British Quotes - Page 27

• That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why she bestowed this particular name upon me I have no idea. Perhaps it had something to do with the great British sea captain Lord Nelson, but that would be only a guess.

  Nelson Mandela

  Sea, Names, Ideas

  7 Copy quote

• I have never, ever sought validation from the arbiters of British poetic taste.

  Linton Kwesi Johnson

  Validation, Taste, Poetic

  56 Copy quote

• Anything said in upper-crust British automatically sounded intelligent.

  Nancy Kress

  Intelligent, Said

  Nancy Kress (2014). “Yesterday's Kin”, p.9, Tachyon Publications

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• There's nothing worse than the British in one of their fits of morality.

  Stephen Fry

  Morality, Fit

  "Stephen Fry: Public anger over MPs’ expenses is ‘revolting’" by Jessica Geen, www.pinknews.co.uk. May 22, 2009.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• My oldest brother used to take me to the theater. The first play he took me to see was 'Black Comedy,' then he took me to see 'Butley.' We'd see all these British plays. And 'Hello, Dolly,' with Pearl Bailey. I was unconsciously thinking, 'Gee, I would love to be able to do that.'

  Nathan Lane

  Brother, Thinking, Play

  "Lane can't stop his career or his repartee". Ron Weiskind, Mobile Register, December 21, 1997.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I still read the British papers, but I’ve never been a Royalist, ever. It’s funny, there always seems to be much more of a fascination with the Royal Family over here then there does in England.

  Paul Bettany

  Fascination, Doe, Paper

  "Bowing Down To Paul Bettany". Interview with Aaron Hillis, www.ifc.com. December 24, 2009.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I love 'Monty Python,' 'Black Adder,' 'Fawlty Towers'. I'm a huge fan of British comedy.

  Isla Fisher

  Python, Black, Fans

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The British media is sinking down, as the American news media has lowered the bar for all of humanity. British news media is definitely trying to stoop down to that level. Everyone is stooping to the lowest common denominator.

  John Oliver

  Media, Humanity, Trying

  Interview with Jason Zabel, www.avclub.com. September 22, 2011.

  31 Copy quote

  Show source

• I think Americans still can't help but respond to the natural authority of this voice. Deep down they long to be told what to do by a British accent. That's why so many infomercials have British people.

  John Oliver

  Thinking, Voice, People

  23 Copy quote

• I'm British, so obviously I repress any powerful emotions of any kind in relation to anything.

  John Oliver

  Powerful, Emotion, Kind

  7 Copy quote

• The British press are a group of unremitting scumbags. And sometimes they use that scumbaggery to good ends, and often not.

  John Oliver

  Groups, Use, Scumbags

  4 Copy quote

• I'm British; pessimism is my wheelhouse.

  John Oliver

  Pessimism

  6 Copy quote

• I think British men build up the idea of us French girls having some magic extra sex appeal so much, they lose their heads. I can't really understand the whole thing - but it makes me laugh. It's such a cliche to think all French girls are well dressed, elegant, sophisticated and sexy. Some are utter slobs, I promise you that.

  Eva Green

  Girl, Sexy, Men

  15 Copy quote

• My sensei was a British karate champion named Brian Fitkin. He was my mentor and because I had a hard relationship with my dad, he became a father figure to me.

  Dolph Lundgren

  Dad, Father, Champion

  Interview with Eric Spitznagel, www.menshealth.com. August 15, 2012.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I've always liked country music. It's a certain aspect of America that goes back to the British Isles and the influence is very native to America.

  Robert Duvall

  Country, America, Influence

  4 Copy quote

• I've always dreamed of being a 'Burberry Girl', but know it'll never happen, because I'm not British. Still, you can't stop a girl from dreaming. And owning way too many Burberry coats!

  Nina Dobrev

  Girl, Dream, Coats

  28 Copy quote

• My father is Jewish, and I look exactly like him My mother is British, but she's of French extraction.

  Joan Collins

  Mother, Father, Looks

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Ricky Gervais would have you believe otherwise, but Sacha Baron Cohen is the most successful British comedian in the world.

  David Walliams

  Believe, Successful, Comedian

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• American actors who voice animated movies are so brilliant at it, because by the nature of American speak, it's full of energy and full of commitment. And as a British actor, we have to kind of learn that.

  Helen Mirren

  Commitment, Voice, Energy

  4 Copy quote

• I was in love with the British 'The Office', so even though I love Steve Carell, when they were going to remake it, I was like, 'This is not going to work. I'm going to completely veto this show. I am not going to watch this show.' But now, I love it.

  Sam Huntington

  Office, Watches, Veto

  "Sam Witwer, Sam Huntington & Meaghan Rath Talk BEING HUMAN Season Two". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. January 29, 2012.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Considering that I'm British and I talk the way I do, I love it when a director takes a chance on me.

  David Oyelowo

  Directors, Way, Chance

  "Exclusive: David Oyelowo Discusses His Roles in “96 Minutes,” “The Butler,” and More" by Jasmin Tiggett, www.indiewire.com. April 19, 2012.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I went back in British history. Some 204 people died there after a mine collapsed in 1838. In 1866, 361 miners died in Britain. In an explosion in 1894, 290 people died there.

  Recep Tayyip Erdogan

  People, Usual, Offensive

  "Turkey’s Many Occupational Hazards" by Ozan Varol, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 16, 2014.

  55 Copy quote

  Show source

• In the context of the great debates about identity politics - are you gay or straight, nationalist or republican, British or English and so on - I would ask, "Do you ride a bike?" I love everything about the machine - the sensation of the tyres on the road, the mobility - and I love the fact that you have this intimate relationship with the elements, and the landscape.

  Beatrix Campbell

  Gay, Cycling, Identity Politics

  7 Copy quote

• Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray, to not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field; that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little, shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome insects of the hour.

  Edmund Burke

  Numbers, Imagination, Shadow

  Edmund Burke (1963). “Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches”, p.557, Transaction Publishers

  129 Copy quote

  Show source

• I cannot help reflecting that if my father had been American and my mother British instead of the other way around, I might have gotten here on my own.

  Winston Churchill

  Mother, Father, Government

  Sir Winston Churchill (1966). “Irrepressible Churchill: a treasury of Winston Churchill's wit”

  7 Copy quote

  Show source