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. . . see: "ORATORS" see: "COMMUNICATION" for other related links In that oration there were some things that were true, and some things that were trite: but what was true was trite, and what was not trite was not true. --Arthur James Balfour (1848—1930) British Conservative statesman and Prime Minister [1920-25]. In Winston Churchill _Great Contemporaries_ [1937], "Arthur James Balfour" I do not object to people looking at their watches when I am speaking. But I strongly object when they start shaking them to make certain they are still going. --Lord Birkett (1883—1962) English barrister and judge. In "Observer" [30 October 1960]. [On the younger William Pitt's maiden speech in Parliament (February 1781):] Not merely a chip off the old block, but the old block itself. --Edmund Burke (1729—1797) Irish-born Whig politician and man of letters. Quoted in Nathaniel W. Wraxall _Historical Memoirs of My Own Time_ [1904]. ^ Eamon De Valera (1882—1975), three times prime minister of Ireland [1932-48], [1951-54], and [1957-59]. In the middle of a fiery political speech at Ennis, De Valera was arrested. After a year's imprisonment, he was released. At once he hastened back to Ennis, summoned a meeting, and began to speak: "As I was saying when I was interrupted—" --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ When asked what was first in oratory, [he] replied to his questioner. 'action,' what second, 'action,' and again third, 'action.' --Demosthenes (c. 364—c. 322 B.C.) Athenian orator and statesman. In Cicero _Brutus_. I was reminded of the after-dinner speaker who went on and on until a guest was so fed up that he picked up a bottle and shied it at the speaker's head. Unfortunately it missed the speaker and hit a little man sitting beside him, knocking him out. Immediately people rushed to revive him, and when he eventually came round, he was heard to say: 'Please hit me again. I can still hear him.' --Tim Heald, in _The Best After-Dinner Stories_ [2003], "Introduction" ^ Thomas Heggen (1919—1949) American writer. When Heggen's "Mister Roberts" appeared, the publishers arranged for him to make some public appearances to advertise the book. His first speaking engagement was at a luncheon in a New York hotel. Thoughout the meal he sat among the ladies at the head table, paralyzed with apprehension and unable to swallow anything. Called upon to speak, he stood up and, overcome with nerves, failed to utter a single word. A neighbor, seeing his agony, tried to get him started by saying kindly, ''Perhaps you can tell us how you wrote your book.'' Heggen gulped and the words suddenly came: ''Well, shit, it was just that I was on this boat. . . '' --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ Gentlemen, do you know what is the finest speech that I ever in my life heard or read? It is the address of Garibaldi to his Roman soldiers, when he told them: 'Soldiers, what I have to offer you is fatigue, danger, struggle and death; the chill of the cold night in the free air, and heat under the burning sun; no lodgings, no munitions, no provisions, but forced marches, dangerous watchposts and the continual struggle with the bayonet against batteries; — those who love freedom and their country may follow me.' That is the most glorious speech I ever heard in my life. --Lajos Kossuth (1802—1894) Hungarian lawyer and journalist. Address to the N.Y. State Militia, Castle Garden, N.Y. quoted in "The Literary World" [27 December 1851]. I never made a dime talking. --Sebastian Spering Kresge (1867—1966) American entrepreneur, founder of the S. S. Kresge Company. Entire speech at the dedication of Kresge Hall at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1953. Be sincere; be brief; be seated. --Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882—1945) American Democratic statesman and President [1933-45]. Advice on speechmaking to his son James. In Bill Adler, comp. _Presidential Wit: From Washington to Johnson_, p. 164 [1966]. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. --William Shakespeare (1564—1616) English dramatist. _Julius Caesar_ III, ii, 79 [1599] HECKLER (from the crowd): Tell 'em what's on your mind, Al. It won't take long. SMITH (grinning and pointing at the man): Stand up, pardner, and I'll tell 'em what's on both our minds. It won't take any longer. --Alfred E. Smith (1873—1944) American politician; four-time Democratic governor of New York and the first Roman Catholic to run for President of the U.S.. In "Lyndon's Fables" _Time_ [8 May 1964]. Do you remember that in classical time when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, 'How well he spoke,' but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, 'Let us march.' --Adlai E. Stevenson (1900—1965) American Democratic politician. Introducing John F. Kennedy in 1960, in Bert Cochran _Adlai Stevenson_ [1969]. ^ William Howard Taft (1857—1930) 27th President of the United States [1909-13] and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court [1921-30]. During a political