English Antiques

Folks,

English is cute, I mean the language. Take for instance this article which appeared in the Star newspaper today. It's a good read, a piece that's written by SH Loke and entitled "Can you stomach this?". In case you missed it, the link is given below.

http://thestar.com.my/english/story.asp?file=/2012/2/22/lifefocus/10771048&sec=lifefocus

More about the English thru' some of the crankiest quotes that you can find. These could make you laugh but did you know that.....?

The English are not happy unless they are miserable, the Irish are not at peace unless they are at war, and the Scots are not at home unless they are abroad.
~George Orwell

England is a paradise for women and hell for horses; Italy is a paradise for horses, hell for women, as the proverb goes.
~Robert Burton

The reason why Englishmen are the best husbands in the world is because they want to be faithful. A Frenchman or an Italian will wake up in the morning and wonder what girl he will meet. An Englishman wakes up and wonders what the cricket score is. ~Barbara Cartland

"Many continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game"~George Mikes (1912-1987) - Hungarian Writer

"Ask any man what nationality he would prefer to be, and ninety nine out of a hundred will tell you that they would prefer to be Englishmen".~Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902)

"The (English) people are bold, courageous, ardent and cruel in war. But very inconstant, rash, vainglorious, light and deceiving. And very suspicious, especially of foreigners, whom they despise".~Emmanuel van Meteren - Dutch merchant

"In the eyes of the Englishman, the Frenchman is a dog, the Spaniard a fool, the German a drunkard, the Italian a bandit. Only the Englishman is the pinnacle of perfection and nature's masterpiece."~Riem (1762-1828)

"England: a good land and a bad people."~Traditional French saying

"When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles - but never England".~George Mikes - author (from his book "How To Be An Alien")

"There is nothing so bad or so good that you will not find Englishmen doing it; but you will never find an Englishman in the wrong. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles; he robs you on business principles; he enslaves you on imperial principles; he bullies you on manly principles; he supports his King on loyal principles and cuts off his King's head on republican principles".~George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) - Irish playwright

"It is not that the Englishman can't feel.it is that he is afraid to feel. He has been taught at his public school that feeling is bad form. He must not express great joy or sorrow, or even open his mouth too wide when he talks. his pipe might fall out if he did".~E. M. Forster (1879-1976) -English novelist

The English contribution to world cuisine - the chip.~John Cleese

An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven't been done before.~Mark Twain

"I don't like England very much, but the English do seem a rather lovable people. They have such a great gentleness".~D. H. Lawrence

"The gentleness of the English civilisation is perhaps its most marked characteristic. You notice it the moment you set foot on English soil. It is a land where conductors are good tempered and policemen carry no revolvers. In no country inhabited by white men is it easier to shove people off the pavement".~George Orwell (1903-1950) - English author

"England is a nation of shopkeepers!".~Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 -1821)

"English Catholics are just Protestants, protesting against Protestantism".~D. H. Lawrence (1865-1930)

"American politicians do anything for money... English politicians take the money and won't do anything ".~Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) - Canadian Humourist

"In England there are sixty different religions, and only one sauce"~Domenico Caracciola (1752-1799) - Neopolitan Diplomat

"The English winter - ending in July, to recommence in August"~Lord Byron (1788-1824) - English poet

English proverbs just 2, enough food for thought:
"Children are a poor man's riches."
"What good is running if one is on the wrong road."

"I know why the sun never sets on the British Empire: God would never trust an Englishman in the dark."~Duncan Spaeth (1868-1954)

Well I've never been to England
But I kind of like the Beatles.
~Hoyt Axton

Last but not least, pardon my saying but to quote Joseph Conrad, “Writing in English is like throwing mud at a wall.” I hope you get it (the meaning of it I mean)!

Cheers!