“Yes, I am a fatal man, Madame Fribsbi. To inspire hopeless passion is my destiny.”
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) novelist
Source: The History of Pendennis (1848-1850), Ch. 23.
“Madame, I am the civilization they are fighting for.”
Supposedly said by Strachey in response to a woman who demanded he "fight for civilization" in World War One.
Misattributed
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Lytton Strachey11
British writer 1880–1932Related quotes
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“I have seen their backs before, madam.”
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) British soldier and statesman
This is attributed to Wellington as a statement to an unidentified woman at a reception in Vienna, who had apologized for the rudeness of some French officers who had turned their backs on him when he entered, as quoted in Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes (2000), edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard, p. 568 <br class="br">This is attributed to Wellington as a statement to King Louis XVIII at a ball in the spring of 1814, as quoted in "Anecdotes of Wellington" at The Wellington Society of Madrid http://www.wellsoc.org/Anecdotes.htm <br class="br">Variant: 'Tis of no matter, your Highness, I have seen their backs before. <br class="br">Source: https://books.google.cl/books?id=aarPgpKPA0oC&q=vienna+I%27ve+seen+their+backs+before,+madam&dq=vienna+I%27ve+seen+their+backs+before,+madam&hl=es-419&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyz4SKk93sAhVyBtQKHZx7AjsQ6AEwAHoECAAQAg page 27