speech a listener threw a cabbage at Taft, who then paused, examined the cabbage, and said, 'I see that one of my opponents has lost its head.' --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ I don't speak. I write. Thank you. --Donald E. Westlake (1933—2008) American mystery writer who won the Edgar Award three times. His entire speech upon winning the 1967 Edgar Allan Poe Award for _God Save the Mark_. I will be brief. Not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the world's shortest speech. He said 'I will be so brief I have already finished,' and he sat down. --Edward O. Wilson (b. 1929) American entomologist and biologist. Quoted in Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, & Jon Warshawsky _Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide_ [2005]. If I am to speak for ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now. --Woodrow Wilson (1856—1924) American Democratic statesman and President [1913-21]. In Josephus Daniels _The Wilson Era_ [1946]. I accept this very gratefully for keeping my mouth shut for once. I think I'll do it again. --Jane Wyman [Sarah Jane Fulks] (1914—2007) American actress. Accepting the 1949 Academy Award for best actress for her role as a deaf-mute in "Johnny Belinda." -- At an afternoon tea for officers and their wives, the commanding general of the base delivered a seemingly endless oration. A young second lieutenant, listening with obvious disfavor, grumbled to the woman at his side, “What a pompous and unbearable old windbag that man is.” The woman turned to him, her face red with rage and said, “Lieutenant, do you know who I am?” “No, ma’am.” “I am the wife of the man you just called ‘an unbearable old windbag.’ “ “Indeed,” said the young lieutenant, looking steadfast and unruffled, “and do you know who I am?” “No, I don’t,” said the general’s wife. “Thank God,” said the lieutenant as he disappeared into the crowd. ----- glossophobia The fear of public speaking. peroration [per-uh-REY-shuhn], noun: 1. A long speech characterized by lofty and often pompous language. 2. Rhetoric. The concluding part of a speech or discourse, in which the speaker or writer recapitulates the principal points and urges them with greater earnestness and force. valediction (noun) A speech or statement made as a farewell. Synonyms: valedictory, valedictory address  ;void(0)) SPEED . . see: "HASTE" see: "IMPULSIVE" see: "PUNCTUALITY" see: "TRAVEL" for other related links It is impossible to travel faster than light, and certainly not desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off. --Woody Allen [Allen Stewart Konigsberg] (b. 1935) American actor, screenwriter, and director. _Side Effects_ [1986 ed.] Make haste slowly. --Augustus [Gaius Octavius] (63 B.C.—14 A.D.) The first Roman emperor. In _Lives of the Caesars_ [c.121] by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. There was a young lady named Bright, Whose speed was far faster than light; She set out one day In a relative way And returned home the previous night. --Arthur Buller (1874—1944) British botanist and mycologist. "Relativity" [1923] Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure. --Lord Byron [George Gordon Byron] (1788—1824) English Romantic poet and satirist. "Don Juan" canto XIII, st. 6 [1823] 'Well, in our country,' said Alice, still panting a little, 'you'd generally get to somewhere else — if you ran very fast for a long time as we've been doing.' 'A slow sort of country!' said the Queen. 'Now, *here,* 1 see, it takes all the running *you* can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!' --Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832—1898) English writer and logician. _Thorough the Looking-Glass_ [1872] The Loco Motive machine was to be upon the railway at such a place at 12 o'clock. So of course we were at our post in 3 carriages and some horsemen at the hour appointed. I had the satisfaction, for I can't call it _pleasure_, of taking a trip of five miles in it at 20 miles an hour. As Accuracy was my great object I held my watch in my hand at starting and all the time, and as it has a second hand, I knew I could not be deceived. During the five miles, the machine was occasionally made to put itself out or _go it_; and then we went at the rate of 23 miles an hour, and just with the same ease as to motion or absence of friction. But the quickest motion is to me _frightful_; it is really flying, and it is impossible to divest yourself of the notion of instant death. It gave me a headache which has not left me. Altogether I am extremely glad to have seen this miracle, but having done so I am quite satisfied with my *first* achievement being my *last*. --Thomas Creevey (1768—1838) English politician. (After riding in a railroad carriage at 23 mph [14 November 1829].) Quoted in Jacques Barzun, _From Dawn to Decadence_ [2000]. When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. --Federal Express delivery service advertising slogan. [On riding the railroad in 1839:] I thought the perfection of rapid transit had been reached. We traveled at least eighteen