Customer Reviews

Dictionary of 20th-Century Quotations, The Penguin: Third Edition (Dictionary, Penguin)

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This is an enlarged version of a previous volume .The distinguished translator and man- of - letters J.M.Cohen passed away during the work on it, and it was completed by his son M.J.Cohen. It is a very rich work, arranged alphabetically by author and containing many many memorable sayings. It is of course the kind of work meant to be tasted here and there, and not chewed and digested.

It is a bit too British - centered for my taste, but there is so much in it nonetheless. It does not confine itself to the highbrow world, and also includes the ' sayings' of popular songs.

A few sample entries will perhaps give a sense of the kind of fare involved:

'The wish to pray is a prayer itself' George Bernanos

'No iron can stab the heart with such force as a full stop put in the right place.' Isaac Babel

'A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything' Gustave Mahler

'I've worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty' Groucho Marx

'Health is an episode between two illnesses' Dr. Ted Kaptchuk

'He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back- that's an earthquake... A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory. ' Arthur Miller ' Death of a Salesman'