xy

@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“No one and nothing can harm us, child, except what we fear and love.”

Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) Norwegian writer

Source: The Wreath

“All my days I have longed equally to travel the right road and to take my own errant path.”

Sigrid Undset Kristin Lavransdatter

Source: Kristin Lavransdatter

“The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

BBC obituary (2004)

“I hate being moved. I hate that man who came in. So self-righteous, so cruel. He made fun of me, that's why I cried. You never did that. You led me into temptation by your — politeness.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

The Loser : A Novel (1960)

“To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than is normal.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

BBC obituary (2004)

“To all those who by accident or design, have not been included in this book.”

Peter Ustinov book Dear Me

Dedication page
Dear Me (1977)

“2nd Soldier: Do you mean that, as a General, you're not the tiniest bit ambitious for our military future?
General: I prefer our military past. The harm's done and there it is. As for being a General, well, at the age of four with paper hats and wooden swords, we're all Generals. Only some of us never grow out of it.”

Peter Ustinov Romanoff and Juliet

Act I
Romanoff and Juliet (1956)

“Billy Budd: You didn't even hate him. I think that sometimes you hate yourself. I was thinking, sir, the nights are lonely. Perhaps I could talk with you between watches when you've nothing else to do.
Claggert: Lonely. What do you know of loneliness?
Billy Budd: Them's alone that want to be.
Claggert: Nights are long. Conversation helps pass the time.
Billy Budd: Can I talk to you again, then? It would mean a lot to me.
Claggert: Perhaps to me, too. [His expression suddenly sours] Oh, no. You would charm me too, huh? Get away.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

Billy Budd (1962)

“I'd rather be buried at sea than on the shore when I come to die. Will you stand by the plank, mates, so I can shake a friendly hand before I sink?”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

Billy Budd
Billy Budd (1962)

“Good-bye to you too ol' Rights of Man!”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

Bill Budd, as he is impressed into service aboard the warship HMS Avenger
Billy Budd (1962)

“I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

As quoted in Words and Their Masters (1974) by Israel Shenker, p. 170

“Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

As quoted in The Book of Quotes (1979) by Barbara Rowes, p. 164

“Critics search for ages for the wrong word, which, to give them credit, they eventually find.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

BBC obituary (2004)

“Life was cheap in the Middle Ages. It has become cheaper since. It is only in specific battles for specific lives that our culture is put to the test, and with it our humanity.”

Peter Ustinov book Dear Me

p, 125
Dear Me (1977)

“The truth is really an ambition which is beyond us.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

As quoted in International Herald Tribune (12 March 1990)

“Basically I'm a very serious person, but I think the form it takes with me is comedy. I see the amusing side of all potentially pompous situations.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

BBC obituary (2004)

“Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

As quoted in Backstabbing for Beginners : My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (2008) by Michael Soussan, p. 316

“Sex is a conversation carried out by other means.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

As quoted in Marriages and Families (1997) by Mary Ann Lamanna, p. 69

“I have Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Ethiopian blood in my veins.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

As quoted in TIME magazine obituary, (5 April 2004) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501040412-607849,00.html, p. 22, which noted that his great-grandfather had married the Princess of Ethiopia.

“Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.”

Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist

2000 Years of Disbelief : Famous People with the Courage to Doubt (1996) by James A. Haught