Quotes about sir
page 2

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright

Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part II (1615), Book III, Ch. 22.

“Sir, I am not in your land, but in my own.”

El Cid (1048–1099) Spanish nobleman and military leader

El Cid's answer to the king when ordered to quit his land; in Chronicle of the Cid, from the Spanish by Robert Southey (1808), Book III, §18, p. 96
Attributed

“Friendship, 'tis said, is love without his wings,
And friendship, sir, is sweet enough for me.”

Alfred Austin (1835–1913) British writer and poet

Source: Savonarola (1881), Candida to Valori in Act I, sc. ii; p. 35.

Love, Friendship

“Good sirs, take heart: —
We'll bury him; and then, what's brave, what's noble,
Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,
And make Death proud to take us. Come, away:
This case of that spirit now is cold. —
Ah, women, women!
Come; we have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.”

Cleopatra VII (-69–-30 BC) last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt

Source: As quoted, Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, Act III, movie XV, (1623)

Death, Women, Fashion, Heart

“Eight, sir; seven, sir;
Six, sir; five, sir;
Four, sir; Three, sir;
Two, sir; one!
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.”

Alfred Bester book The Demolished Man

Source: The Demolished Man

“I’m not insane, sir,” I said. “I have a finely calibrated sense of acceptable risk.”

John Scalzi book Old Man's War

Source: Old Man’s War (2005), Chapter 17 (p. 305)
Source: Old Man's War

Sense

“If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

1755, p. 83
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol I

Life, Friendship

“You'll find another.'
God! Banish the thought. Why don't you tell me that 'if the girl had been worth having she'd have waited for you'? No, sir, the girl really worth having won't wait for anybody.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald book This Side of Paradise

Source: This Side of Paradise

God, Girl, Waiting

“[W]hen you find yourself face to face with one [Bondsmage], you bow and scrape and mind your 'sirs' and 'madams.'"

…

'Nice bird, asshole,' said Locke.”

Scott Lynch The Lies of Locke Lamora

Source: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Bird

“Is this your feller?”
“No, not really,” I say, and Peter throws his arm around my shoulder and says, “Yes, sir. I'm her feller”

Jenny Han book To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

“Step up to red alert."
Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb."
- Rimmer & Kryten, "Red Dwarf”

Rob Grant (1950) British writer

Change

“You can bind my body, tie my hands, govern my actions: you are the strongest, and society adds to your power; but with my will, sir, you can do nothing.”

George Sand (1804–1876) French novelist and memoirist; pseudonym of Lucile Aurore Dupin

“What do you do, sir?”

Philip E. Tetlock book Superforecasting

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

“You would not enjoy Nietzsche, sir. He is fundamentally unsound.”

P.G. Wodehouse book Carry On, Jeeves

Source: Carry on, Jeeves

“Why did I follow her? If you must know, Sir, it was easy. Pound for pound, Puss-in-Boots was the best commander I ever served under.”

L.A. Meyer (1942–2014) American writer

“course.” “One moment, sir.”

Stuart Woods (1938) American novelist

Scandalous Behavior

“In business, sir, one has no friends, only correspondents.”

Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) French writer and dramatist, father of the homonym writer and dramatist

Business

“Hephaestus glowered up at us. “I didn’t make you, did I?”

Uh,” Annabeth said, “no, sir.”

Good,” the god grumbled. “Shoddy workmanship.”

Rick Riordan book The Battle of the Labyrinth

Source: The Battle of the Labyrinth

God

“How…” Dalinar said. “You fell into a chasm!”
“I fell face-first, sir,” Kaladin said, “and fortunately, I’m particularly hard-headed.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

“Sir, the fact that the book is in a public library brings no comfort. Books are the one element in which I am personally and nakedly acquisitive. If it weren't for the law I would steal them. If it weren't for my purse I would buy them.”

Harold J. Laski (1893–1950) British academic

Books, Law, Personality

“Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls;
For, thus friends absent speak.”

John Donne (1572–1631) English poet

Verse Letter to Sir Henry Woton, written before April 1598, line 1
Variant: More than kisses, letters mingle souls.

Soul, Kiss

“I lost a world the other day. Has anybody found? You'll know it by the rows of stars around it's forehead bound. A rich man might not notice it; yet to my frugal eye of more esteem than ducats. Oh! Find it, sir, for me!”

