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Quote by Noel Coward

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The Essential Noël Coward Compendium: The Very Best of His Work, Life and Times

This compendium offers a curated selection of Noël Coward's most celebrated works, providing insight into his literary contributions and personal experiences throughout his career. more

Author

Noel Coward
Noel Coward

Noel Coward, born on December 16, 1899 and died on March 26, 1973, was a British playwright, actor, director, and composer. He is a prominent figure in the British theater and film industry of the 20th century, known for his witty humor and unique style. more

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“For some reason a nation feels as shy about admitting that it ever went forth to war for the sake of more wealth as a man would about admitting that he had accepted an invitation just for the sake of the food. This is one of humanity's most profound imbecilities, as perhaps the only justification for asking one's fellowmen to endure the horrors of war would be the knowledge that if they did not fight they would starve.”

“... when the Spaniards persecuted heretics they may have been crude, but they were not being unreasonable or unpractical. They were at least wiser than the people of to-day who pretend that it does not matter what a man believes, as who should say that the flavour and digestibility of a pudding will have nothing to do with its ingredients.”

“The [nineteenth-century] young men who were Puritans in politics were anti-Puritans in literature. They were willing to die for the independence of Poland or the Manchester Fenians; and they relaxed their tension by voluptuous reading in Swinburne.”

“No one can write a best-seller by taking thought. The slightest touch of insincerity blurs its appeal. The writer who keeps his tongue in his cheek, who knows that he is writing for fools and that, therefore, he had better write like a fool, makes a respectable living out of serials and novelettes; but he will never make the vast, the blaring, half a million success. That comes of blended sincerity and vitality.”