Home / Authors / Clive James

Clive James Quotes

Author

Clive James, born on October 7, 1939, is an Australian author, critic, and broadcaster. His works span poetry, fiction, essays, and literary criticism, known for their unique humor and insightful observations.

Filter quotes by topic

All Classic Ifs People Thinking Writing Funny World Men Humorous Should Young Art Tennis Firsts Way America British Language Looks Reading

Famous Clive James Quotes

“One way or another, all the poets of the thirties and forties reacted to Auden, either by rejecting him or trying to absorb him.”

Way Trying Poetry Literature Poet One Way Forty Rejecting Auden

Book:Poetry Notebook: 2006–2014

Source: Poetry Notebook: 2006–2014

“She was good at playing abstract confusion in the same way that a midget is good at being short.”

Way Confusion Abstract Midget

Author:Clive James

“The Language Laboratory at Cambridge is a very good way of finding out about grammar and the vocabulary and that's why I learned to read German and later on I added Spanish, the standard European languages.”

Way Language Findings Standards Very Good Vocabulary Grammar Laboratory Good Way Cambridge

Author:Clive James

“A traditional fixture at Wimbledon is the way the BBC TV commentary box fills up with British players eliminated in the early rounds.”

Way Player Tvs Rounds Boxes British Traditional Classic Tennis Commentary Wimbledon Fixture

Author:Clive James

“Roscoe Tanner seems to have found a way of making his service go even faster, so that the ball is now quite invisible, like Stealth, the American supersonic bomber which nobody has ever seen.”

Way Seems Found Balls Invisible Faster Tennis Bombers Stealth

Book:Glued to the box: television criticism from the Observer, 1979-82

Source: Glued to the box: television criticism from the Observer, 1979-82

“The rattle of plastic keys reminds me of a squadron of butterflies failing to fight their way out of a paper bag.”

Way Fighting Failing Keys Paper Computer Bags Butterfly Plastic Paper Bags

Book:Reliable Essays: The Best of Clive James: Reliable Essays:The Best of Clive James

Source: Reliable Essays: The Best of Clive James: Reliable Essays:The Best of Clive James

“Dinner was meat - not hunks of meat, as in Australia, but pathetic scraps of meat, as in Britain - which the girls upstairs transformed into edible dishes by heating it in secret ways and adding bits of stuff to it.”

Way Funny Girl Stuff Bits Secret Humorous England Dinner Meat Britain Australia Transformed Dishes Pathetic Scrap Upstairs Heating Hunk

Book:The Complete Unreliable Memoirs

Source: The Complete Unreliable Memoirs

About the Author

Born: October 7, 1939
Known for: Author
Quotes: 145

Books & Sources

The Complete Unreliable MemoirsRelated source material

Glued to the box: television criticism from the Observer, 1979-82Related source material

Always Unreliable: MemoirsRelated source material

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the ArtsRelated source material

Flying VisitsRelated source material

The Crystal BucketRelated source material

May Week Was In JuneRelated source material

Snakecharmers In TexasRelated source material

Clive James On TelevisionRelated source material

Poetry Notebook: 2006–2014Related source material

Similar Authors

Prince PhilipBrowse related quotes
George MikesBrowse related quotes
Dave BarryBrowse related quotes
George CarlinBrowse related quotes
Woody AllenBrowse related quotes
Groucho MarxBrowse related quotes
P. J. O'RourkeBrowse related quotes
Oscar WildeBrowse related quotes
Mandy Rice-DaviesBrowse related quotes
Maren JensenBrowse related quotes