Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations

by Elizabeth Knowles (Editor)

Overview

This new collection offers a vivid picture of the world in the 21st century, against a backdrop of the landmark events leading up to it. From Catherine Tate and the Simpsons to Mother Teresa and Winston Churchill, Modern Quotations charts the ebbs and flows of popular culture as well as marking the key voices and watersheds for our time. An authoritative look-up reference, and an enjoyable source for browsing: the perfect gift. New quotations include: 'You tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.' [Homer Simpson] Matt Groening 'I ain't a communist necessarily, but I been in the red all my life.' Woody Guthrie 'I don't eat anything with a face.' Linda McCartney 'Never stop because you are afraid -- you are never so likely to be wrong.' Fridtjof Nansen 'I watch where the cosmetics industry is going and then walk in the opposite direction.' Anita Roddick 'I wish I had invented blue jeans.' Yves Saint Laurent 'Fame vaporizes, money goes with the wind, and all that's left is character.' O. J. Simpson

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191578670
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	08/23/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Elizabeth Knowles is Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (6/e, 2004) and What They Didn't Say: A Book of Misquotations (2006).

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• How to Use this Dictionary
• Main Dictionary
• Thematic index
• Keyword index

Editorial Reviews

'Well stolen is half written,'' noted the composer Arnold Schoenberg. In quoting this, Daniel Boorstin, the emeritus librarian of Congress, writes: ''Most of us . . . cannot afford a spokesman. But we can all afford a quotation, which gives us many of the same advantages. Then we too can deny that we said it, or if we prefer we can claim credit for choosing so graceful a way of saying it.''

Ah, but what about famous misquotations -- sayings we all accept as part of our language but were never said by the person quoted? A nice bunch of those are collected, as a kind of oddity, in the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations, coming next month.

New York Times Sunday Magazine