Requiem; 1935-1940 (1963; 1987)
“My tongue, not my pen, is my instrument.”
Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Conversation with Thomas Jones (7 January 1946), quoted in Thomas Jones, A Diary with Letters. 1931-1950 (Oxford University Press, 1954), p. 540.
1940s
“I speak my mind, because it hurts to bite my tongue”
Cornelius Keagon (1996) Liberian humanitarian aid worker
Fakhruddin 'Iraqi (1213–1289) Persian philosopher
Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes (1982)
Frederick William Faber (1814–1863) British hymn writer and theologian
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 215.
“Twas but my tongue, 'twas not my soul that swore.”
Variant translation by David Grene:
My tongue swore, but my mind was still unpledged.
Source: Hippolytus (428 BC), l. 612, as translated by Gilbert Murray (1954)
“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist
“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”
Oscar Levant (1906–1972) American comedian, composer, pianist and actor
As quoted in The New Speaker's Treasury of Wit and Wisdom (1958) by Herbert Victor Prochnow, p. 322.
“I wish my horse had the speed of your tongue.”
William Shakespeare book Much Ado About Nothing
Source: Much Ado About Nothing
