The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

6.48 John Florio c.1553-1625
England is the paradise of women, the purgatory of men, and the hell of horses.
‘Second Frutes’ (1591) ch. 12
6.49 Marshal Ferdinand Foch 1851-1929
Mon centre céde, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j’attaque.
My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking.
Message sent during the first Battle of the Marne, September 1914, in R. Recouly ‘Foch’ (1919) ch. 6
Ce n’est pas un traitè de paix, c’est un armistice de vingt ans.
This is not a peace treaty, it is an armistice for twenty years.
At the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, 1919, in Paul Reynaud ‘Mèmoires’ (1963) vol. 2, p. 457
6.50 J. Foley
Old soldiers never die,
They simply fade away.
‘Old Soldiers Never Die’ (1920 song); copyrighted by Foley but possibly a World War I ‘folk-song’
6.51 Josè Da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino fl. 1855
The walls have hearsay.
‘O Novo Guia da Conversaçáo em Portuguez e Inglez’ (1855) ‘Idiotisms and Proverbs’; selections from this
book were first published in England by James Millington as English as she is spoke: or a Jest in sober earnest
(1883)
Por dinheiro baila o perro.
Nothing some money nothing of Swiss.
‘O Novo Guia da Conversaçáo em Portuguez e Inglez’ (1855) ‘Idiotisms and Proverbs’. A literal translation
of the Portuguese proverb would be The dog dances for money: it is suspected that the ‘Novo Guia’ was
prepared with the help of a French-English dictionary.
6.52 Michael Foot 1913—
A speech from Ernest Bevin on a major occasion had all the horrific fascination of a public
execution. If the mind was left immune, eyes and ears and emotions were riveted.
‘Aneurin Bevan’ (1962) vol. 1, ch. 13
Think of it! A second Chamber selected by the Whips. A seraglio of eunuchs.
‘Hansard’ 3 February 1969, col. 88
It is not necessary that every time he rises he should give his famous imitation of a semi-housetrained
polecat.
On Norman Tebbit, ‘Hansard’ 2 March 1978, col. 668
6.53 Samuel Foote 1720-77
Born in a cellar...and living in a garret.