miles an hour when at full speed, and made the whole distance averaging as much as twelve miles an hour. This seemed like annihilating space. --Ulysses S. Grant (1822—1885) American Unionist general and 18th President of the United States [1869-77]. Haste makes waste. --John Heywood (1497—1580) English playwright. _Dialogue of Proverbs_ [1546] [Brandy (voice of Faith Prince) calls KACL:] Roz (Peri Gilpin): He's not even good in bed? Brandy: Who knows? We're never there long enough to find out. [...] I said to him last night, "What the hell was that?! I've been vaccinated slower!" --Joe Keenan "Frasier" (U.S. TV series), aired 20 February 1996. The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer. --Henry Alfred Kissinger (b. 1923) German-born American diplomat. Quoted in _Washington Post_ [23 December 1973]. Do not cross the bridge till you come to it. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882) American poet. "Journal" [29 April 1850] [Of director Sidney Lumet:] The only guy I know who could double-park in front of a whorehouse — he's that fast. --Paul Newman (1925—2008) Amercan actor. Quoted in Al Clark _The Film Yearbook_ [1984]. [On "Cool Papa" Bell:] That man was so fast he could turn out the light and jump in bed before the room got dark. --Leroy "Satchel" Paige (1906—1982) American baseball pitcher in both the Negro Leagues and the Major League; inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1971. Quoted in "Sporting News" [26 May 1973]. - [The vehicle referred to is a horse-drawn mail coach:] "You will allow," said Mr Foster, as soon as they were again in motion, "that the wild man of the woods could not transport himself over two hundred miles of forest, with as much facility as one of these vehicles transports you and me through the heart of this cultivated country." "I am certain," said Mr Escot, "that a wild man can travel an immense distance without fatigue; but what is the advantage of locomotion? The wild man is happy in one spot, and there he remains: the civilised man is wretched in every place he happens to be in, and then congratulates himself on being accommodated with a machine that will whirl him to another, where he will be just as miserable as ever." --Thomas Love Peacock (1785—1866) English satirist and author. _Headlong Hall_ [1816] - Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. --Alexander Pope (1688—1744) English poet. "An Essay on Criticism", l. 625 [1711] Half of our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. --Will Rogers [William Penn Adair Rogers] (1879—1935) American humorist and actor. Letter to the "New York Times" [29 April 1930]. The years pass more quickly as we become older. --Arthur Schopenhauer (1788—1860) German philosopher. "Counsels and Maxims" (2.9), _Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer_, tr. T. Bailey Saunders [1851]. Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast. --William Shakespeare (1564—1616) English dramatist. _Romeo and Juliet_, II, iv [1595-96] -- TRIVIA: President Ulysses S. Grant was once arrested during his term of office. He was convicted of exceeding the Washington speed limit on his horse and was fined $20. ----- alacrity (noun) [ê-'læ-krê-tee] Willing promptitude in responding, eager and happy quickness or speed. celerity [suh-LAIR-uh-tee], noun: Rapidity of motion or action; quickness; swiftness. fulgurate [FUHL-gyuh-reyt], verb: 1. To flash or dart like lightning. 2. Medicine. To destroy (esp. an abnormal growth) by electricity.  SPELLING . . see: "LANGUAGE" for related links Orthography is so absolutely necessary for a gentleman, that one false spelling may fix a ridicule upon him for the rest of his life; and I know of a man of quality who never recovered the ridicule of having spelled *wholesome* without the *w*. --Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694—1773) British writer and politician. 1750 letter to his son, quoted in Daniel J. Boorstin _The Discoverers_ [1983]. ^ Favras, Thomas de Mahay, Marquis de (1744—1790) French aristocrat. Favras's trial lasted nearly two months; the evidence against him was inconclusive and the witnesses disagreed, but in the end he was found guilty. Before being lead to the scaffold he was handed his death sentence, written down by the clerk of the court. He read it through, then said, 'I see, monsieur, that you have made three spelling mistakes.' --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ It's a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word. --Andrew Jackson ["Old Hickory"] (1767—1845) American military hero and 7th president of the United States [1829-37]. Attributed in _Ebony_ (mag.) [May 1988]. Also, in July 1882, this quote from _The New England Historical and Genealogical Register_, p. 273: "The variety of ways in which Groton Town-Clerks contrived to spell the same office is marvellous to behold. Evidently, like General Jackson, they despised a man who could spell a word in only one way." see: quoteinvestigator.com Take care that you never spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word, consider how it is spelled, and, if you do not remember it, turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to spell well. --Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826) American statesman and president [1801-09]. 