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet

Source: Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems

World, Star

“Sheriff Mossberg was one of those people who never stop speaking until
they are finished, so by this time he was saying: “Do you understand
these rights?”
“No, sir! Mi ne komprenas Dumbtalk!”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Shadow Souls

People, Understanding, Time

“Commander! Sir! Wake up!"
Jack surfaced from sleep, wondering who the commander was and wishing he'd respond so he could go back to sleep - until he remembered that he was the commander.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: The Dragon Heir

Sleep

“I mean, if you're asking a fellow to come out of a room so that you can dismember him with a carving knife, it's absurd to tack a 'sir' on to every sentence. The two things don't go together.”

P.G. Wodehouse book Thank You, Jeeves

Source: Thank You, Jeeves

“Wartihog put up his hand. "What happens if we can't read, sir?"

"No boasting, Wartihog!" boomed Gobber. "Get some idiot to read it for you.”

Cressida Cowell book How to Train Your Dragon

Source: How to Train Your Dragon

Reading

“Begging your pardon, sir…. One population can't make peace with another by force.”

Gregory Maguire book Son of a Witch

Source: Son of a Witch

Peace

“You simply collapsed, sir. In layman's terms, your body revoked its permission for you to continue heaping abuse upon it.”

Scott Lynch The Lies of Locke Lamora

Source: The Lies of Locke Lamora

“Anything else, Butler?"
"The cosh, sir.”

Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl

Source: Artemis Fowl

“Corrupt my brother, will you? I'll see you in hell first, sir.”

Libba Bray book The Sweet Far Thing

Source: The Sweet Far Thing

Hell

“Sir, I admit your general rule,
That every poet is a fool,
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English poet, literary critic and philosopher

Fools

“For if the world treats you well, Sir, you come to believe you are deserving of it.”

Margaret Atwood book Alias Grace

Source: Alias Grace

World

“Hasn't it ever occurred to you that in your promiscuous pursuit of women you are merely trying to assuage your subconscious fears of sexual impotence?"
"Yes, sir, it has."
"Then why do you do it?"
"To assuage my fears of sexual impotence.”

Joseph Heller book Catch-22

Source: Catch 22

Women, Fear

“Before you came into my life, I believed that God had abandoned me. Now I know that He has blessed me beyond measure.

~Sir Bannor”

Teresa Medeiros (1962) American writer

Source: Charming the Prince

Life, God

“Prescription: 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. Take ten pages, twice a day, til end of course.”

Diane Setterfield book The Thirteenth Tale

Source: The Thirteenth Tale

Books

“I don't talk things, sir. I talk the meaning of things.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

“Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is dangerous.”

P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) English author

Source: Very Good, Jeeves!

“You ask of my companions. Hills, sir, and the sundown, and a dog as large as myself.”

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet

Dogs

“Sir Impey Biggs: Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force.”

Dorothy L. Sayers book Clouds of Witness

Source: Clouds of Witness (1926)

Time

“Marriage is not a process for prolonging the life of love, sir. It merely mummifies its corpse.”

P.G. Wodehouse book The Small Bachelor

Source: The Small Bachelor

Love, Life, Marriage

“'There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, "Do trousers matter?"'
‘The mood will pass, sir.’”

P.G. Wodehouse book The Code of the Woosters

Source: The Code of the Woosters (1938)

Mood

“The integrity of my sleep has been forever compromised, sir.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

Sleep

“You suck, surprising no one!!!! If bad was a boot, you'd fit it!!!! You're a stupid poo-poo head! I had sexual relations with your mother! Your mother was not that good in bed! You, sir, are a wretched soul! I am rubber, you are glue!”

Bryan Lee O'Malley (1979) Artist

Source: Scott Pilgrim, Volume 2: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Stupidity, Soul

“You can't be a successful Dictator and design women's underclothing.'
'No, sir.'
'One or the other. Not both.”

P.G. Wodehouse book The Code of the Woosters

'Precisely, sir.'
The Code of the Woosters (1938)

Women, Success

“All the stories I would like to write persecute me. When I am in my chamber, it seems as if they are all around me, like little devils, and while one tugs at my ear, another tweaks my nose, and each says to me, 'Sir, write me, I am beautiful.”

Umberto Eco book The Island of the Day Before

Source: The Island of the Day Before

Beauty

“Some people are weak in some ways, sir. Others in other ways.”

