Quotations for All Occasions

272 Pages·2000·1.15 MB·English

by  Catherine Frank

Quotations for
All Occasions
Compiled by
Catherine Frank
C O L U M B I A U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S N E W Y O R K
ColumbiaUniversityPress
NewYork Chichester,WestSussex
PublishersSince1893
Copyright(cid:1)2000ColumbiaUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Quotationsforalloccasions / compiledbyCatherineFrank.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-231-11290-4(acid-freepaper)
1.Quotations,English.I.Frank,Catherine.
PN6084.O3 Q68 2000
082-dc21 00-024048
(cid:2)(cid:1)
CaseboundeditionsofColumbiaUniversityPressbooksareprinted
onpermanentanddurableacid-freepaper.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Also Available
TheColumbiaWorldofQuotations(CD-ROM)
Generaleditors:RobertAndrews,MaryBiggs,MichaelSeidel
FamousLines
TheColumbiaDictionaryofFamiliarQuotations
byRobertAndrews
TheColumbiaDictionaryofQuotations
byRobertAndrews
TheConciseColumbiaDictionaryofQuotations
byRobertAndrews
Women’sWords
TheColumbiaBookofQuotationsbyWomen
byMaryBiggs
FamilyWisdom
The2,000MostImportantThingsEverSaidAboutParenting,
ChildrenandFamilyLife
bySusanGinsberg
ICanResistEverythingExceptTemptation
AndOtherQuotationsfromOscarWilde
byKarlBeckson
OfthePeople,BythePeople,ForthePeople
AndOtherQuotationsfromAbrahamLincoln
byGaborBorritt
HitchYourWagontoaStar
AndOtherQuotationsfromRalphWaldoEmerson
byKeithFrome
Simplify,Simplify
AndOtherQuotationsfromHenryDavidThoreau
byK.P.VanAnglen
NotBloodyLikely!
AndOtherQuotationsfromBernardShaw
byBernardF.Dukor
WheninDoubt,TelltheTruth
AndOtherQuotationsfromMarkTwain
byBrianCollins
Contents
Introduction ix DaysoftheWeek 56
Sunday 57
Monday 59
Tuesday 60
Every Year
Wednesday 61
Friday 61
Birthday 3 Saturday 62
NewYear 4 January 63
MartinLutherKingDay 6 February 63
ChineseNewYear 8 March 64
Valentine’sDay 11 April 65
February29 14 May 67
St.Patrick’sDay 14 June 68
AprilFool’sDay 16 July 69
Easter 18 August 69
Passover 20 September 70
IslamicNewYear 22 October 70
Ramadan 23 November 70
Mother’sDay 25 December 71
MemorialDay 28 Spring 71
Father’sDay 29 Summer 74
IndependenceDay 31 Autumn 76
LaborDay 34 Winter 80
RoshHashanah 36
YomKippur 39
Halloween 41 Occasionally
VeteransDay 44
Thanksgiving 45 BacktoSchool 87
Hanukkah 48 TakingExams 88
Kwanzaa 50 FallinginLove 90
Christmas 51 BreakingUp 92
NewYear’sEve 55 Proposals 93
Contents • vi
Engagement 96 Apology 167
MovingIn(WithaPartner) 98 Praise 168
QuittingSmoking 98 Forgiving 168
QuittingDrinking 100 Vowing 169
LosingWeight 102 Praying 170
Wedding 104 Celebrating 172
StartingaBusiness 106 Confessing 172
Promotion 108 Winning 172
BecomingaParent 109 Losing 173
BecomingaGrandparent 114 Reconciliation 175
MovingHouse 114
WeddingAnniversary 116
FamilyReunion 119
Once in a Lifetime
SchoolReunion 120
HospitalsandDoctors 122
Illness(Mild) 124 Birth 179
SevereIllness 125 FirstBaby 180
Separation 127 SecondBaby 181
Divorcing 128 ThirdBaby 181
Reuniting 134 DeathofaChild 182
Disasters 134 FirstDayofSchool 183
Bereavement 135 Puberty 184
Funeral 138 HighSchool 186
Recovery 140 Turning16 186
Vacation 141 ComingOut(Socially) 188
Travel 142 College 188
WritingaReport 144 Graduation 191
Drinking 145 FirstSex 193
Toasting 147 FirstCar 197
GivingaSpeech 148 FirstLove 197
SeekingaFavor 151 FirstJob 198
FinancialSuccess 151 Marriage(First) 200
FinancialLoss 152 FirstHome 204
Meals 153 Baptism 206
Parties 155 Confirmation 209
Meetings 157 FirstCommunion 209
Interviews 157 Bar,BatMitzvah 211
Introductions 157 ComingOut 214
Consolation 158 Turning18 215
Awards,Rewards,andCongratulation 159 Turning20or21 215
Inspiring 160 SecondMarriage/Remarriage 217
Invitation 162 ThirdMarriage 218
Welcome 163 Turning30 218
SayingGoodbye 164 Turning40 221
ConcludingaDeal 165 MiddleAge 223
Thanks 166 Turning50 225
vii • Contents
LosingaParent 227 Turning70 240
LosingaSpouse 228 Turning80 241
Menopause 230 Turning90 242
Turning60 232 Turning100 242
Turning65 233 Death 243
Retirement 233
OldAge 237 Index 247
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction
On the most important occasions of our lives, we often find ourselves at aloss
forwords.Whenwemostwanttoconsole,celebrate,explain,inspire,orthank,
we end up repeating phrases like “Words cannot express how I feel” or “I just
don’t know what to say.” Quotations for All Occasions may just be the book to
supplythosewordsor inspireyou to come up withsome of your own.
Our failure to speak on important occasions sometimesresultsfromasense
that it may be inappropriate to craft a fine turn of phrase in a time of great
