The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (1879) act 2
They are no members of the common throng;
They are all noblemen who have gone wrong!
‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (1879) act 2
No Englishman unmoved that statement hears,
Because, with all our faults, we love our House of Peers.
‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (1879) act 2
To everybody’s prejudice I know a thing or two;
I can tell a woman’s age in half a minute—and I do!
‘Princess Ida’ (1884) act 1
Man is Nature’s sole mistake!
‘Princess Ida’ (1884) act 2
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or trust me, you haven’t a chance.
‘Ruddigore’ (1887) act 1
He combines the manners of a Marquis with the morals of a Methodist.
‘Ruddigore’ (1887) act 1
If a man can’t forge his own will, whose will can he forge?
‘Ruddigore’ (1887) act 2
Some word that teems with hidden meaning—like Basingstoke.
‘Ruddigore’ (1887) act 2
This particularly rapid, unintelligible patter
Isn’t generally heard, and if it is it doesn’t matter.
‘Ruddigore’ (1887) act 2
I was a pale young curate then.
‘The Sorcerer’ (1877) act 1
So I fell in love with a rich attorney’s
Elderly ugly daughter.
‘Trial by Jury’ (1875)
She may very well pass for forty-three
In the dusk with a light behind her!
‘Trial by Jury’ (1875)
It’s a song of a merryman, moping mum,
Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
As he sighed for the love of a ladye.
‘The Yeoman of the Guard’ (1888) act 1
’Tis ever thus with simple folk—an accepted wit has but to say ‘Pass the mustard’, and they
roar their ribs out!