The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

middle of “A.” Under each author, the quotations are arranged in alphabetical order of their first
words. Foreign quotations are, wherever possible, given in the original language as well as in
translation. Authors are cited under the names by which they are best known: for example,
Graham Greene (not Henry Graham Greene); F. Scott Fitzgerald (not Francis Scott Key
Fitzgerald); George Orwell (not Eric Blair); W. C. Fields (not William Claude Dukenfield).
Authors’ dates of birth and death are given when ascertainable. The actual writers of the words
are credited for quotations from songs, film-scripts, etc.
The references after each quotation are designed to be as helpful as possible, enabling the
reader to trace quotations in their original sources if desired.
The index (1) has been carefully prepared—with ingenious computer assistance—to help the
reader to trace quotations from their most important keywords. Each reference includes not only
the page and the number of the quotation on the page but also the first few letters of the author’s
name. The index includes references to book-titles which have become well known as quotations
in their own right.
This dictionary could not have been compiled without the work of many people, most notably
Paula Clifford, Angela Partington, Fiona Mullan, Penelope Newsome, Julia Cresswell, Michael
McKinley, Charles McCreery, Heidi Abbey, Jean Harder, Elizabeth Knowles, George
Chowdharay-Best, Tracey Ward, and Ernest Trehern. I am also very grateful to the OUP
Dictionary Department’s team of checkers, who verified the quotations at libraries in Oxford,
London, Washington, New York, and elsewhere. James Howes deserves credit for his work in
computerizing the index.
The Editor is responsible for any errors, which he will be grateful to have drawn to his
attention. As the quotation from Simeon Strunsky reminds us, “Famous remarks are very seldom
quoted correctly,” but we have endeavoured to make this book more accurate, authoritative, and
helpful than any other dictionary of modern quotations.
TONY AUGARDE
(1) Discussions of the index features in this preface and in the “How to Use this Dictionary”
section of this book refer to the hard-copy edition. No index has been included in this soft-copy
edition. See “Notices” in topic NOTICES for additional information about this soft-copy edition.
How to Use this Dictionary
HOW TO.1 General Principles
The arrangement is alphabetical by the names of authors: usually the names by which each
person is best known. So look under Maya Angelou, not Maya Johnson; Princess Anne, not HRH
The Princess Royal; Lord Beaverbrook, not William Maxwell Aitken; Irving Berlin, not Israel
Balin; Greta Garbo, not Greta Lovisa Gustafsson,
Anonymous quotations are all together, starting in “Anonymous” in topic 1.68 They are
arranged in alphabetical order of their first significant word.