I expect many of you will have encountered books of quotations before.
My dad’s very old volume compiled by Sir Gurney Benham, is a treasure trove of half-forgotten gems: verses from the Bible (in their hundreds) and the Koran (all two of them); memorable lines, couplets, or even entire speeches by Shakespeare; bits of poetry that nobody ever manages to get right (‘a little learning is a dangerous thing’, remember …); Greek and Latin tags unfamiliar to anyone without the benefit of what we Brits refer to as ‘a classical education’; epitaphs, proverbs, street sayings, snatches of popular songs …
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations is rather more modern and wide-ranging in its outlook. It includes advertising slogans, taglines from political manifestos and catchphrases from TV and radio shows. I’ve got Dad’s old copy of The Macmillan Treasury of Relevant Quotations, too. It’s an American book, and the bias towards US authors is clear. Most of the lines don’t seem ‘relevant’ to me – just as they didn’t when Dad bought it, some forty years ago. (They are arranged thematically, though, so maybe that’s where the title comes from.)
The best-known American compilation is probably Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, which – unsurprisingly – has a heavy bias towards US authors, too. I don’t own a copy because I’m fairly sure my reference shelves at home cover most of that territory.
There are anthologies of sporting quotations, books of great political speeches, collections of memorable gems from films or choruses from songs of which most people (like my mother) know at best a couple of lines. There are innumerable books of ‘humorous quotations’ and one-liners, at least some of which manage to live up to their billing.
There are more specialist collections, too. About fifteen years ago, one slim volume nearly reduced a customer in Dillons Bookstore, Cardiff, to a fit of the vapours. This extremely pompous lady wanted ‘to purchase an anthology of quotations as a gift to a professional gentleman’. (Have you got a mental picture of Linda Snell from The Archers yet? Good – you’re thinking along the right lines.)
Said ‘professional gentleman’ was a member of the clergy. Obviously, we mere booksellers were doing it only for the love of the game, and didn’t expect to get paid for it. If I’d had a forelock, I’d have been tempted to touch it. I pulled a few large books (the ODQ, Bartlett’s, and so forth) off the shelf for her perusal, but her eyes were drawn to a slim volume with a bright cover.
‘I don’t think that would be suitable,’ I suggested as she reached for it, but she was undeterred. It was entitled Lesbian and Gay Quotations.
‘Oh, good heavens, no!’ she cried, almost dropping the offending object in horror and disgust. (You see, some people just can’t take advice from well-meaning amateurs, can they?)
I’ve called this blog O’Gorman’s Unfamiliar Quotations, because I doubt whether you’ll find many of the entries in a conventional compilation.
They’re some of my own personal favourites, culled from forty years of reading, listening and watching. They’re not arranged thematically, alphabetically, or in any other sequence. Instead, I’ll just keep adding to this store of wit and wisdom as I come across them.
I hope you enjoy reading them.
O'Gorman's Unfamiliar Quotations 