Quotessence
Home / Authors / Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh

Evelyn Waugh Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllBrideshead RevisitedIfsPeopleLiteratureArtWritingBookThinkingHas BeensMenNeedsWantWorldKnowsShouldYearsAgeGivingLostLove

Famous Evelyn Waugh Quotes

“Conversation should be like juggling; up go the balls and the plates, up and over, in and out, good solid objects that glitter in the footlights and fall with a bang if you miss them. But when dear Sebastian speaks it is like a little sphere of soapsud drifting off the end of an old clay pipe, anywhere, full of rainbow light for a second and then - phut! vanished, with nothing left at all, nothing.”

IfsShouldLittlesEndsLightFallLeftSpeakMissingObjectsConversationBallsDearSpheresPlatesRainbowClayBangsPipeGlitterDriftingJugglingDrifting Off
Author:Evelyn Waugh
Create image

“If every museum in the New World were emptied, if every famous building in the Old World were destroyed and only Venice saved, there would be enough there to fill a full lifetime with delight. Venice, with all its complexity and variety, is in itself the greatest surviving work of art in the world.”

IfsWorldArtEnoughWould BeBuildingLifetimeDelightSavedDestroyedVarietyComplexityWorks Of ArtMuseumsNew WorldSurvivingVeniceOld WorldVery Famous
Book:The Essays, Articles and Reviews of Evelyn Waugh
Create image

“If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with a stranger at a bar, they can conscientiously describe him as a source that has hitherto proved unimpeachable. It is only when the journalist is reporting a whim of his own, and one to which he attaches minor importance, that he defines it as the opinion of well-informed circles.”

IfsWellsOpinionHeardSourceConversationImportanceStrangerCirclesBarsStatementsInstanceJournalismJournalistFallenOfficialsAttributesMinorsWhimPostman
Book:The Essays, Articles and Reviews of Evelyn Waugh
Create image

“"What war?" said the Prime Minister sharply. "No one has said anything to me about a war. I really think I should have been told. I'll be damned," he said defiantly, "if they shall have a war without consulting me. What's a cabinet for, if there's not more mutual confidence than that? What do they want a war for anyway?"”

IfsThinkingWantShouldHas BeensSaidWarShould HaveMinistersMutualPrimePrime MinisterShould Have BeenCabinetsConsulting
Book:VILE BODIES & BLACK MISCHIEF
Create image

“If one's object is ascetic, it is far better to stay in London or Paris or New York; there is practically no extreme of heat or cold, physical risk, loneliness, hunger or thirst that cannot, with a little ingenuity, be conveniently achieved in the centres of civilization.”

IfsLittlesRiskLonelinessNew YorkObjectsColdCivilizationTravelHungerExtremesLondonParisHeatThirstCentreIngenuity
Book:The Essays, Articles and Reviews of Evelyn Waugh
Create image