British Quotes - Page 14

• I'm a big fan of British journalists like 'The Independent”s Robert Fisk, but it's hard to find voices like his in the U.S.

  Jackson Browne

  Independent, Voice, Fans

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• Liberalism is a really old British tradition and it has a completely different attitude towards the individual and the relationship between the individual and the state than the collectivist response of Labour, and particularly Old Labour, does.

  Nick Clegg

  Attitude, Doe, Different

  The Economist Interview, www.economist.com. March 11, 2010.

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• I even got a letter from a young woman in British Columbia that began as follows: 'Today I am eighteen. I am sitting at the window, looking out at the rain, and thinking how much I love you.'

  Isaac Asimov

  Rain, Love You, Thinking

  Isaac Asimov (2009). “I, Asimov: A Memoir”, p.426, Bantam

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• What do you call that nice, shiny white metal they use to make sidings and airplanes out of? Aluminum, right? Aluminum, pronounced 'uh-LOO-mih-num', right? Anybody knows that! But do you know how the British spell it? 'Aluminium', pronounced 'Al-yoo-MIH-nee-um'. Ever hear anything so ridiculous? The French and Germans spell it 'aluminium', too, but they're foreigners who don't speak Earth-standard. You'd think the British, however, using our language, would be more careful

  Isaac Asimov

  Nice, Airplane, Thinking

  Isaac Asimov (1975). “Of matters great and small”

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• Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistan, ancient capital of the Punjab, home to nearly as many people as New York, layered like a sedimentary plain with the accreted history of invaders from the Aryans to the Mongols to the British.

  Mohsin Hamid

  New York, Home, Cities

  Mohsin Hamid (2007). “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”, p.7, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• In this instance of the fire-arms, the Asiatic has been most improperly bracketed with the native. The British Indian does not need any such restrictions as are imposed by the Bill on the natives regarding the carrying of fire-arms. The prominent race can remain so by preventing the native from arming himself. Is there a slightest vestige of justification for so preventing the British Indian?

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Fire, Race, Doe

  "The Indian Opinion" Newspaper, March 25, 1905.

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• If we had the atom bomb, we would have used it against the British.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Atoms, Bombs, Used

  Mahatma Gandhi (2012). “The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas”, p.312, Vintage

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• But if we come back, if German men come back, if British men come back, and Japs, and French, and all the other men, all of us talking, writing, painting, making movies of heroes, and cockroaches and foxholes and blood, then future generations will always be doomed to future Hitlers. It's never occurred to boys to have contempt for wars, to point to soldiers' pictures in history books, laughing at them. If German boys had learned to be contemptuous of violence, Hitler would have had to take up knitting to keep his ego warm.

  J. D. Salinger

  War, Book, Hero

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• The problem with being British... I don't know if it's me being British or being raised a strict Catholic, but you never really enjoy success.

  Danny Boyle

  Catholic, Problem, Enjoy

  Interview with Chris Tilly, ca.ign.com. January 7, 2009.

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• Why lower oneself to taking pride from being American or British, when you can boast of being man!

  Jules Verne

  Pride, Men, Boast

  Jules Verne, William Butcher (2005). “The Extraordinary Journeys: The Adventures of Captain Hatteras”, p.290, Oxford University Press, USA

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• They fought their first action in March of 1775. Embarked on eight small ships, they sailed to the Bahamas and captured a British fort near Nassau, seizing gunpowder and supplies. Later, during the Revolutionary War, Marines fought several engagements in their distinctive green coats, such as helping George Washington to cross the Delaware River, and assisting John Paul Jones on the Bonhomme Richard to capture the British frigate Serapis during their famous sea fight.

  Tom Clancy

  War, Marine, Fighting

  "Marine". Book by Tom Clancy, 1996.

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• And whatever their publicized angst over Saddam Hussein's 'weapons of mass destruction,' American and British authorities were also concerned about violence in an area that harbors a resource indispensable for the functioning of the word economy. I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.

  Alan Greenspan

  War, Mass Destruction, Oil

  "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World". Book by Alan Greenspan, 2007.

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• The British audience was very important to me. I have always looked away from American to non-American audiences and so this was important.

  Robert Sheckley

  Important, Audience

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• Ireland is such a young society. The British were the ruling class up until they left about a hundred years ago, and we've been trying to work out what our class hierarchy is ever since.

  Tana French

  Years, Class, Work Out

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• ID can be hijacked, and cards can be faked. All of the 9/11 terrorists had fake IDs, yet they still got on the planes. If the British national ID card can't be faked, it will be the first on the planet.

  Bruce Schneier

  Fake, Cards, Firsts

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• Even with the recent story about the nurse killing herself in King Edward Hospital, there's no blame placed on Kate Middleton, who was in the hospital as far as I could see for absolutely no reason. She feels no shame about the death of this woman, she's saying nothing about the death of this poor woman. The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering. And why it's allowed to be I really don't know... It wasn't because of two DJs in Australia that this woman took her own life, it was the pressure around her.

  Steven Morrissey

  Kings, Australia, Two

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• Ryan Giggs will go down as the most successful British footballer of all time and I cannot see anyone ever overtaking him. He's on the brink of his 13th league title, after all.

  Gary Neville

  Successful, League, Titles

  "Ryan Giggs named best player in Premier League's 20-year history", www.theguardian.com. May 15, 2012.

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• I think the good old British democracy should keep scrutinising and pressing to get the truth out.

  Clare Short

  Thinking, Democracy, Should

  "Today" with John Humphrys, www.theguardian.com. February 26, 2004.

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• I'm proud of being British, but I think our aristocracy is overrated.

  Paloma Faith

  Thinking, Aristocracy, Proud

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• Most white Americans only discovered the blues with the British invasion.

  Ronnie Wood

  White, Invasion, British Invasion

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• I think deep down, this planet yearns for the days of the British Empire again. They long once more to be treated that badly, that politely. We did far worse things than you can possibly dream of, but we did it with that certainly gentlemanly swagger... Dreadfully sorry, but we seem to have crushed your entire continent's infrastructure. Allow me to make it up to you by offering you a job 4,000 miles away. No, no, I insist.

  John Oliver

  Dream, Jobs, Sorry

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• The way to bring out the best in the British people is to attack them.

  Alasdair MacIntyre

  Peace, War, People

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• Astonishing times. Who would have imagined that the Crazy Gang would yield a Hollywood film star (Vinny Jones), a British television ever-present (John Fashanu) and now a televised African dance champion?

  Giles Smith

  Soccer, Football, Stars

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• Straight out of Blackpool, I'm William Regal. My rhymes so intense, they shouldn't be legal. My style is refined, not crude and crass. I'll keep you grounded, like volcanic ash. I'll take you down, rung by rung. I'm just like British Parliment; I'm completely hung. Straight-up gangsta trippin'. Yes, boy!

  William Regal

  Gangsta, Boys, Wwe

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• The reason the first three Star Wars movies were so terrific, and the second three sucked so bad, is actually very simple. The first three were about rebels, shooting guns and driving fast, and speaking with American accents. The second three were about politicians, discussing treaties and holding court, and speaking with British accents.

  Bill Whittle

  Stars, War, Simple

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