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Explore 2424 quotes by people from United Kingdom

There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.

Francis Drake

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Topic

Finishing a task Persistence Perseverance Accomplishment

Author

Francis Drake

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1587 1580s 16th century

Era

Age of Exploration

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Drake, Francis. Dispatch to Francis Walsingham. 17 May 1587, Francis Drake's ship, Iberian coasts between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent. Dispatch.

Tell me the old, old story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and his glory,
Of Jesus and his love.

Katherine Hankey

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Read the lyrics to this hymn at hymnary.org

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Topic

The Gospel

Author

Katherine Hankey

Source

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Medium

Hymn Song

Language

English

Time

1866 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Hankey, Kate. Tell me the old, old story. Composed by William Hovard Doane. c. 1867.

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade

W.H. Auden

September 1,1939

Read September 1, 1939 at poets.org

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Topic

Disillusionment

Author

W.H. Auden

Source

September 1,1939

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Auden, W. H. "September 1, 1939." Another Time. Faber and Faber/Random House, 1940. Originally published in The New Republic, 18 Oct. 1939.

But, friend, to me
He is all fault who hath no fault at all:
For who loves me must have a touch of earth.

Alfred Tennyson

Idylls of the King

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Read Lancelot and Elaine at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Friends

Author

Alfred Tennyson

Source

Lancelot and Elaine Idylls of the King

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tennyson, Alfred. "Lancelot and Elaine." Idylls of the King. London: Edward Moxon, 1859, I. 131-133.

Current Citation

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. "Lancelot and Elaine." Idylls of the King, edited by J. M. Gray. Penguin Classics, 1989, I. 131-133.

History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.

Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending

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Topic

History

Speaker

Adrian Finn

Author

Julian Barnes

Source

The Sense of an Ending

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

2011 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending. Jonathan Cape/Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, ch. 2.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

Alexander Pope

Read Ode on Solitude at Poetry Foundation

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Topic

Anonymity Solitude Obscurity

Author

Alexander Pope

Source

Ode on Solitude

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1700 1700s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Pope, Alexander. "Ode on Solitude." 1700?

Current Citation

Pope, Alexander. "Ode on Solitude." Essay on Man & Other Poems. Dover, 1994.

I get in the dumps at times, and don't open my mouth for days on end. You must not think I am sulky when I do that. Just let me alone, and I'll soon be right.

Sherlock Holmes

A Study in Scarlet

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Topic

Sadness Down days Depression

Speaker

Sherlock Holmes

Author

Arthur Conan Doyle

Source

A Study in Scarlet

Medium

Novel Magazine

Genre

Detective fiction

Language

English

Time

1887 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Doyle, Arthur Conan. "A Study in Scarlet." Beeton's Christmas Annual. London: Ward Lock & Co., 1887.

Current Citation

Doyle, Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet. The Sherlock Holmes Collector's Library. Detective Fiction, 2012, pt. 1, ch. 1.

Nature has left this Tincture in the Blood,
That all Men wou'd be Tyrants if they cou'd.

Daniel Defoe

More information about this quote

Topic

Tyranny Abuse of power Human nature

Author

Daniel Defoe

Source

The History of the Kentish Petition

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1701 1700s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Defoe, Daniel. The History of the Kentish Petition. London, 1701.

Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody.

Samuel Pepys

Read The Diary of Samuel Pepys at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Food

Author

Samuel Pepys

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1665 1660s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pepys, Samuel. Diary entry. 9 Nov. 1665.

Current Citation

Pepys, Samuel. "Diary entry, 9 Nov. 1665." The Diary of Samuel Pepys. Everyman's Library, 2018.

You have not converted a man, because you have silenced him.

John Morley

More information about this quote

Topic

Suppression of speech Persuasion Freedom of speech and expression

Author

John Morley

Source

On Compromise

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1874 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Morley, John. On Compromise. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874, ch. 5.

There is a very pretty Collection of Prints in the next Room, Madam, will you give me leave to explain them to you?

Susanna Centlivre

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Speaker

Lovely

Author

Susanna Centlivre

Source

The Man's Bewitched

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play) Comedy

Statement Type

Invitation Sexual innuendo

Language

English

Time

1710 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Centlivre, Susannah. The Man's Bewitch'd; or, The Devil to do about Her. Performed by John Bowman and John Mills and Benjamin Husband and Robert Wilks. 12 Dec. 1709, Queen's Theatre, Haymarket, London, England, UK, act 3.

Virtue is choked with foul ambition.

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 2

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Read Henry VI, Part 2 (this was originally titled The Contention) at The Folger Shakespeare Library

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Topic

Ambition Virtue Duality of man

Speaker

Gloucester

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry VI, Part 2

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Language

English

Time

1594 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry the Sixth, Part 2. London: Thomas Millington, 1594, act 3, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Second Part of Henry the Sixth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 1.

Whoever would lie usefully should lie seldom.

Lord Hervey

More information about this quote

Topic

Lying Liars Lies

Author

Lord Hervey

Source

Memoirs of the Reign of George II

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1743 1740s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lord Hervey. Memoirs of the Reign of George II, edited by J. W. Croker. London: John Murray, 1848.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end, -
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life.

Alfred Tennyson

Poems

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Read Ulysses at Poetry Foundation

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Topic

Existing not living

Author

Alfred Tennyson

Source

Ulysses (Tennyson) Poems

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1842 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tennyson, Alfred. "Ulysses." Poems. Vol. 2, London: Edward Moxon, 1842, I. 22.

Current Citation

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. "Ulysses." Alfred Tennyson: The Major Works, edited by Adam Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2009, I. 22.

They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.

Francis Bacon

Read The Advancement of Learning at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Discovery Imagination

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

The Advancement of Learning

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1605 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis. The Advancement of Learning. London: Oxford: Rob Youn and Ed Forrest, 1605, bk. 2, ch. 7, sect. 5.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "The Advancement of Learning." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 2, ch. 2, sect. 5.

Grief is itself a med'cine.

William Cowper

More information about this quote

Topic

Grief

Author

William Cowper

Source

Charity Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1782 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cowper, William. "Charity." Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. London: J. Johnson, 1782, I. 159.

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

More information about this quote

Topic

Daffodils Flowers

Author

William Wordsworth

Source

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1807 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wordsworth, William. Poems, in Two Volumes. Vol. 2, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1807.

Current Citation

Wordsworth, William. "I wandered lonely as a cloud." William Wordsworth: The Major Works including The Prelude, edited by Stephen Gill. Oxford University Press, 2008.

The ruling passion, be it what it will,
The ruling passion conquers reason still.

Alexander Pope

More information about this quote

Topic

Reason and emotion

Author

Alexander Pope

Source

Letters of Alexander Pope

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1733 1730s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pope, Alexander. Letter to Bathurst. Of The Use of Riches. 1733, I. 155-156.

Current Citation

Pope, Alexander. "An Epistle to Bathurst." Selected Poetry, edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford University Press, I. 155-156.

Blue, darkly, deeply, beautifully blue.

Robert Southey

More information about this quote

Topic

The sky

Author

Robert Southey

Source

Madoc

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1805 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Southey, Robert. Madoc. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme, 1805, pt. 1.

I glory
More in the cunning purchase of my wealth,
Than in the glad possession.

Ben Jonson

Volpone

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Read Volpone at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Wealth

Speaker

Volpone

Author

Ben Jonson

Source

Volpone

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1606 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jonson, Ben. Volpone. King's Men. Spring 1606, Globe Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Jonson, Ben. "Volpone." Ben Jonson: Five Plays, edited by G. A. Wilkes. Oxford University Press, 2009, act 1, sc. 1.