Anthony Doerr book All the Light We Cannot See

Source: All the Light We Cannot See

People, Way

“That hat looks ridiculous.”
“Fortunately, I can change hats,” Wayne said, “while you, sir, are stuck with that face.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Alloy of Law

Change

“Thank you, sir, but I am perfectly content being the bride of death.”

Seth Grahame-Smith book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Source: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Death

“Martyrdom, sir, is what these people like: it is the only way in which a man can become famous without ability.”

George Bernard Shaw The Devil's Disciple

The Devil's Disciple, Act II
1900s

People, Way

“You can do what you like, sir, but I'll tell you this. New York is the true capital of America. Every New Yorker knows it, and by God, we always shall.”

Edward Rutherfurd New York

Source: New York

God

“Sir, I did not count your glasses of wine, why should you number up my cups of tea?”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

Source: The Life of Samuel Johnson, Vol 2

Wine, Tea

“There's one thing you don't put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existance, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never ever put in a trap.

And what would that be sir?

Me”

Russell T. Davies (1963) Screenwriter, former executive producer of Doctor Who

“[…]my memory is reasonably good—unlike yours, dear sir!”
“Mine is erratic,” he said imperturbably. “I remember only what interests me.”

Georgette Heyer book Frederica

Source: Frederica

Memory

“Sit down, Will. There’s a good fellow,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” replied Will, and Halt’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“He’s never called me sir,” he said.
“Probably trying to get on my good side,” Crowley replied.
Halt nodded savagely. “Probably.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: Erak's Ransom

“You have deep-seated survival anxieties. And you don't like bigots, bullies, snobs or hypocrites. Subconsciously there are many people you hate."

"Consciously, sir, consciously," Yossarian corrected in an effort to help. "I hate them consciously.”

Joseph Heller book Catch-22

Source: Catch-22

Hate, People, Effort, Help

“Johnson! Have I committed any illegal actions?'
Johnson checked his watch. 'Not within the last three minutes, sir.”

Genevieve Cogman (1972) novelist and game designer

Source: The Invisible Library

“A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."”

Stephen Crane (1871–1900) American novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist

A Man Said to the Universe, No. 20
War Is Kind and Other Lines (1899)
Source: War Is Kind and Other Poems

Sense, Universe

“It starts when you begin to overlook good manners. Any time you quit hearing Sir and Mam the end is pretty much in sight…”

Cormac McCarthy book No Country for Old Men

Source: No Country for Old Men

Time

“I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?”

Alexander Pope (1688–1744) eighteenth century English poet

"On the Collar of a Dog".

Dogs

“Sir Beldevere: What makes you think she's a witch?
Peasant 3: Well, she turned me into a newt!
Sir Beldevere: A newt?
Peasant 3: [meekly after a long pause]… I got better.
Crowd: [shouts] Burn her anyway!”

Graham Chapman (1941–1989) English comedian, writer and actor

Source: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book): Mønti Pythøn Ik Den Hølie Gräilen

Thinking

“I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Three Musketeers

Source: The Three Musketeers

“No, sir. Go to hell sir. It's the best I can do for you sir.”

Jack London book Call of the Wild

Source: The Call of the Wild

Hell

“Have you tried to drive a harpoon through a body? No? Tut, tut, my dear sir, you must really pay attention to these details.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author

Source: The Complete Sherlock Holmes

“That's one of the central problems of history, isn't it, sir? The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us.”

Julian Barnes book The Sense of an Ending

Source: The Sense of an Ending

History, Understanding, Question, Problem

“What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this?'
There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter”

P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) English author

Time

“Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

September 19, 1777, p. 351, often misquoted as being hanged in the morning.
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol III
Source: The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 3

Dependency

“Sir,"she said,"you are no gentleman!"

An apt observation,"he answered airily."And, you, Miss, are no lady.”

Margaret Mitchell book Vom Winde verweht (1937 German edition)

