W. S. Gilbert Quotes

Quotes about:

• When everyone is somebody, then no one's anybody.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Men, Assessment

  William Schwenck Gilbert, “King Goodheart”

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• He did nothing in particular, and did it very well.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Work, Peers, Wells

  'Iolanthe' (1882) act 2

  48 Copy quote

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• Merely corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Giving, Details, Statistics

  The Mikado act 2 (1885)

  39 Copy quote

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• It's love that makes the world go round.

  W. S. Gilbert

  World, Criminal Mind, Rounds

  W. S. Gilbert, Ian C. Bradley (2016). “The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.504, Oxford University Press

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• As is gloriously sung in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "H.M.S. Pinafore," in the words of W. S. Gilbert: "Things are seldom as they seem, Skim milk masquerades as cream."

  W. S. Gilbert

  Milk, Masquerade, Cream

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• I'm really very sorry for you all, but it's an unjust world, and virtue is triumphant only in theatrical performances.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Sorry, World, Unjust

  W. S. Gilbert, Ian C. Bradley (2016). “The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.703, Oxford University Press

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• I am the Captain of the Pinafore ; And a right good captain too! . . . . And I'm never, never sick at sea! What, never? No, never! What never? Hardly ever! He's hardly ever sick at sea! Then give three cheers, and one cheer more, For the hardy Captain of the Pinafore!

  W. S. Gilbert

  Cheer, Sea, Sick

  H.M.S. Pinafore act 1 (1878)

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• Deerstalking would be a very fine sport if only the deer had guns.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Sports, Animal, Gun

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• No one can have a higher opinion of him than I have; and I think he's a dirty little beast.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Sarcastic, Dirty, Thinking

  36 Copy quote

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• Oh, don't the days seem lank and long When all goes right and nothing goes wrong, And isn't your life extremely flat With nothing whatever to grumble at!

  W. S. Gilbert

  Life, Long, Flats

  W. S. Gilbert, Ian C. Bradley (2016). “The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.607, Oxford University Press

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• When in that House MPs divide/If they've a brain and cerebellum, too/They've got to leave that brain outside/And vote just as their leaders tell 'em to.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Mps, House, Leader

  Arthur Sullivan, W. S. Gilbert (2008). “The Savoy Operas: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.457, Penguin UK

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• Oh, wouldn't the world seem dull and flat with nothing whatever to grumble at?

  W. S. Gilbert

  World, Dull, Flats

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• Life's a pudding full of plums.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Life, Pudding, Plums

  W. S. Gilbert, Ian C. Bradley (2016). “The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.965, Oxford University Press

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• It isn't so much what's on the table that matters, as what's on the chairs.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Food, Cooking, Tables

  7 Copy quote

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• If you give me your attention, I will tell you what I am:
  I'm a genuine philanthropist--all other kinds are sham.
  Each little fault of temper and each social defect
  In my erring fellow creatures, I endeavor to correct.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Giving, Attention, Erring

  W. S. Gilbert, Ian C. Bradley (2016). “The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.537, Oxford University Press

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• Saturday afternoon, although occurring at regular and well-foreseen intervals, always takes this railway by surprise.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Luck, Afternoon, Surprise

  24 Copy quote

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• In all the woes that curse our race there is a lady in the case.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Women, Race, Woe

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• I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, of pre-Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell you that I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Facts, Ancestry, Descent

  W. S. Gilbert, Ian C. Bradley (2016). “The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.637, Oxford University Press

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• I've an irritating chuckle, I've a celebrated sneer,
  I've an entertaining snigger, I've a fascinating leer;
  To everybody's prejudice I know a thing or two;
  I can tell a woman's age in half a minute--and I do

  W. S. Gilbert

  Two, Age, Prejudice

  'Princess Ida' (1884) act 1

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• Things are seldom what they seem.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Appearance, Things Are Not What They Seem, Seems

  H.M.S. Pinafore act 2 (1878)

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• Roll on, thou ball, roll on!
  Through pathless realms of Space,
  Roll on!

  W. S. Gilbert

  Space, Balls, Earth

  William Schwenck Gilbert, “To The Terrestrial Globe”

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• Darwinian man, though well-behaved, at best is only a monkey shaved.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Men, Monkeys, Evolution Of Man

  Arthur Sullivan, W. S. Gilbert (2008). “The Savoy Operas: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.548, Penguin UK

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• A man is but an ass
  Who fights in a cuirass

  W. S. Gilbert

  Fighting, Men, Ass

  Arthur Sullivan, W. S. Gilbert (2008). “The Savoy Operas: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan”, p.588, Penguin UK

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• The privilege and pleasure That we treasure beyond measure Is to run on little errands for the Ministers of State.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Running, Errands, Treasure

  'The Gondoliers' (1889) act 2

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• To sit in solemn silence on a dull, dark dock in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock from a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black block.

  W. S. Gilbert

  Block, Dark, Long

  The Mikado act 1 (1885)

  48 Copy quote

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