Works
Dear Me
Peter Ustinov
Romanoff and Juliet
Peter UstinovFamous Peter Ustinov Quotes
“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.”
As quoted in Morrow's International Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1982) by Jonathon Green
“The only one who's always punctual is Death”
Act I
Romanoff and Juliet (1956)
Context: The only one who's always punctual is Death … whatever the time he always strikes his knell at the first streak of dawn … and believe me, he knows what he's doing. How I hate the dawn! It's the hour of the firing squad. The last glass of brandy. The ultimate cigarette. The final wish. All the hideously calculated hypocrisy of men when they commit a murder in the name of justice. Then it's the time of death on a grander scale, the hour of the great offenses … fix your bayonets boys …gentlemen, synchronize your watches … in ten seconds time the barrage starts … a thousand men are destined to die in order to capture a farmhouse no one has lived in for years... And finally dawn is the herald of the day, our twelve hours of unimportance, when we have to cede to the pressures of the powers, smile at people we have every reason but expediency to detest … A diplomat these days is nothing but a head-waiter who's allowed to sit down occasionally.
Master At Arms Claggert
Billy Budd (1962)
Peter Ustinov Quotes about the world
Billy Budd (1962)
Dear Me (1977)
Context: We have fought two wars to end war. In 1976, the nations of this world set aside the same amount of money for its starving children as the lavished on armaments every two hours. Can any right-minded man afford to be a pessimist? That was a luxury for easier days. <!-- p. 167
Peter Ustinov Quotes about children
“Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.”
As quoted in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Great Quotes for All Occasions (2008) by Elaine Bernstein Partnow, p. 12
“Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.”
As quoted in The Book of Quotes (1979) by Barbara Rowes, p. 164
Peter Ustinov: Trending quotes
“Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.”
Achtung! Vorurteile (2003); original German: "Der Terrorismus, der im furchtbaren 11. September kulminierte, ist ein Krieg der Armen gegen die Reichen. Der Krieg ist ein Terrorismus der Reichen gegen die Armen." typically cited in short: "Terrorismus ist der Krieg der Armen und der Krieg ist der Terrorismus der Reichen."
Peter Ustinov Quotes
“A diplomat these days is nothing but a head-waiter who's allowed to sit down occasionally.”
Act I
Romanoff and Juliet (1956)
Context: The only one who's always punctual is Death … whatever the time he always strikes his knell at the first streak of dawn … and believe me, he knows what he's doing. How I hate the dawn! It's the hour of the firing squad. The last glass of brandy. The ultimate cigarette. The final wish. All the hideously calculated hypocrisy of men when they commit a murder in the name of justice. Then it's the time of death on a grander scale, the hour of the great offenses … fix your bayonets boys …gentlemen, synchronize your watches … in ten seconds time the barrage starts … a thousand men are destined to die in order to capture a farmhouse no one has lived in for years... And finally dawn is the herald of the day, our twelve hours of unimportance, when we have to cede to the pressures of the powers, smile at people we have every reason but expediency to detest … A diplomat these days is nothing but a head-waiter who's allowed to sit down occasionally.
On Serbian war aims and human rights abuses during the post-Yugoslavian conlicts, and especially the Bosnian War, as quoted in (10 June 1993)
Context: It is unfortunate for all that no moral issue has ever been clearer. Any attempt to plea-bargain with outlaws and renegades will only be at the expense of honor, decency and self-respect. The Serbs, are two-dimensional people with a craving for simplicity and an ideology so basic it can be understood without effort. They need enemies, not friends, to focus their two-dimensional ideas. Life for them is a simple tune, never an orchestration, or even a pleasant harmony. Animals make use of their resources with far greater felicity than these retorted creatures, whose subscription to the human race is well in arrears.
On Serbian war aims and human rights abuses during the post-Yugoslavian conlicts, and especially the Bosnian War, as quoted in (10 June 1993)
Context: It is unfortunate for all that no moral issue has ever been clearer. Any attempt to plea-bargain with outlaws and renegades will only be at the expense of honor, decency and self-respect. The Serbs, are two-dimensional people with a craving for simplicity and an ideology so basic it can be understood without effort. They need enemies, not friends, to focus their two-dimensional ideas. Life for them is a simple tune, never an orchestration, or even a pleasant harmony. Animals make use of their resources with far greater felicity than these retorted creatures, whose subscription to the human race is well in arrears.
“All the hideously calculated hypocrisy of men when they commit a murder in the name of justice.”
Act I
Romanoff and Juliet (1956)
Context: The only one who's always punctual is Death … whatever the time he always strikes his knell at the first streak of dawn … and believe me, he knows what he's doing. How I hate the dawn! It's the hour of the firing squad. The last glass of brandy. The ultimate cigarette. The final wish. All the hideously calculated hypocrisy of men when they commit a murder in the name of justice. Then it's the time of death on a grander scale, the hour of the great offenses … fix your bayonets boys …gentlemen, synchronize your watches … in ten seconds time the barrage starts … a thousand men are destined to die in order to capture a farmhouse no one has lived in for years... And finally dawn is the herald of the day, our twelve hours of unimportance, when we have to cede to the pressures of the powers, smile at people we have every reason but expediency to detest … A diplomat these days is nothing but a head-waiter who's allowed to sit down occasionally.
“It's hot. And there's a lot of it. I like everything about it except the flavor.”
Bill Budd, on the ship's gruel.
Billy Budd (1962)
“Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.”
BBC obituary (2004)
As quoted in The Independent (25 February 1989)
As quoted in Contemporary Quotations (1988) by James Beasley Simpson
“If Botticelli were alive today he'd be working for Vogue.”
As quoted in The Observer (21 October 1968); a punctuation variant occurs in some publications: "If Botticelli were alive today, he'd be working for Vogue."
“To be gentle, tolerant, wise and reasonable requires a goodly portion of toughness.”
As quoted in Who Said That? (1984) by Renie Gee.
“I am just a man, not fit to do the work of God… or the Devil.”
Captain Vere
Billy Budd (1962)
As quoted in Contemporary Quotations (1969) by James Beasley Simpson
“The only reason I made a commercial for American Express was to pay for my American Express bill.”
As quoted in The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners (2004) by Geoff Tibballs
“Politicians only get to the top because they have no qualifications to detain them at the bottom.”
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.
“Pavarotti is not vain, but conscious of being unique.”
As quoted in The Independent (12 September 1993)
As quoted in Morrow's International Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1982) by Jonathon Green
“Laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died.”
As quoted in The Observer (13 March 1955)
As quoted in The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations (1993) edited by Robert Andrews, p. 742
“Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.”
2000 Years of Disbelief : Famous People with the Courage to Doubt (1996) by James A. Haught
“I have Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Ethiopian blood in my veins.”
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.
“Sex is a conversation carried out by other means.”
As quoted in Marriages and Families (1997) by Mary Ann Lamanna, p. 69
“Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.”
As quoted in Backstabbing for Beginners : My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (2008) by Michael Soussan, p. 316
“The truth is really an ambition which is beyond us.”
As quoted in International Herald Tribune (12 March 1990)
As quoted in Words and Their Masters (1974) by Israel Shenker, p. 170
“Good-bye to you too ol' Rights of Man!”
Bill Budd, as he is impressed into service aboard the warship HMS Avenger
Billy Budd (1962)
Billy Budd (1962)
Act I
Romanoff and Juliet (1956)
“To all those who by accident or design, have not been included in this book.”
Dedication page
Dear Me (1977)