Source: Gone with the Wind

“Into the face of the young man who sat on the terrace of the Hotel Magnifique at Cannes there had crept a look of furtive shame, the shifty, hangdog look which announces that an Englishman is about to talk French. One of the things which Gertrude Butterwick had impressed on Monty Bodkin when he left for his holiday on the Riviera was that he must be sure to practise his French, and Gertrude’s word was law. So now, though he knew that it was going to make his nose tickle, he said:
‘Er, garçon.’
‘M’sieur?’
‘Er, garçon, esker-vous avez un spot de l’encre et une piece de papier—note papier, vous savez—et une envelope et une plume.’
The strain was too great. Monty relapsed into his native tongue.
‘I want to write a letter,’ he said. And having, like all lovers, rather a tendency to share his romance with the world, he would probably have added ‘to the sweetest girl on earth’, had not the waiter already bounded off like a retriever, to return a few moments later with the fixings.
‘V’la, sir! Zere you are, sir,’ said the waiter. He was engaged to a girl in Paris who had told him that when on the Riviera he must be sure to practise his English. ‘Eenk—pin—pipper—enveloppe—and a liddle bit of bloddin-pipper.’
‘Oh, merci,’ said Monty, well pleased at this efficiency. ‘Thanks. Right-ho.’
‘Right-ho, m’sieur,’ said the waiter.”

P.G. Wodehouse book The Luck of the Bodkins

Source: The Luck of the Bodkins (1935)

World, Law, Girl, Lovers

“Sir Topher finally looked up. “Because any hope beyond that, my boy, would be too much. I feared we would drown in it.”
"Then I choose to drown,” Finnikin said. “In hope. Rather than float into nothing.”

Melina Marchetta Finnikin of the Rock

Source: Finnikin of the Rock

Fear, Hope, Boy

“You, sir, are a romantic, and I'm afraid the condition is incurable.

-Eponymous Clent”

Frances Hardinge book Fly by Night

Source: Fly by Night

“You, sir, are a ray of sunshine.
-Percy Jackson”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

“I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use these words”

Alfred De Vigny book Stello

Source: Stello

Children, World

“Because you may think a bed is a peaceful thing, Sir, and to you it may mean rest and comfort and a good night's sleep. But it isn't so for everyone; and there are many dangerous things that may take place in a bed.”

Margaret Atwood book Alias Grace

Source: Alias Grace

Peace, Thinking, Sleep, Night

“McGough: I'm sorry. I'm afraid I've caught poetry.

Mr Bones: Oh really? Well, don't worry, sir - I used to suffer from short stories.

McGough: Really? When?

Mr Bones: Oh, once upon a time…”

Graham Chapman (1941–1989) English comedian, writer and actor

Suffering, Time

“Sir,” James asked, “what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to look for water,” said Alf.
“And food?” said Tubby Ted.
“Water first,” said Alf. “We can go days without food.”
“We can what?” Tubby Ted shouted.”

Dave Barry book Peter and the Starcatchers

Source: Peter and the Starcatchers

Food, Water

“I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to lady crack pipe or good sir dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied?”

David Sedaris book Me Talk Pretty One Day

Source: Me Talk Pretty One Day

Fools, Sex

“Wait,” Foyle commanded. He looked at the beaming grin engraved in the steel robot face. “But society can be so stupid. So confused. You’ve witnessed this conference.”
“Yes, sir, but you must teach, not dictate. You must teach society.”
“To space-jaunte? Why? Why reach out to the stars and galaxies? What for?”
“Because you’re alive, sir. You might as well ask: Why is life? Don’t ask about it. Live it.”
“Quite mad,” Dagenham muttered.
“But fascinating,” Y’ang-Yeovil murmured.
“There’s got to be more to life than just living,” Foyle said to the robot.
“Then find it for yourself, sir. Don’t ask the world to stop moving because you have doubts.”
“Why can’t we all move forward together?”
“Because you’re all different. You’re not lemmings. Some must lead, and hope that the rest will follow.”
“Who leads?”
“The men who must … driven men, compelled men.”
“Freak men.”
“You’re all freaks, sir. But you always have been freaks. Life is a freak. That’s its hope and glory.”
“Thank you very much.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

“My pleasure, sir.”
Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 16 (p. 251).

