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insults, and, worst of all, the presumptuous judgements of the ignorant upon
their designs.
We think of concern about the influence of spin-doctors to be a comparatively
recent phenomenon, but John Buchan in
The Three Hostages
(1924) has a
recognizable account of the process: ‘Have you ever considered what a diabolical
weapon that can be—using all the channels of modern publicity to poison and warp
men’s minds?’ He described it as the most dangerous thing on earth, although
happily in the long run (and having ‘sown the world with mischief’) self-defeating.
Again, the accuracy of media reports is frequently criticized today, but it was in
1807 that Thomas Jefferson wrote, ‘Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a
newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.’
Power has traditionally been seen as a dangerous commodity. ‘Excessive dealings
with tyrants are not good for the security of free states’ said the Athenian statesman
Demosthenes. In the sixteenth century, Thomas More warned that, ‘Anyone who
campaigns for public office becomes disqualified for holding any office at all.’ On the
other hand, Nathan Hale, the American revolutionary hanged as a spy by the British
in 1776, thought that ‘Every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes
honourable by being necessary.’ In the twentieth century Willy Brandt was
determinedly optimistic: ‘We want to risk more democracy.’
Some quotations reflect a personal passion. ‘Good food is always a trouble and its
preparation should be regarded as a labour of love,’ said Elizabeth David in 1951,
introducing her groundbreaking
French Country Cooking
. The English ceramic
designer Susie Cooper pointed out, sensibly, the advantages of her chosen
medium. ‘Pottery…is a practical and lasting form of art. Not everyone can afford
original paintings, but most people can afford pottery.’ Another ceramic artist,
Clarice Cliff, reflected, ‘Colour seems to radiate happiness and the spirit of modern
life and movement, and I cannot put too much of it in my designs to please women.’
The sculptor Barbara Hepworth said of her own work, ‘I rarely draw what I see—I
draw what I feel in my own body.’ The chemist Dorothy Hodgkin, a Nobel prizewin-
ner, said of her early engagement in her subject, ‘I was captured for life by
chemistry and by crystals.’ The French painter Paul Cézanne asserted, ‘I will
astonish Paris with an apple.’
A number of quotations bring the individuality (and story) of the speaker strongly to
mind. ‘I will not be triumphed over’ said Cleopatra (according to the Roman historian
Livy). ‘Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle’ said Michelangelo
(according to Samuel Smiles). Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister who liked the
Garter because there was ‘no damned merit’ about it, had a clear view of the
management of higher education: ‘Universities never reform themselves; everyone
knows that.’ Theodore Roosevelt likened the attempt to make an agreement with
Colombia to trying to nail currant jelly to a wall. ‘And the failure to nail currant jelly to
the wall is not due to the nail. It’s due to the currant jelly.’ The explorer Ernest
Shackleton thought that, ‘Superhuman effort isn’t worth a damn unless it achieves
results.’ Eleanor Roosevelt, speaking to the new President after the sudden death
of her husband Franklin, said to Harry Truman, ‘Is there anything we can do for
you? For you are the one in trouble now.’ The Canadian writer Robert MacNeil said
of reading aloud to children, ‘Parents can plant magic in a child’s mind through
certain words spoken with some thrilling quality of voice.’
The fifth edition, of 1999, for the first time gave proper place to the sacred texts of
world religions other than Christianity. This was of course appropriate to a
multicultural age, but it was fascinating to see how words and phrases from such
sources were already permeating the English language. More contextual
information was provided: because something is familiar to one section of our
readership, we cannot necessarily assume that everyone will know it. We also
responded to queries from readers by restoring proverbs and nursery rhymes (it
has been clear from correspondence over the years that our readers expect to find
this kind of material in the
Dictionary
).
The 1999 edition was also the first to be compiled online, and this fed back to the
presentation of material: more navigational paths were provided for our readers,
including a consciously generous system of cross-referencing. Particular categories
of quotation, which in the main had previously been buried in the Anonymous
section, were brought together in special category sections integrated into the main
sequence: for example, Advertising slogans and Newspaper headlines.
The world of quotations is a kaleidoscopic one. What of the future?
The collection of quotations, and background material, will continue, and new
information may be discovered relating even to apparently familiar sayings. The