The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

Where childhood had strayed,
The world’s great sorrows were born
And its heroes were made.
In the lost boyhood of Judas
Christ was betrayed.
‘Germinal’ (1931)
1.23 Aeschylus c.525-456 B.C.
Hell to ships, hell to men, hell to cities.
Referring to Helen (literally ‘Ship-destroyer, man-destroyer, city-destroyer’) in ‘Agamemnon’ l. 689
Innumerable twinkling of the waves of the sea.
‘Prometheus Bound’ l. 89
1.24 Herbert Agar 1897-1980
The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.
‘A Time for Greatness’ (1942) ch. 7
1.25 James Agate 1877-1947
My mind is not a bed to be made and re-made.
‘Ego 6’ (1944) 9 June 1943
1.26 Agathon b. c.445 B.C.
Even God cannot change the past.
In Aristotle ‘Nicomachaean Ethics’ bk. 6, sect. 2, 1139b
1.27 Spiro T. Agnew 1918—
A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who
characterize themselves as intellectuals.
Speech in New Orleans, 19 October 1969, in ‘Frankly Speaking’ (1970) ch. 3
1.28 Maria, Marchioness of Ailesbury d. 1902
My dear, my dear, you never know when any beautiful young lady may not blossom into a
Duchess!
In Duke of Portland ‘Men, Women, and Things’ (1937) ch. 3
1.29 Canon Alfred Ainger 1837-1904
No flowers, by request.
Speech, 8 July 1897 (summary of principle of conciseness for contributors to the ‘Dictionary of National
Biography’)
1.30 Max Aitken