Noël Coward Quotes

95 Sourced Quotes

Here ends the story of a ship, but there will always be other ships, for we are an island race. Through all our centuries, the sea has ruled our destiny. There will always be other ships and men to sail in them. It is these men, in peace or war, to whom we owe so much. Above all victories, beyond all loss, in spite of changing values in a changing world, they give to us, their countrymen, eternal and indomitable pride.

Noël Coward
On being asked by a child what two mating dogs were doing:
The doggie in front has suddenly gone blind and the other one has very kindly offered to push him all the way to St Dunstan's.

Noël Coward
One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!

Noël Coward
Tho' the pipes that supply the bathroom burst
And the lavatory makes you fear the worst,
It was used by Charles the First
Quite informally,
And later by George the Fourth
On a journey North.

Noël Coward
Elyot: I met her on a house party in Norfolk.
Amanda: Very flat, Norfolk.
Elyot: There's no need to be unpleasant.
Amanda: That was no reflection on her, unless of course she made it flatter.

Noël Coward
I believe we should all behave quite differently if we lived in a warm, sunny climate all the time.

Noël Coward
Edith Sitwell, in that great Risorgimento cape of hers, looks as though she were covering a teapot or a telephone.

Noël Coward
You kissed me because you were awfully nice and I was awfully nice and we both liked kissing very much. It was inevitable.

Noël Coward
I'm not very keen on Hollywood. I'd rather have a nice cup of cocoa really.

Noël Coward
I read the Times and if my name is not in the obits I proceed to enjoy the day.

Noël Coward
But I believe that since my life began The most I've had is just A talent to amuse.

Noël Coward
Success took me to her bosom like a maternal boa constrictor.

Noël Coward
In London, at the Café de Paris, I sang to café society; in Las Vegas, at the Desert Inn, I sang to Nescafé society.

Noël Coward
It seems such a shame
When the English claim
The Earth,
That they give rise
To such hilarity
And mirth.

Noël Coward
London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.

Noël Coward
Learn the lines and don't bump into the furniture.
Instructions to young actors

Noël Coward
How foolish to think that one can ever slam the door in the face of age. Much wiser to be polite and gracious and ask him to lunch in advance.

Noël Coward
There's sand in the porridge and sand in the bed,
And if this is pleasure we'd rather be dead.

Noël Coward
I will accept anything in the theatre... provided it amuses or moves me. But if it does neither, I want to go home.

Noël Coward
Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs. Worthington
Don't put your daughter on the stage
The profession is overcrowded
And the struggle's pretty tough
And admitting the fact she's burning to act
That isn't quite enough
She's a big girl and though her teeth are fairly good
She's not the type I ever would be eager to engage
I repeat, Mrs. Worthington, sweet Mrs. Worthington
Don't put your daughter on the stage.

Noël Coward
Charles Condomine refusing to see a psychoanalyst:
I refuse to endure months of expensive humiliation only to be told at the end of it that at the age of four I was in love with my rocking-horse.

Noël Coward
Wit is like caviar; it should be savored in small elegant proportions, and not spread about like marmalade.

Noël Coward
He loved me true did Harry-boy and I loved him true, and if the happiness we gave each other was wicked and wrong in the eyes of the Law and the Church and God Almighty, then the Law and the Church and God Almighty can go dig a hole and fall down it.

Noël Coward
Your motivation is your pay packet on Friday. Now get on with it.

Noël Coward
Christopher Marlowe or Francis Bacon
The author of Lear remains unshaken
Willie Herbert or Mary Fitton
What does it matter? The Sonnets were written.

Noël Coward
Charles: Anything interesting in The Times?
Ruth: Don't be silly, Charles.

Noël Coward
Hollywood is a place where some people lie on the beach and look up at the stars, whereas other people lie on the stars and look down at the beach.

Noël Coward
Let's drink to the spirit of gallantry and courage that made a strange Heaven out of unbelievable Hell, and let's drink to the hope that one day this country of ours, which we love so much, will find dignity and greatness and peace again.

Noël Coward
Every wise and thoroughly worldly wench
Knows there's always something fishy about the French!

Noël Coward
We hope to amuse the customers with music and with rhyme
But ninety minutes is a long, long time.

Noël Coward