The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
In J. R. Columbo ‘Wit and Wisdom of the Moviemakers’ (1979) ch. 7
11.86 Billy Wilder 1906—and I. A. L. Diamond
Gerry: We can’t get married at all....I’m a man.
Osgood: Well, nobody’s perfect.
‘Some Like It Hot’ (1959 film; closing words)
11.87 Thornton Wilder 1897-1975
Marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she’s a householder.
‘The Merchant of Yonkers’ (1939) act 1
The fights are the best part of married life. The rest is merely so-so.
‘The Merchant of Yonkers’ (1939) act 2
Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.
In ‘Time’ 12 January 1953
11.88 Kaiser Wilhelm II 1859-1941
We have...fought for our place in the sun and have won it. It will be my business to see that we
retain this place in the sun unchallenged, so that the rays of that sun may exert a fructifying
influence upon our foreign trade and traffic.
Speech in Hamburg, 18 June 1901, in ‘The Times’ 20 June 1901
11.89 John Wilkes 1727-97
The chapter of accidents is the longest chapter in the book.
Attributed by Southey in ‘The Doctor’ (1837) vol. 4, p. 166
‘Wilkes,’ said Lord Sandwich, ‘you will die either on the gallows, or of the pox.’
‘That,’ replied Wilkes blandly, ‘must depend on whether I embrace your lordship’s principles
or your mistress.’
In Charles Chenevix-Trench ‘Portrait of a Patriot’ (1962) ch. 3. But H. Brougham ‘Statesmen of George III’
third series (1843) p. 189. Also attributed to Samuel Foote
11.90 Geoffrey Willans 1911-58 and Ronald Searle 1920—
The only good things about skool are the boys wizz who are noble brave fearless etc. although
you hav various swots, bulies, cissies, milksops, greedy guts and oiks with whom i am forced to
mingle hem-hem.
‘Down With Skool!’ (1953) p. 7
This is wot it is like when we go back on the skool trane. There are lots of new bugs and all
there maters blub they hav every reason if they knew what they were going to. For us old lags
however it is just another stretch same as any other and no remision for good conduc. We kno
what it will be like at the other end Headmaster beaming skool bus ratle off leaving trail of tuck
boxes peason smugling in a box of flat 50 cigs fotherington-tomas left in the lugage rack and new