Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

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Quotes from all eras are included, from the Bible and Shakespeare to films and song lyrics. This revised edition also contains appendices covering Sayings of the '90s, Popular Misquotations, Advertising Slogans, and Mottos. More non-English quotations are included (many in their original language In 1915 there was an initial suggestion for ‘an Oxford Dictionary of Poetry Quotations (not foreign quotations)’, to be based on ‘Oxford texts and the N.E.D. [now the Oxford English Dictionary]’. The idea was not immediately followed up, and it was not until the 1930s that the project got under way. An assessment in a letter of 1931 highlighted especially familiar quotations from foreign languages and ‘modern quotations that have not yet got into the books’. Consideration of the collection of material came with the warning that ‘Even in English we shall have to guard against things quotable, as apart from things commonly quoted.’ This collection is the ideal place to answer all your quotation questions. You can discover which of over 3,000 authors said that tantalising phrase, or you can search over 600 subjects to find an apt quotation for any occasion. You can listen to Harper Lee on Technology and Leon Trotsky on Art, or Demosthenes on Opportunity and J.K. Rowling on Parents. This is your chance to find out just who said ‘Imagination is the highest kite that can fly’, ‘We must be the change we wish to see in the world’, or ‘Failure is not an option’. Alternatively, an idea may be around in a general way, but it may take the impetus of a speech by a well-known figure to crystallize it in the public consciousness, as American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld did for the ‘known knowns…known unknowns…unknown unknowns’.

Each illuminating entry contains in-depth details of the earliest traceable source, biographical cross-references, birth and death dates, and a career brief. With both a thematic and keyword index, scholars and readers thumbing through the book will easily be able to find quotations for all Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, former MP and government whip, now best known as a reporter for The One Show on BBC1, a regular on Just A Minute, and the host of Wordaholics on BBC Radio 4. He has also featured on Have I Got News For You, QI, Countdown, This Is Your Life, and Desert Island Discs. A former Oxford scholar and President of the Oxford Union, a journalist and award-winning interviewer, a theatre producer, an actor and after-dinner speaker, he has been collecting quotations for more than fifty years. Author Q&A What is the one quotation that everyone—from students to everyday web users—should be familiar with? Why? Nothing matters very much and very few things matter at all.’ This wonderful line is the work of Arthur Balfour, who trained as a philosopher and ended up as prime minister in 1902. It is a great line to bear in mind when you are facing Life and its Challenges and everything seems to be getting on top of you. Which historical events or figures featured in the Dictionary have most influenced your study of quotations? Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men".---John Donne, my favorite quotation at the moment and English), as well as more quotations from women authors, from the sciences, and from films, TV, journalism, and politics. Each quotation is accompanied by its earliest traceable source, and the main listing by author is complemented by a useful key word index. And the Dictionary is now

Understanding entries

Oxford Dictionary of Quotations audio links, including original speeches, poets reading their own work, or works in Old English

Wikipedia notes Pope ‘is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare’ ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope#Works, accessed 5 June 2019). Now updated and expanded, and containing over 17,000 quotations from 2,500 men and women from all walks of life, this revised edition of the foremost dictionary of quotations offers the ideal bon mot for every occasion.If you know an exact phrase from the quotation, enclose it in speech marks (e.g. “to thine own self be true”), and search in the same way. This will only find entries containing the exact phrase, so remember that a small error, such as searching for “to thy own self be true” will mean that the quotation is not found.

sixty-one quotable Americans. This updated sixth edition encompasses current trends in politics and culture with quotations such as "States like these constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world" (George Bush), and "It's a good thing" (Martha Stewart). Many other new The first edition, in 1941, was compiled by a committee drawn from the staff of the OUP under the editorship of Alice Mary Smyth (later Alice Mary Hadfield). [2] She recounts some of the details of choosing and processing quotations in her book on the life of Charles Williams (one of the committee). [3] Later editions of the Dictionary were published in 1953 and thereafter, the 6th edition appearing in 2004 ( ISBN 0-19-860720-2), the 7th in 2009 ( ISBN 0-19-923717-4), and the 8th in 2014 ( ISBN 0-19-966870-1), all edited by Elizabeth Knowles. [1]

Once we have identified a potential new quotation as worth pursuing, it has to be authenticated. We want to be sure that the wording is correct, that the supposed author really did say it, and that no-one else said it earlier. Darwin may have been flattered by the terms of the appeal ('You are the man... It's a great book, and we want a great Introduction'), or touched by its frankness ('We really are in a hole'). Whatever his reason, he accepted, and provided the missing Introduction. The Dictionary was successfully published in 1941, with the first printing of 20,000 copies being exhausted a month after publication. You can do a basic search by entering a few words from the quotation in the Search box and restricting the results to those in the subject area Quotations (using the left-hand pane). This works well if the words are not too common, but is less useful for words like ‘man’ or ‘love’. Some evidence pointing to answers to these questions is now appearing in the OED3 revision discussed below. It begins with a preface explaining the term quotation: [ citation needed] The dictionary has been compiled from extensive evidence of the quotations that are actually used [as direct quotations].... This book is not—like many quotations dictionaries—a subjective anthology of the editor's favourite quotations, but an objective selection of the quotations which are most widely known and used. Popularity and familiarity are the main criteria for inclusion, although no reader is likely to be familiar with all the quotations in this dictionary.... The quotations are drawn from novels, plays, poems, essays, speeches, films radio and television broadcasts, songs, advertisements, and even book titles. It is difficult to draw the line between quotations and similar sayings like proverbs, catch-phrases, and idioms. For example, some quotations (like “The opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings”) become proverbial. These are usually included if they can be traced to a particular originator.... Catch-phrases are included if there is evidence that they are widely remembered or used. Editions [ edit ]

Now in this fifth edition, over 180 subjects have been updated with new quotations added from over 190 authors, including over 60 new authors ranging from Dan Brown to Tracey Emin, from Hokusai to Emil Zatopek. New subjects include Media and Spelling.Words from long ago may be quoted in a new context, as when Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, quoted the words of the fourteenth century mystic St Catherine of Siena at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton: ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire’. Lady Anne Barnard: "When the sheep are in the fauld, when the cows come home, When a' the weary world to quiet rest are gone." What were these ‘old words’, were they quoted in OED1, and was their archaic status recognized? And if it seems unlikely that Pope’s Homer exemplified standard or everyday (i.e. non-poetic) usage of its period, does OED’s record suggest that Pope’s vocabulary in the Odyssey was part of an existing native literary tradition or was it more innovative – and was it influential on subsequent usage, whether literary or more general?