1783 letter to his daughter, Martha Jefferson. I'm not very good at it myself, but the first rule about spelling is that there is only one z in "is." --George S. Kaufman (1889—1961) American playwright, director, and producer. (To the writer of a manuscript filled with spelling errors.) Correct spelling, indeed, is one of the arts that are far more esteemed by school ma'ams than by practical men, neck-deep in the heat and agony of the world. --H.L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (1880—1956) American journalist and literary critic. _The American Language_ [1919] My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places. --A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne (1882—1956) English writer for children. _Winnie-the-Pooh_ [1926] A man occupied with public or other important business, a minister for instance, cannot, and need not, attend to orthography. --Napoleon I (1769—1821) Emperor of France [1804-15]. Quoted in Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné Las Cases _Mémorial de Sainte Hélène _ [1823]. ^ Headline in the Narragansett (R.I.) Times. LITERARCY GRANT BENEFITS LOCAL STUDENTS --_New Yorker_ (magazine) [24 December 2007] ^ In writing essays, there are two things one has difficulty with — spelling and stops. Nearly everybody says it is the spelling that matters. Now spelling is one of the decencies of life, like the proper use of knives and forks. It looks slovenly and nasty if you spell wrongly, like trying to eat your soup with a fork. But, intellectually, spelling — English spelling — does not matter. Shakespeare spelt his own name at least four different ways, and it may have puzzled his cashiers at the bank. Intellectually, stops matter a great deal. If you are getting your commas, semi-colons, and full-stops wrong, it means that you are not getting your thoughts right, and your mind is muddled. --William Temple (1881—1944) English theologian and Archbishop. Speech at the Royal Infant Orphanage in Wanstead [22 October 1938]. I don't see any use in spelling a word right, and never did. I mean I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way of spelling words. We might as well make all our clothes alike and cook all dishes alike. --Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910) American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot. Quoted in "The School Journal", vol. 24, no. 2 [August 1875]. - Aoccdrnig to a rseerach at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. --source unknown NOTE: This mail is a natural product. The sleight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual charicter and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects. --anon. ;void(0)) SPENDTHRIFTS . . see: "DEBT" see: "MONEY" for other related links A fool and his money are soon parted. --John Bridges (1536—1618) English bishop. _A Defence of the Government_ [1587] ^ Chertkov, a disciple of Tolstoy, was a wealthy aristocrat. Tolstoy once reprimanded him for traveling first class, suggesting that, to demonstrate his humility, he should go second. On his next journey the obedient Chertkov hired an entire second-class coach for himself. --In Michael Scammel _Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A Biography_ [1985]. ^ My main problem is reconciling my gross habits with my net income. --Errol Flynn (1909—1959) Tasmanian-born motion-picture actor. Quoted in "N.Y. Times" [6 March 1955]. ^ Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714—1787) German opera composer. Walking along the rue St. Honoré one day, Gluck accidentally broke a shopkeeper's glass pane. The value being put at thirty sous, Gluck offered him a coin worth about double that. The shopkeeper was about to run next door to get change when Gluck stopped him. 'Why bother, I'll make it even.' And he broke another pane. --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ Expenditure rises to meet income. --C. Northcote Parkinson (1909—1993) English writer. _The Law and the Profits_, ch. 1 [1960] end page | SACRED PLACES - SANTA CLAUS | SARCASM - SCHOOL | SCIENCE - SCULPTURE | SEA (THE) - SEEING | SELF - SELF-ESTEEM | SELF-EXAMINATION - SELLING OUT | SENATE (THE U.S.) - SERIOUSNESS | SEX | SEX SYMBOLS - SHEEP | SHIPS - SHYNESS | SICKNESS - SILENCE | SILLINESS - SINGING | SINGLE-MINDEDNESS - SKY | SLANDER - SLAVERY | SLEEP - SMILES | SMOKING - SOCIETY | SOLDIERS - SOPHISTICATION | SORROW - SOUTH SEA | SPACE - SPAM | SPEECH | SPEECHES - SPENDTHRIFTS | SPIDERS - SPY | SPORTS & SPORTSMANSHIP | STAGE (THE) - STERILIZATION | STOCK MARKET - STRANGERS | STRENGTH - SUBURBS | SUCCESS | SUFFERING - SUMMER | SUN - SUPREME COURT | SURPRISE - SYSTEM (THE) | | R | S | T | U - END | | Return Home | The Credits | The Cast | Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | The Reviews | |
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