British Academic Quotes

Harold Laski
Terry Eagleton
Edward Carpenter
Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet
Susan Blackmore
Ken Robinson
Adam Roberts

For God's sake, stop researching for a while and begin to think.

Contrary to economists' beliefs, the informal sectors of the world's economies, in total, are predominant, and the institutionalized, monetized sectors grow out of them and rest upon them, rather than the reverse.

Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaffed, and swore;
A drunken private of the Buffs,
Who never looked before.
Today, beneath the foeman's frown,
He stands in Elgin's place,
Ambassador from Britain's crown,
And type of all her race.

Human sexuality is... a long way from the depositing of seminal fluid, like squirting jam in a donut.

Woman: I am surprised that you are not fighting to defend civilization.
Garrod: Madam, I am the civilization they are fighting to defend.

Keep off your thoughts from things that are past and done; for thinking of the past wakes regret and pain.

To the many reporters who had turned up at her lecture at Strathclyde University soon after her husband was jailed for perjury:
Good morning, and a special welcome to those of you who are new to the field of quantum solar energy conversion.

Everyone was muttering about Bill Clinton's philanderings before he came to visit, but once he walked into the room none of the women - or men - could get enough of him. He rather ignored me: my hair wasn't big enough.

The emphasis of study upon a particular aspect of music is in itself ideological because it contains implications about the music's value.

It is difficult, almost impossible, to find the book from which something either valuable or amusing may not be found, if the proper alembic be applied.

It is difficult to be humble. Even if you aim at humility, there is no guarantee that when you have attained the state you will not be proud of the feat.

To understand any living thing, you must, so to say, creep within and feel the beating of its heart.

To the generous mind
The heaviest debt is that of gratitude,
When 'tis not in our power to repay it.

The number of substitutes for fine and clean thinking the world provides positively gnaws at one's vitals.

Harold Laski
Harold Laski
In my view, climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today—more serious even than the threat of terrorism.

David King
David King
Still, wouldn't you, even if entirely secure in your own sense of direction, be at least curious where others were heading, even as you struck out on your own ?

A Church which has lost its memory is in a sad state of senility.

Whether or not it is ultimately the best of all conceivable scripts for Korean, Hangeul must unquestionably rank as one of the great intellectual achievements of humankind.

Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the only shot that people remember is the one that gets past you.

Chase him down the alley
put him behind bars
in a basement and charge him rent.

Postmodern theatre seems unwilling to listen to talk about textual or theatrical heritage, which it treats as no more than memory in the technical sense of that word, as an immediately available and reusable memory bank.

It is a shame that so many leaders spend their time pondering their rights as leaders instead of their awesome responsibilities as leaders.

SIR JOHN: What ye look at?
CECILIA: A little animal, that round my glove, And up and down to ev'ry finger's tip, Has travell'd merrily, and travels still, Tho' it has wings to fly. What its name is With learned men I know not. Simple folks Call it the Lady-bird.

This type of engineer is the leaven that leavens the whole of the country. If a country has plenty of creative engineers doing real creative work, it moves forward with the times. If it does not, it falls behind, however good all its other people are.

Sometimes the last thing learners need is for their preferred learning style to be affirmed. Agreeing to let people learn only in a way that feels comfortable and familiar can restrict seriously their chance for development.