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John Osborne Quotes
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And even in the hatred of the majority, there's a kind of triumph because I know that, although they'd never admit it, they secretly respect me.
John Osborne
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Go on - but don't think you can kill my confidence. I've had experts doing it for years.
John Osborne
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Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs.
John Osborne
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This is a letter of hate. It is for you my countrymen, I mean those men of my country who have defiled it. The men with manic fingers leading the sightless, feeble, betrayed body of my country to its death…damn you England.
John Osborne
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Homophobia may be offensive but the other side of the coin is just as noisome, whatever they may tell you in Euroboy or Zipper.
John Osborne
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That voice that cries out doesn't have to be a weakling's does it?
John Osborne
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George Dillon: [I]t's easy to answer the ultimate questions – it saves you bothering with the immediate ones.
John Osborne
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There aren't any good, brave causes left. If the big bang does come, and we all get killed off, it won't be in aid of the old-fashioned, grand design. It'll just be for the Brave New-nothing-very-much-thank-you. About as pointless and inglorious as stepping in front of a bus.
John Osborne
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I don't think one 'comes down' from Jimmy's university. According to him, it's not even red brick, but white tile.
John Osborne
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George Bernard Shaw writes like a Pakistani who has learned English when he was twelve years old in order to become an accountant.
John Osborne
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Damn you, England. You're rotting now, and quite soon you'll disappear. My hate will outrun you yet if only for a few seconds. I wish it could be eternal.
John Osborne
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What are we hoping to get out of it, what's it all in aid of – is it really just for the sake of a gloved hand waving at you from a golden coach?
John Osborne
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Why do I do this every Sunday? Even the book reviews seem to be the same as last week's. Different books – same reviews.
John Osborne
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Archie Rice: Let me know where you're working tomorrow night and I'll come and see you.
John Osborne
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Jimmy Porter: They spend their time mostly looking forward to the past.
John Osborne
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It is not true that drink changes a man's character. It may reveal it more clearly.
John Osborne
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Laughter's the nearest we ever get, or should get, to sainthood. It's the state of grace that saves most of us from contempt.
John Osborne
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Let's pretend that we're human beings and that we're actually alive.
John Osborne
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In London, love and scandal are considered the best sweeteners of tea.
John Osborne
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The schoolteacher is certainly underpaid as a childminder, but ludicrously overpaid as an educator.
John Osborne
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Oh heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm—that's all. I want to hear a warm, thrilling voice cry out Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I'm alive!
John Osborne
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You see I learnt at an early age what it was to be angry - angry and helpless. And I can never forget it. I knew more about - love... betrayal... and death, when I was ten years old than you will probably ever know in your life.
John Osborne
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Archie Rice: I'm dead behind these eyes. I'm dead, just like the whole inert, shoddy lot out there. It doesn't matter because I don't feel a thing, and neither do they.
John Osborne
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It's no good trying to fool yourself about love. You can't fall into it like a soft job, without dirtying up your hands. It takes muscle and guts. And if you can't bear the thought of messing up your nice, clean soul, you'd better give up the whole idea of life and become a saint.
John Osborne
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Since I gave up hope, I feel so much better.
John Osborne
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Quote of the day
The art of being taught is the art of discovery, as the art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery to take place
Mark Van Doren
John Osborne
Born:
December 12, 1929
Died:
December 24, 1994
(aged 65)
Bio:
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, known for his excoriating prose and intense critical stance towards established social and political norms.
Known for:
Look Back in Anger (1956)
The Entertainer (1957)
Inadmissible Evidence (1955)
A Patriot for Me (1956)
Epitaph for George Dillon (1958)
Most used words:
archie
,
rice
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