ (1684)
Where is the man who has the power and skill
To stem the torrent of a woman’s will?
For if she will, she will, you may depend on’t;