Life, Men, Pleasure, Stupidity

“In this assembly, every political school has its teachers — every creed has its adherents — and I may safely say, that this banquet is the tribute of United Ireland to the representative of American benevolence. Being such, I am at once reminded of the dinner which took place after the battle of Saratoga, at which Gates and Burgoyne — the rival soldiers — sat together. Strange scene! Ireland, the beaten and the bankrupt, entertains America, the victorious and the prosperous! Stranger still! The flag of the Victor decorates this hail — decorates our harbour — not, indeed, in triumph, but in sympathy — not to commemorate the defeat, but to predict the resurrection, of a fallen people! One thing is certain — we are sincere upon this occasion. There is truth in this compliment. For the first time in her career, Ireland has reason to be grateful to a foreign power. Foreign power, sir! Why should I designate that country a "foreign power," which has proved itself our sister country? England, they sometimes say, is our sister country. We deny the relationship — we discard it. We claim America as our sister, and claiming her as such, we have assembled here this night. Should a stranger, viewing this brilliant scene inquire of me, why it is that, amid the desolation of this day — whilst famine is in the land — whilst the hearse-plumes darken the summer scenery of the island, whilst death sows his harvest, and the earth teems not with the seeds of life, but with the seeds of corruption — should he inquire of me, why it is, that, amid this desolation, we hold high festival, hang out our banners, and thus carouse — I should reply, "Sir, the citizens of Dublin have met to pay a compliment to a plain citizen of America, which they would not pay — 'no, not for all the gold in Venice'”

Thomas Francis Meagher (1823–1867) Irish nationalist & American politician

to the minister of England."
Ireland and America (1846)

Life, Death, People, Truth

“Then, sir, you will turn it over once more in what you are pleased to call your mind.”

Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury (1800–1873) British politician

Quoted by Thomas Arthur Nash in The life of Richard Lord Westbury, formerly Lord High Chancellor (1888) vol. 2, p. 292 http://archive.org/stream/liferichardlord00nashgoog#page/n308/mode/2up/search/Then+sir+you+will+turn+it+over+once+more+in+what+you+are+pleased+to+call+your+mind: Early mentioning of Mental rotation

“Don't blame me, Pongo,' said Lord Ickenham, 'if Lady Constance takes her lorgnette to you. God bless my soul, though, you can't compare the lorgnettes of to-day with the ones I used to know as a boy. I remember walking one day in Grosvenor Square with my aunt Brenda and her pug dog Jabberwocky, and a policeman came up and said the latter ought to be wearing a muzzle. My aunt made no verbal reply. She merely whipped her lorgnette from its holster and looked at the man, who gave one choking gasp and fell back against the railings, without a mark on him but with an awful look of horror in his staring eyes, as if he had seen some dreadful sight. A doctor was sent for, and they managed to bring him round, but he was never the same again. He had to leave the Force, and eventually drifted into the grocery business. And that is how Sir Thomas Lipton got his start.”

P.G. Wodehouse book Uncle Fred in the Springtime

Uncle Fred in the Springtime (1939)

God, Dogs, Soul, Boy

“Maurice Joly: Your honor, I have not written a lampoon here…this book’s delineations are applicable to all governments!
Prosecutor: No, your honor.. this man has written a tract that barely conceals a horrid defamation of our emperor!!
Maurice Joly: No! No! No! This book provides a call to conscience…a perspective for citizens concerned about the harsh realities of the conditions in which they live…
Furthermore, my book shows how the despotism taught by Machiavelli in “The Prince” could, by artifice and evil ways, impose itself on our society.
Prosecutor: No, your honor. It does more than that… for by ‘’’using’’’ the despotism of Machiavelli’’’ asa comparison, Joly seeks to show that Bonaparte, our sovereign, and an evil Italian are ‘’’the same’’’ in thought and deed!
Maurice Joly: If the reader sees a relationship to the infamy of the emperor, am I to blame?
Judge: Maurice Joly, I charge you with the crime of defamation! Of suggesting through shameful means that our sovereign has led the public astray, degraded our nation and corrupted our morals! This is an infamy, sir!!
Judge: Therefore, Maurice Joly, this court sentences you to 15 months imprisonment.
Maurice Joly: This is unfair and an example of this despotic society under Louis Bonaparte!
Balif: Quiet! You’ve had your say!
Judge: The emperor’s police will immediately confiscate all copies of this book they can find!”

Will Eisner (1917–2005) American cartoonist

Source: The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (10/2/2005), pp.16-19

Books, Way, Reality, Evil

“I think all men recognize that in time of war the citizen must surrender some rights for the common good which he is entitled to enjoy in time of peace. But, sir, the right to control their own government according to constitutional forms is not one of the rights that the citizens of this country are called upon to surrender in time of war.”

Robert M. La Follette Sr. (1855–1925) American politician

Free Speech in Wartime (October 6, 1917)

Men, War, Peace, Thinking

“Mr Premier, Sir. Neither you nor I speak English, but there are some things that can be said only in English.”

Aravind Adiga book The White Tiger

The First Night.
The White Tiger (2008)

“He smiled and said, 'Sir, does your mother know that you are out?”