emotion. Eloquence maybe misconstruedwhenitcommemoratesthelossof a
friend, for example. (Turn to the section on bereavement and you will see that
Samuel Johnson had something to say about the incompatibility of grief and
“remote allusions and obscure opinions.”) Onthe other hand,toreadorshare
the comments of Plato, John Donne, or Woody Allen on the subject of death
can help to put our own grief into perspective, and enable us to offer words
insteadof tears to consolea friend.
Even on joyful occasions, le mot juste may not be a high priority.Whenyou
are shopping for turkey and trying to figure out how to fit your entire family
around your dinner table, you may not have the energy to compose a moving
statementaboutthemeaningofThanksgivingtosetthetoneforthefeast.Quo-
tationsforAllOccasionsmaygiveyoutheinspirationtoimpressyourguestswith
aquotationfromSarahJosephaHale,thefounderofthemoderncelebrationof
the holiday, or to reassure them with Erma Bombeck’s comment that on this
onedayeveryoneshouldbeexoneratedfromdieting.Whycomeupwithatoast
for your child’s wedding when the poet Richard Wilbur has already done the
workforyou?Whysharewithyourchildtheintimatedetailsofyourfirstsexual
encounter when you can let Moll Flanders, Martina Navratilova, and Holden
Caulfieldtellall?WhysufferalonewhenFlorenceKingandUrsulaLeGuincan
enlightenyouaboutthebenefitsofmenopause,andwhenBettyFordcaninspire
you to battle an addiction? Quotations for All Occasions can supply you with
quotations to inspire and console you and bail you out when you just don’t
Introduction • x
knowwhattosayaboutdeath,Thanksgiving,marriage,sex,menopause,recov-
ery, or any of the many occasions that confront us over the course of ayearor
over the courseof a lifetime.
Quotations for All Occasions is a collection of quotations about many of the
celebrations and rites of passage in the calendar year and in our personallives.
Thecollectioncontainsthreesections.First,therearequotations,beginningwith
New Year’s Day and ending with New Year’s Eve, about the occasions we ex-
perience every year. Then there are quotations about events that happen
occasionally;theylacktheinevitabilityofthecalendar,buttheyarebynomeans
unique. Finally, the third section of the collection contains quotations about
those occasions that happen once in a lifetime, about the milestones by which
we measure our development,countour gainsandnumber our losses.
In the first section, “Every Year,” there are quotations for all the important
festivals and religious celebrations, for all the seasons, all the months, eventhe
days of the week. (You may never again look quite the same way at Monday
afteryoulearnwhatBrendaSpencerdidbecauseshehatedit,oratTuesdayafter
youreadElizabethTaylor’sreportofhowRichardBurtonwaswonttocelebrate
it.) Browsing through the quotations in this first section of the book you will
notice the diverse views that writers have of these shared experiences,andper-
hapscometoabetterunderstandingofhowourcultureandourplacecondition
oursenseofthepassingyear.TheChineseNewYear,theMuslimNewYear,and
theJewishNewYear,forexample,fallondaysdifferentfromtheChristianNew
Year.
The quotations included here reflect the customs associated with these dif-
ferent holidaysandalsohighlightthedifferentperspectivesaffordedbyinsiders
and outsiders to a given tradition. If you have never celebrated Chinese New
Year,youmayregretyourculture’slackof a“KitchenGod”afteryoureadAmy
Tan’s description. If you do routinely commemorate this festival, you maystill
beimpressedwiththeprosepoemthatOsbertSitwellcreateswithhislistofthe
lyricalnamesfordifferentkindsofnoisyfireworks.Evenwithinagivenculture,
the same holiday may have different tones for different participants.American
Christians reading Herman Wouk’s quotation onHanukkah,forexample,may
come to better appreciate that the American celebration of Christmasmakesit
difficult to find a niche for another December holiday. Ralph WaldoEmerson,
MarkTwain,andStephenVincentBene´trecalltheicecreamandpatrioticsongs,
the speeches and the fireworks that many Americans associate with Indepen-
dence Day. Reformers like Williams Wells Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Fr-
ancesWrightremindusthat,forslavesorforwomenwithouttherighttovote,
this celebration of “liberty and justice for all” was felt as a yearly reminder of
theircountry’shypocrisy.AsyousurveythequotationsonValentine’sDay,note
how the customs and lore of the day have changed over time. Chaucer and
Shakespeare charm the reader when they recall the traditional lore about the