Thursday, February 18, 2010

Wit I grew up with. Part 1


I haven’t asked you to make me young again. All I want is to go on getting older

Konrad Adenauer 1876-1967


Long experience has taught me that in England nobody goes to the theatre unless he or she has bronchitis.

James Agate 1877-1947


Housekeeping ain’t no joke.

Louisa May Alcott 1832-1888


What’s a cult? It just means not enough people to make it a minority.

Robert Altman 1922 -2003


When I appear in public people expect me to neigh, grind my teeth, paw the ground and swish my tail – none of which is easy.

HRH Princess Anne 1950-


I always eat peas with honey, I’ve done it al my life, they do taste kind of funny, but it keeps them on the knife.

Anon


Democracy means government by discussion but it is only effective if you can stop people talking.

Clement Attlee 1883-1967


The future is …black.

James Baldwin 1924-1987


They were a tense and peculiar family, the Oedipuses, weren’t they?

Sir Max Beerbhom 1872-1936


Good taste is better then bad taste but bad taste is better than no taste.

Arnold Bennett 1867-1931


The world would not be in such a snarl, had Marx been Groucho instead of Karl.

Irving Berlin 1888-1989


Phone for the fish knives Norman as Cook is a little unnerved; you kiddies have crumpled the serviettes and I must have things daintily served.

Sir John Betjeman 1906-1984


I like the weather when it is not rainy, that is, I like two months of every year.

George Gordon Byron 1788-1824


Cocaine isn’t habit forming. I should know – I’ve been using it for years.

Tallulah Bankhead 1903-1968

21 comments:

mapstew said...

Well, Arnold Bennett gets my vote!

xxx

Gia Fernandes said...

It's Irving Berlin for me :-)

Pat said...

Mapstew and Cloud cutter: I've always had a soft spot for the refained Norman and the fish knives - reminds me of the pomcy dinner parties we had in the 50's-70's.

Queenie said...

I like them all.

Pat said...

Queenie: shows what good taste you have:)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I very much like every one of these, Pat....Fun and also in certain cases, right on the money, as they say.

I have a NEW Post up, my dear, if you get a chance.

lom said...

I love Tallulah's

Pat said...

Naomi: thanks -- I'll be over sometime today:)

LOM: Oooooh LOM!

Daphne Wayne-Bough said...

I liked the fish knives one too, in fact I think that was one of my dinner parties. The Attlee quote was very telling.

Pat said...

Daphne: I actually had fish knives and forks - with pearl handles. Fortuitously they got lost in the split.
Definition of a good quote - you could say - is to tell it like it is.

kenju said...

All good quotes!! I've seen the peas and honey one attributed to Ogden Nash, but I don't know for sure.

BBC said...

Hello Pat, thanks for the comment on my blog. I grew up in a logging & mining town where the catholic father visited the whorehouse and everyone swore so maybe you don't want to know about my wit, ha ha ha

The video on that blog reports that it isn't available at times, I have no idea why, it's just the internut I guess.

Helen thinks I am an angel, in as much as I look after and take care of a lot of her needs. But she is a real sweetie-pie and not at all demanding and very thankful for the things I do for her.

Cute blog, peaceful paths.

Pat said...

BBC: I see you often on 4d's of course. I was relieved to - at least see where the video was. On other blogs today I just get a white blank square where the video should be. I'm hoping someone will tell me to click something and I'll be working properly again.
Best to Helen.

Judy: could be. I like it because it reminds me of an actor I used to work with who would murmur 'Peas and treacle' when we had to laugh on camera. It worked - it was the way he told 'em!

Charlie said...

I like Princess Anne "putting on a pony show" for the public.

I also like James Agate. The other type who go to the theatre are the ones who bathe in perfume

Charlie said...

It seems very odd that you cannot see the YouTube videos. Have you tried looking at them in Google Reader?

You might ask Kim if he has any ideas.

Pat said...

Charlie: Its refreshing to know she has a sense of humour.
Kim has been on my mind all day but he has helped me SO many times and he has so much on his plate - so far I've resisted the temptation to harass him. Tomorrow is another day;) I'll just pop over and see if its working yet.

Pat said...

Kim : if you read this my problem has sorted itself.

Gadjo Dilo said...

I vote for Konrad Adenauer, a man with impeccable credentials who always looked like an old git but never let that bother him.

Pat said...

Gadjo: I remember him clearly.

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Ha, I like them all, I thrive on witty quotes and I pray for the day I can develop such wit. My sister can be as sharp as a tack and quick too, I should write down her words.

Pat said...

GG: yes you should . I regret not writing my younger son's sayings down. The only one I remember is when he said:
'Mummy your hair is very swift. It's like a waterfall.'