Richard Harris Barham (1788–1845) British writer and priest

Poem: Misadventures at Margate http://www.exclassics.com/ingold/inglegnd.txt

Smile

“Why, Sir, when I have anything to invent, I never trouble my head about it, as other men do; but presently turn over this Book, and there I have, at one view, all that Perseus, Montaigne, Seneca's Tragedies, Horace, Juvenal, Claudian, Pliny, Plutarch's lives, and the rest, have ever thought upon this subject: and so, in a trice, by leaving out a few words, or putting in others of my own, the business is done.”

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628–1687) English statesman and poet

Bayes, Act I, sc. i
The Rehearsal (1671)

Men, Books, Business

“I feel, Sir, at this instant, how much I had been animated in my childhood by a recital of England's victories:—I was taught, Sir, by one whose memory I shall ever revere, that at the close of a war, far different indeed from this, she had dictated the terms of peace to submissive nations. This, in which I place something more than a common interest, was the memorable aera of England's glory. But that aera is past…the visions of her power and pre-eminence are passed away…Let us examine what is left, with a manly and determined courage…Let us feel our calamities—let us bear them too, like men.”

William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) British politician

Speech in the House of Commons (21 February 1783), reprinted in W. S. Hathaway (ed.), The Speeches of William Pitt in the House of Commons. Volume I (London: 1817), pp. 31-32.

Men, War, Peace, Feeling

“A dead man, Sir Moses,” Lord Darcy told him.
“Remember, young man, he isn’t dead until I say he’s dead,” Sir Moses said. He pushed Lord Darcy aside and stepped over to the throne. He stared down at Master Sorcerer Dandro Bittman.
“This man is dead,” Sir Moses said.
“Indeed he is, Sir Moses,” Master Sean said, coming up behind him. “And that’s something that neither you with your bone cutting nor I with my spells, nor the finest healer with the most sensitive hands in the kingdom, can do aught about.”

Michael Kurland book Ten Little Wizards

Source: Ten Little Wizards (1988), Chapter 15 (p. 151)

Dead

“These plays and stories have for their continual theme the passing away of gods and men and cities before the mysterious power which is sometimes called by some great god's name but more often 'Time.' His travellers, who travel by so many rivers and deserts and listen to sounding names none heard before, come back with no tale that does not tell of vague rebellion against that power, and all the beautiful things they have seen get something of their charm from the pathos of fragility. This poet who has imagined colours, ceremonies and incredible processions that never passed before the eyes of Edgar Allen Poe or of De Quincey, and remembered as much fabulous beauty as Sir John Mandeville, has yet never wearied of the most universal of emotions and the one most constantly associated with the sense of beauty; and when we come to examine those astonishments that seemed so alien we find that he has but transfigured with beauty the common sights of the world.”

Lord Dunsany (1878–1957) Irish writer and dramatist

About

Men, God, World, Beauty

“I will take my hands off Medicare when there is no Medicare, then I will come and see you sir.”

Allen West (politician) (1961) American politician; retired United States Army officer

Republican Rep. Allen West: “I will take my hands off Medicare when there is no Medicare”
Blogging Blue
2011-05-20
http://bloggingblue.com/2011/05/20/republican-rep-allen-west-i-will-take-my-hands-off-medicare-when-there-is-no-medicare/
2011-06-07
To an audience member chanting "Hands off Medicare!"
2010s

“All the formulæ of Conic Sections having long since gone out of my head, I went on my return to London to the Royal Institution to read them up. Professor, now Sir James Dewar, came in and probably noticing signs of despair in my face, asked me what I was about; then said, "Why do you bother over this? My brother in law, J. Hamilton Dickson of Peterhouse, loves problems and wants new ones. Send it to him." I did so… and he most cordially helped me by working it out… on the basis of the… Gaussian Law of Error.”

Francis Galton (1822–1911) British polymath: geographer, statistician, pioneer in eugenics

Source: Memories of My Life (1908), Ch. XX Heredity (1909 ed.)

Love, Law, Error, Problem

“Norway, too, has noble wild prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

July 6, 1763, p. 120
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol I

“Sir, we are trying to work because we are having to take the examination in a very brief time from now, but the younger boys are not realizing the importance of our labours and they are creating veritable pandemoniums while we are immersed in our studies. To us who are their lawful and appointed superiors they are giving overmuch insolence, nor are they sufficiently overawed by our frequent threatenings. I would be taking it, sir, as inestimable favour if you would deliver harsh words and verbal punishing to them all, sir, especially the Malay boys, who are severely lacking in due respectfulness and incorrigible to discipline also.”

Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) English writer

Fiction, Time for a Tiger (1956)

Law, Boy, Study, Time

“I do not dwell in the country, nor am I acquainted with the plough, but I think that whosoever doth not maintain the plough destroys the kingdom … Excepting Sir Thomas More's Utopia…you shall never find but the ploughman is chiefly provided for.”

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563–1612) English Earl

Speech http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cecil-robert-1563-1612 in the House of Commons (9 December 1601).

Thinking, Country

“Sirs, I have tested your machine. It adds a new terror to life and makes death a long-felt want.”

Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852–1917) English actor and theatre manager

Page 183
His reply to a gramophone company who had asked for a testimonial.
Beerbohm Tree (1956)

Life, Death

“At that Mother got proper blazing,
"And thank you, sir, kindly," said she.
"What, waste all our lives raising children
To feed ruddy Lions? Not me!"”

Marriott Edgar (1880–1951) British poet

"Albert and the Lion", line 69.
Albert, 'Arold and Others (1938)

Children

“Grace and peace from God to you, respected, honoured, wise clement, gracious and beloved Masters: An exceedingly unfortunate affair has happened to me, in that I have been publicly accused before your worships of having reviled you in unseemly words and, be it said with all respect, of having called you heretics, my gracious rulers of the State. I am so far from applying this name to you, that I should as soon think of calling heaven hell. For all my life I have thought and spoken of you in terms of praise and honour, gentlemen of Abtzell, as I do to-day, and, as God favours me, shall do to the end of my days. But it happened not long ago when I was preaching against the Catabaptists that I used these words: 'The Catabaptists are now doing so much mischief to the upright citizens of Abtzell and are showing so great insolence, that nothing could be more infamous. You see, gentle sirs, with what modesty I grieved on your account, because the turbulent Catabaptists caused you so much trouble. Indeed I suspect that the Catabaptists are the very people who have set this sermon against me in circulation among you, for they do many of those things which do not become true Christians. Therefore, gentle and wise sirs, I beg most earnestly that you will have me exculpated before the whole community, and, if occasion arise, that you will have this letter read in public assembly. Sirs, I assure you in the name of God our Saviour, in these perilous times you have never been our of my thoughts and my solicitious anxiety; and if in any way I shall be able to serve you I will spare no pains to do so. In addition to the fact that I never use such terms even against my enemies, let me say that it never entered my mind to apply such insulting epithets to you, pious and wise sirs. Sufficient of this. May God preserve you in safety, and may He put a curb on these unbridled falsehoods which are being scattered everywhere, which is an evidence of some great peril - and may He hold your worships and the whole state in the true faith of Christ@ Take this letter of mine in good part, for I could not suffer that so base a falsehood against me should lie uncontradicted.”

Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) leader of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, and founder of the Swiss Reformed Churches

Letter to Abtzell February 12, 1526 (vi., 473), ibid, p.250-251

Life, God, Pain, People

“Sir Thomas Beecham was asked if he had ever conducted any Stockhausen. He said, "No, but I once trod in some."”

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) German composer

http://www.paulcarey.net/Quotes.htm http://www.stockhausen.org/licht_by_malcolm_ball.html

“Form them up Sergeant!" "Aye aye, sir." "You're not a bloody sailor, Sergeant. A plain yes will do.”

Bernard Cornwell (1944) British writer

<br/k> Aye aye, sir."
British Officer and Sergeant, p. 111
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Prey (2001)

“"We don't get telly round our way, sir"! "Yeah, we hang you buggers round our way, we do"… "No, we all came on the same coach, sir"… "Norwich, that's us, sir." There's a bloke on the fifth row going "You're gonna die now, sir, you are!"”

Lee Evans (1964) English stand-up comedian and actor

Live at Her Majesty's Theatre (1994)

Way

“It will lead to nothing, I fear, sir”

Martin Joseph Routh (1755–1854) Classical scholar and college head

Remarked to William Palmer, on the eve of his 1840-1 journey to Russia to improve Anglican-Orthodox relations. The trip reaped little success; quoted in Notes of a Visit to the Russian Church in the Years 1840, 1841, by William Palmer, 1882, p. 10.

Fear

Quotes about sir page 2

Quotes about sir
page 2