Home / Authors / George Mikes

George Mikes

George Mikes Quotes

Author

George Mikes was a Hungarian-British author born on February 15, 1912, and died on August 15, 1987. He was known for his humorous and satirical writing style. Mikes' works covered a variety of themes, including travel literature, humorous novels, and autobiography.

Filter quotes by topic

All Funny Humorous Humor England Ifs People Australia Israel British Country States Stills America Continents Language Japan Two United World Australian

Famous George Mikes Quotes

“On the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners.”

People Food England Tables Cooking Manners Culinary Continents Good Manners Good Food Table Manners

Author:George Mikes

“In England only uneducated people show off their knowledge; nobody quotes Latin or Greek authors in the course of conversation, unless he has never read them.”

People Shows Courses Conversation England Greek Latin Showing Off Uneducated Educated And Uneducated

Book:How to be a Brit: The Classic Bestselling Guide

Source: How to be a Brit: The Classic Bestselling Guide

“Continental people have a sex life; the English have hot-water bottles.”

People Funny Sex Water England Hot Bottles Insulting Hot Water Continental Water Bottles

Author:George Mikes

“In England it is bad manners to be clever, to assert something confidently. It may be your own personal view that two and two make four, but you must not state it in a self-assured way, because this is a democratic country and others may be of a different opinion.”

Source: How to be a Brit: The Classic Bestselling Guide

“When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles, - but never England.”

People Mean Sometimes United England British Kingdoms Britain Great Britain United Kingdom Isle

Book:How to be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils

Source: How to be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils

“On the Continent stray cats are judged individually on their merit-some are loved, some are only respected; in England they are universally worshipped as in ancient Egypt.”

Cat England Ancient Merit Judged Continents Egypt Ancient Egypt Stray Cats

Author:George Mikes

“In England the boy pats his adored one on the back and says softly, "I don't object, you know." If he is quite mad with passion, he may add: "I rather fancy you, in fact.”

Ifs Knows May Facts Passion Boys Objects England Mad Add Fancy Courtship

Author:George Mikes

“People on the Continent either tell you the truth or lie; in England they hardly ever lie, but they would not dream of telling you the truth.”

People Dream Funny Lying Humorous England Continents

Author:George Mikes

“If somebody tells you an obviously untrue story, on the Continent you would remark, "You are a liar, Sir, and a rather dirty one at that." In England you just say "Oh, is that so?" Or "That's rather an unusual story, isn't it?”

Ifs Stories England Dirty Liars Unusual Continents Remarks Untrue True Story Rudeness

Author:George Mikes

“On the Continent there is one topic which should be avoided-the weather; in England, if you do not repeat the phrase "Lovely day, isn't it?" at least two hundred times a day, you are considered a bit dull.”

Ifs Should Two Bits Hundred England Lovely Weather Phrases Repeats Dull Continents Topics Avoided Lovely Day

Author:George Mikes

“The English have no soul; they have the understatement instead.”

Soul Funny Humorous England Understatement

Book:How to be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils

Source: How to be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils

“When a wicked and unworthy subject annoyed the Sultan of Turkey or the Czar of Russia, he had his head cut of without much ceremony; but when the same happened in England, the monarch declared : "We are not amused".”

Funny Cutting Happened Subjects Humorous England Russia Wicked Ceremony Turkeys Annoyed Unworthy Amused Monarchs Czars

Book:How to be a Brit: The Classic Bestselling Guide

Source: How to be a Brit: The Classic Bestselling Guide

“The British suffer from a most unfortunate superiority complex - unjustified even under Victoria and most certainly hopelessly out-of-date today.”

Today Funny Suffering Humorous England Complexes British Unfortunate Superiority Victoria Unjustified Superiority Complex

Author:George Mikes

About the Author

Born: February 15, 1912
Died: August 15, 1987
Known for: Author
Quotes: 74

Related Topics

Funny Humorous Humor England Ifs People Australia Israel British Country States Stills America Continents Language Japan Two United World Australian

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

How to be a Brit: The Classic Bestselling GuideRelated source material

How to scrape skies: the United States explored, rediscovered and explainedRelated source material

The land of the rising yen: JapanRelated source material

Coat of Many Colors: IsraelRelated source material

The Prophet Motive: Israel Today and TomorrowRelated source material

How to be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced PupilsRelated source material

English Humour for BeginnersRelated source material

How to be poorRelated source material

Humour in memoriamRelated source material

Similar Authors

Steven WrightBrowse related quotes
Mitch HedbergBrowse related quotes
Tommy CooperBrowse related quotes
Chic MurrayBrowse related quotes
Milton JonesBrowse related quotes
Frankie BoyleBrowse related quotes
Kristen SchaalBrowse related quotes
Russell HowardBrowse related quotes
Bill BaileyBrowse related quotes
Dave BarryBrowse related quotes