“That's a bit like asking a man crawling across the Sahara whether he would prefer Perrier or Malvern water.”

—  Alan Bennett

Quoted in the Daily Telegraph, October 30, 2004. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/10/30/dl3003.xml
When asked by Sir Ian McKellen, in 1997, whether he was heterosexual or homosexual.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "That's a bit like asking a man crawling across the Sahara whether he would prefer Perrier or Malvern water." by Alan Bennett?
Alan Bennett photo
Alan Bennett 56
English actor, author 1934

Related quotes

John Updike photo

“They flew like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.”

Kenneth Arnold (1915–1984) American aviator and businessman

To East Oregonian reporter Bill Bequette at the airport at Pendleton on June 25, 1947, where Arnold was refueling his private plane. Bill Bequette and editor Nolan Skiff's front page story in the evening paper of the same day, titled Impossible! Maybe, But Seein’ Is Believin’, Says Flyer, started the modern UFO era. The EO ran front page follow-ups on June 27, 28 and 30. https://www.eastoregonian.com/news/local/the-sighting/article_1dc33f61-868d-5c36-b159-87c8465fb662.html

Homér photo

“Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.”

XVIII. 130–131 (tr. Robert Fagles). Cf. Iliad, XVII. 446–447.
Samuel Butler's translation:
: Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon earth.
Robert Fitzgerald's translation:
: Of mortal creatures, all that breathe and move,
earth bears none frailer than mankind.
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)
Variant: Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man.
Source: The Iliad

George Bernard Shaw photo

“I like a bit of a mongrel myself, whether it's a man or a dog; they're the best for every day.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

Episode I
1910s, Misalliance (1910)

George Washington Plunkitt photo
Charles Bukowski photo
Richard Adams photo
Charles Darwin photo

“M. Perrier found that their exposure to the dry air of a room for only a single night was fatal to them. On the other hand he kept several large worms alive for nearly four months, completely submerged in water.”

Source: The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881), Chapter 1: Habits of Worms, pp. 12-13 http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=27&itemID=F1357&viewtype=image.

Rumi photo

“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?”

Rumi (1207–1273) Iranian poet

As quoted in Wisdom for the Soul : Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing (2006) by Larry Chang, p. 26

Related topics