The Times Great Quotations. Группа авторов

made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.

      Richard Hooker, English priest and theologian (1554–1600)

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      There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse … it is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place.

      Tales of a Traveler (1824)

      Washington Irving, American writer, historian and diplomat (1783–1859)

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      The issues are the same. We wanted peace on earth, love, and understanding between everyone around the world. We have learned that change comes slowly.

      The Observer (1987)

      Sir Paul McCartney, English singer-songwriter and composer (1942–)

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      Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change the more they remain the same.

      Les Guêpes (1849)

      Alphonse Karr, French critic and writer (1808–1890)

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      Future shock … the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time.

      Future Shock (1970)

      Alvin Toffler, American writer, futurist and businessmen (1928–2016)

CHRISTMAS AND FESTIVE SPIRIT

      Still xmas is a good time with all those presents and good food and i hope it will never die out or at any rate not until i am grown up and hav to pay for it all.

      How to Be Topp (1954)

      Geoffrey Willams (1911–1958) and Ronald Searle (1920–2011), English humourists

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      A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.

      Leaving Home (1987)

      Garrison Keillor, American writer, humourist and radio personality (1942–)

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      Hogmanay, like all festivals, being but a bank from which we can only draw what we put in.

      Sentimental Tommy (1896)

      JM Barrie, Scottish writer and dramatist (1860–1937)

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      Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.

      [Letter to a US newspaper, 1863]

      Mark Twain, American writer (1835–1910)

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      Christmas begins about the first of December with an office party and ends when you finally realise what you spent, around April fifteenth of the next year.

      Modern Manners (1983)

      PJ O’Rourke, American political satirist and journalist (1947–)

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      Christmas is the time for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

      Old Christmas (1876)

      Washington Irving, American writer, historian and diplomat (1783–1859)

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      I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!

      A Christmas Carol (1843)

      Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic (1812–1870)

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      At Christmas I no more desire a rose

      Than wish a snow in May’s new fangled shows;

      But like of each thing that in season grows.

      Love’s Labour’s Lost (1597)

      William Shakespeare, English poet and dramatist (1564–1616)

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      My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?

      Bob Hope, English-born American comedian and actor (1903–2003)

COMPETITION

      If you don’t try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody’s back yard.

      Jesse Owens, American Olympic gold medallist for track and field (1913–1980)

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      The important thing in life is not the victory but the contest; the essential thing is not to have won but to have fought well.

      [Speech in London, 1908]

      Baron Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the International Olympic Committee (1863–1937)

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      Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize.

       The Bible

       Corinthians 9:24

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      Winning is everything. The only ones who remember you when you come second are your wife and your dog.

      The Sunday Times (1994)

      Damon Hill, British Formula One world champion (1960–)

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      When you are in any contest, you should work as if there were — to the very last minute — a chance to lose it.

      [The President’s News Conference, 1956]

      Dwight D Eisenhower, 34th president of the US (1890–1969)