Quotations for every occasion

Posted by Thomas Shaw on March 6th, 2019

One from the most intriguing elements of working with quotations is seeing how words from one occasion are applicable to a further. The current controversy more than the sale of Forestry Commission land brought to mind the words in the poet William Blake, writing more than 200 years ago: ‘The tree which moves some to tears of joy is inside the eyes of other folks only a green factor that stands in the way’. The unusually cold weather in December revived memories of British Rail and ‘the incorrect kind of snow’, not in reality the words of a BR representative, but a leader in the Evening Regular. This time we were exhorted to ‘Keep calm and carry on’, following the assistance of a poster designed by the Ministry of Data in 1939 but in no way used in World War II, and only accidentally re-discovered inside the early 21st century. Actually, one of the defining characteristics of a superb quotation is the fact that while it might have arisen from a certain event, it expresses an notion of value to later generations. Get a lot more details about https://quoteslogy.com/

Misspoken misstatements and also other blunders
Politicians, of course, have a powerful interest in the worth of words, but although some, which include Winston Churchill, possess a gift for any memorable turn of phrase, other people error quantity for quality. The unrest in North Africa led Colonel Gaddafi to produce more of his lengthy speeches, ignoring the tips of Abu Bakr, the initial Islamic caliph: ‘Give short orders; speeches that are also long are probably to be forgotten’. Even when you retain it quick you could run into trouble - Hillary Clinton had to admit that ‘If I misspoke that was just a misstatement’.

Mistakes and errors will be the frequent currency of political debate, and the recent financial recession has developed some entertaining and revealing slips of the tongue, most notably Gordon Brown’s ‘We not only saved the world…Er, saved the banks’. But there are actually also possibilities for politicians in such a predicament. As Rahm Emanuel, Mayor-elect of Chicago, put it: ‘You never want a really serious crisis to go to waste’. The crisis he had in mind - the potential collapse from the banking system - was aptly summed up by Thomas Jefferson two hundred years earlier ‘Banking establishments are more unsafe than standing armies’.

Inventing the future
While numerous old quotations take on a brand new lease of life as history repeats itself, some people obtain fame by their glimpses in to the future: in 1938 H. G. Wells wrote on ‘The Idea of a Permanent Planet Encyclopaedia’, saying that ‘The entire human memory could be, and possibly within a short time is going to be, produced accessible to every single individual’. The Internet is taking us closer to that point, though we have extended since accomplished the vision with the inventor Thomas Edison in 1895: ‘The horseless automobile is definitely the coming wonder’. Only forty years ago, the computer scientist Alan Kay presented a solution ‘The best strategy to predict the future is always to invent it’.

‘Just a modest family affair…’
Who knows no matter whether Prince William’s joke, in line with lipreaders, that his current wedding was supposed to be ‘just a tiny family affair’ will become a timeless classic? If it does, it won’t be the first such quote to stem from a royal wedding. More than the course of history, some royal brides happen to be more reluctant than other people. When it was recommended that she really should marry Henry VIII, Christina of Denmark is reputed to have stated ‘If I had two heads, I'd happily place one at the disposal of the King of England’. On the other hand, some royal bridegrooms as well happen to be less than eager. On very first seeing Caroline of Brunswick the future George IV stated ‘Harris, I'm not well; pray get me a glass of brandy’.

Some sentiments are so universal that they remain common all through the ages. A lot of nevertheless quote Confucius ‘Wherever you go, go with all your heart’, Gandhi ‘We should be the transform we want to see inside the world’, or Helen Keller ‘Life is either a daring adventure or nothing’. It remains to be observed which of today’s sound bites and blunders will stand the test of time and make their way into collections of memorable quotations…