John Murray presents
The following are from A Gentleman Publisher's Commonplace Book, reviewed by James Lees-Milne on page 50 All beginnings are delightful, the thresh- old is the place to pause. Goethe
A slight touch of friendly malice and amusement towards those we love keeps our affection for them, I find, from becom-
ing flat. Logan Pearsall Smith 'Freya Stark explaining to a relatively unsophisticated audience the genius of Mr Norman Hartnell.' Osbert Lancaster Good temper is one of the great pre- servers of the features. James Northcote, recorded by William Hazlitt Being published by the Oxford University Press is rather like being married to a Duchess: the honour is almost greater than the pleasure. G. M. Young
A ndiatorocte is the title of a volume of poems by the Reverend Clarence Walworth. It is a word borrowed from the Indian and should, we think, be returned to them as soon as possible. From a review by Oscar Wilde in the Pall Mall Gazette
It is a secret in the Oxford sense. You may tell it to only one person at a time. Lord Franks Marriage is a chain so heavy that it always takes two people to carry it — sometimes three.
The art of hospitality is to make guests feel at home when you wish they were.
A journalist from a smart American maga- zine interviewing Elizabeth Longford: And in your long married life, Lady Longford, have you ever contemplated divorce?' Elizabeth Longford: 'Murder often, divorce never.'
Many a man has a bonfire in his heart and nobody comes to warm himself at it. The passers-by notice only a little smoke Coming from the chimney and go away. Van Gogh You must come again when you have less time. Walter Sickert to Denton Welch One of the finest minds in Britain until he makes it up. Of Enoch Powell They are agreeable enough, but if they'd been books I shouldn't have read them. Young Goethe to his mother about fellow guests I have always maintained that whether a black cat crossing your path is lucky or unlucky depends on whether you are a man or a mouse. Bernard Levin Most of my friends seem to be either dead, extremely deaf or living on the wrong side of Kent. John Gielgud Arguing with women is like trying to fold the airmail edition of the Times in a high wind. Lord Mancroft I hope I may die before you so that I may see heaven before you improve it. A remark made to Capability Brown It is good to know the truth and speak it, but it is better to talk of palm trees. Chinese The girl was beheaded, chopped into pieces and placed in a trunk, but was not interfered with. From a Fleet Street report Notice in a Cork jeweller's window. 'Ears pierced while you wait.' From Dervla Murphy To my deafness I'm accustomed, To my dentures I'm resigned, I can manage my bifocals, But Oh how I miss my mind. Alec Douglas Home Ralph, Lord Lovelace's prosposal letter to Margaret Stuart Wortley: 'If you find your- self unwilling to accept me, will you please pass this letter on to your sister Caroline.' Both refused, but he married the eldest sister, Mary. Quoted by Lady Wentworth in her Memoirs The Earl of Portsmouth (c. 1800) would slaughter his own cattle with an axe, shout- ing: 'That serves them right, the ambitious toads.' Tangye Lean Maid of Athens, 'ere we part, Give, 0 give me back my heart, For although it's yours tonight Murray's have the copyright.'
Osbert Lancaster Whenever I feel the need for exercise I go and lie down for half an hour until the feel- ing passes. Will Rogers Like all very selfish people she slipped easily into the role of martyr. Christopher Sykes on Lady William Russell An old-time printer had his own quaint rule of punctuation: 'I set type as long as I can hold my breath and then I put in a comma. When I yawn I put in a semicolon. And when I want a chew of tobacco I make a paragraph . . . '
After sitting next to Mr Gladstone I thought he was the cleverest man in Eng- land. But after sitting next to Mr Disraeli I thought I was the cleverest woman in Eng- land. Princess Marie Louise, Queen Victoria's granddaughter.
`The bridge of a sinking ship, one feels, is scarcely the ideal place from which to deliver a lecture on the technique of keep- ing afloat.' Kenneth Tynan, referring to Nodl Coward's attack on young playwrights and their plays.
I prefer Offenbach to Bach often. Sir Thomas Beecham
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