xy

@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023
Peter Ustinov photo

“There is no question but that if Jesus Christ, or a great prophet from another religion, were to come back today, he would find it virtually impossible to convince anyone of his credentials despite the fact that the vast evangelical machine on American television is predicated on His imminent return among us sinners.”

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

As quoted in The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations (1993) edited by Robert Andrews, p. 742

Peter Ustinov photo

“I'm Rally of Unionist Separist Extremes, sometimes known as the R. U. S. E. … It's the party at present in power.”

Peter Ustinov Romanoff and Juliet

Act I
Romanoff and Juliet (1956)

Peter Ustinov photo

“Claggert: We must serve the law, sir, or give up the right and privilege of service. It is only within that law that we may use our discretions according to our rank.
Captain Vere: You're so intelligent and so lucid for the rank you hold, Master At Arms.
Claggert: I thank you, sir.
Captain Vere: Yes, that's no flattery, Mr. Claggart. It's a melancholy fact. It's sad to see such qualities of mind bent to such a sorry purpose. What's the reason for it?
Claggert: I am what I am, sir. And what the world has made me.
Captain Vere: The world? The world demands that behind every peacemaker there be the gun, the gallows, the jail. Do you think it will always be so?
Claggert: I have no reason not to, sir.
Captain Vere: You live without hope?
Claggert: I live.
Captain Vere: But remember, Mr. Claggart, that even the man who wields the whip cannot defy the code we must obey and not be broken by it. That will be all.”

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

Billy Budd (1962)

Peter Ustinov photo

“Laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died.”

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

As quoted in The Observer (13 March 1955)

Peter Ustinov photo

“In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from.”

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

As quoted in Morrow's International Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1982) by Jonathon Green

Peter Ustinov photo

“You know Seymour, there are some men who cannot stand too much perfection. They see it as a disease, which must be stamped out at its first rash showing.”

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

Captain Vere
Billy Budd (1962)

Peter Ustinov photo

“Pavarotti is not vain, but conscious of being unique.”

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

As quoted in The Independent (12 September 1993)

Peter Ustinov photo

“The social sciences were for all those who had not yet decided what to do with their lives, and for all those whose premature frustrations led them into the sterile alleys of confrontation.”

Peter Ustinov book Dear Me

Dear Me (1977)

Peter Ustinov photo

“Politicians only get to the top because they have no qualifications to detain them at the bottom.”

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

As quoted in International Celebrity Register (1959) Cleveland Amory
Variant: People who reach the top of the tree are only those who haven't got the qualifications to detain them at the bottom.

Peter Ustinov photo

“Flogging. The only solution to every problem. I warrant even the culprit himself doesn't know! It was just — his turn!”

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

Dansker
Billy Budd (1962)

Peter Ustinov photo

“It's wrong to flog a man. It's against his being a man.”

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

Billy Budd
Billy Budd (1962)

Peter Ustinov photo

“Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first.”

Peter Ustinov book Dear Me

Dear Me (1977)

Peter Ustinov photo

“The only reason I made a commercial for American Express was to pay for my American Express bill.”

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

As quoted in The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners (2004) by Geoff Tibballs

Peter Ustinov photo

“I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me the most civilized music in the world.”

Peter Ustinov book Dear Me

Dear Me (1977)

Peter Ustinov photo

“By increasing the size of the keyhole, today's playwrights are in danger of doing away with the door.”

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

As quoted in Contemporary Quotations (1969) by James Beasley Simpson

Peter Ustinov photo

“Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.”

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

As quoted in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Great Quotes for All Occasions (2008) by Elaine Bernstein Partnow, p. 12

Peter Ustinov photo

“Irrespective of nationality, soldiers are always open to the same discomfort and to the same comradeship the world over. I'll make things easy for you if you make things easy for me. That is, after all the unwritten law of the barracks.”

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

The Loser : A Novel (1960)

Peter Ustinov photo

“It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously.”

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

BBC obituary (2004)

Peter Ustinov photo

“I have four children which is not bad considering I'm not a Catholic.”

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

BBC obituary (2004)

Peter Ustinov photo

“I am just a man, not fit to do the work of God… or the Devil.”

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

Captain Vere
Billy Budd (1962)