Release date 14/09/2000
The Oxford Dictionary of Thematic Quotations
New Oxford book reveals most quotable new voices of our time
In the first comprehensively new book of its kind for decades,
Oxford University Press is publishing the world’s most memorable quotes
and one liners for over 600 areas of human life, ranging from acting, the army,
and mothers to old age, the Internet, and the weather. The Oxford Dictionary
of Thematic Quotations immortalizes the pithy statements of over 1,000
people including Gerry Adams, Princess Anne, Joan Collins,
Ben Elton, Ice Cube, and Jeremy Paxman.
The new guide also highlights 14 people who are so talked
about that they are judged worthy of being counted as themes in their own
right - Jane Austen, Bach, Beethoven, Churchill,
Princess Diana, Hitler, Henry James, James Joyce, Lloyd
George, Marilyn Monroe, Mozart, Ronald Reagan, Shakespeare,
and Margaret Thatcher. Despite the many new voices, it also confirms
the long lead enjoyed by Samuel Johnson, Shakespeare, Shaw, Wilde, Churchill,
the Bible - and that old favourite Anon, as the most quotable
sources available.
Theme by theme, hit quote by hit quote, the new book lays bare
the obsessions of our times, tracing back in time - and bringing up to date
- such areas as Appearance, Boredom, Consumer Society,
Gossip, Cosmetics (‘So much lipstick must rot the brain’ -
Germaine Greer), Press Photographers (‘I’d say our newspapers paid
far too much for them.’ - Rupert Murdoch), Fashion, Fat (‘I
would rather be round and jolly than thin and cross’ - Ann Widdecombe),
Animal rights, Luxury, Neighbours, Shopping (‘Buying
is much more American than thinking’ - Andy Warhol) - and Murder.
William S Burroughs, Ken Saro-Wiwa and Timothy
Leary (‘Why not, why not, why not. Yeah.’) win the only recently
taken places for most memorable Last Words, joining the likes of Nelson
and the Titanic. The new book records the best 11 quotes about the Royal
family in a section on its own - a list that includes both Michael Parkinson
(‘if she lived on a council estate in Sheffield she’d probably be in council
care’) and Hardy Amies on the Queen (‘to make someone that
height look regal is difficult’). It also brings to life a wide range of
opposing views on different subjects. ‘Warm beer, invincible green suburbs,
dog lovers’ is how John Major recalls Britain - compared to Tony
Benn’s ‘When I think of Cool Britannia, I think of old people dying of
hypothermia’. Equally divided, this time on the subject of middle age, are
Martin Amis (‘you don’t know the language’) and Maeve Binchy
(‘time of huge goodwill’).
Unexpectedly down to earth are Princess Anne on children
(‘the very idea that all children want to be cuddled by a complete stranger,
I find completely amazing’), David Attenborough (‘I am not over
fond of animals’), and Prince Philip on counselling (‘You just
got on with it’). Painfully and memorably, the new dictionary also records
quotes that have returned to haunt the sayer including Jonathan Aitken
on justice (‘…a fight to cut out the bent and twisted journalism in our country
with the simple sword of truth’), Michael Fish on hurricanes the
night before the Great Storm of 1987 (‘a woman rang to say she heard there
was a hurricane on the way. Well don’t worry, there isn’t’), and Lord
Charteris on the Duchess of York - (‘a vulgarian’).
Margaret Thatcher (‘Home is where you come to when
you have nothing better to do’) still leads the race for most quotable recent
Prime Minster with 17 quotes to her credit, but Tony Blair (‘the art
of leadership is saying no, not yes’) - with nine quotes after just a few
years - is hot on her heels, one ahead of Harold Wilson (and eight ahead
of William Hague). Trailing in the distance is Edward Heath and
James Callaghan with four quotes each, and John Major with three.
The book represents the best lines from a wide range of industries.
Leading the pop and rock world, the most quotable stars includes Sinead O’Connor,
Noel Gallagher (‘Has God played Knebworth’), Bob Geldof,
David Bowie (‘I love Eastenders; it’s the next best thing to Chekhov.’),
Michael Jackson, Bono, Bob Marley, Boy George, Jimi Hendrix, Mick
Jagger, Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, Sting and Madonna.
From the media world John Humphreys, Will Hutton, Brian
Hanrahan, Michael Buerk, Anna Ford, Julie Burchill, Jeremy Paxman
(If there is a message I want to be off it’), Kelvin MacKenzieB
Richard IngramsB and Piers Morgan (‘I once put ‘exclusive’
on the weather by mistake’) emerge as the most quotable luminaries.
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