Quotations as ground for discussion
Today I've written a short piece describing how I use discussions in the classroom. To get students talking I often use quotations with which they will either strongly agree or strongly disagree, and this helps to get a discussion rolling without risking to offend someone. At the same time this is a good reason to tell students more about some people and events from English-speaking countries and to provide background information in general. Hope you'll find these quotation useful. As a good source of quotations I use the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations, which I heartily recommend:
1. Douglas Adams British writer: Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
2. Alfred Adler Austrian psychologist: It is always easier to fight for one's principles than live up to them.
3. Pamela Anderson Canadian actress: When you have nothing to live up to, you can't disappoint anybody... When you form a full sentence, you're a genius.
4. Eddie Arcaro US jockey: When a jockey retires he becomes just another little man.
5. Jacques Attali French economist: Machines are the new proletariat. The working class is being given its walking papers.
6. Margaret Atwood Canadian writer: To live without mirrors is to live without the self.
7. Alan Ball English footballer and member of the 1966 World Cup team: I shall tell you what made us what we were. We had this wonderful feeling that we were still part of the people.
8. Roland Barthes French writer: All domination begins by prohibiting language.
9. Buzzie Bavasi American baseball manager: We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have the gold make the rules.
10. Francis Biddle American lawyer: The American Constitution has never greatly bothered any wartime President.
11. Conrad Black Canadian-born British businessman: Since when was greed a criminal offence?
12. Tony Blair Former UK prime minister: I am a pretty straight sort of guy.
13. Boy George English pop singer: New York is so clean now you could eat your dinner off its streets. I'll do London next, but I'll charge this time.
14. Gordon Brown UK prime minister: It will not be a surprise to you to learn I'm more interested in the future of the Arctic Circle than the future of the Arctic Monkeys.
15. Warren Buffett US businessman: It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked.
16. George W. Bush US president: Yo, Blair. How are you doing?
17. David Cameron British politician: He was the future once. (of Tony Blair)
18. Jimmy Carr Irish comedian: On your way out, be aware of women and children - they tend to slow you down.
19. Joan Collins British actress: Older men treat women like possessions, which is why I like younger men.
20. Billy Connolly Scottish comedian: If you want to lose weight, don't eat anything out of a bucket.
21. Robin Cook Former Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons: I may not have succeeded in halting the war in Iraq, but I did secure the right of Parliament to decide on war.
22. Quentin Crisp English writer: Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne.
23. The Dalai Lama Tibetan spiritual leader: We are a part of humanity, so we should take care of humanity. And if we can't do that, then we should at least do no harm.
24. Philip K. Dick US science fiction writer: Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
25. George Eastman American businessman: The rich man never really gives anything, he only distributes part of the surplus. It is the person of moderate means who really gives.
26. Dawn French British actress: If I were alive in Rubens's time, I'd be celebrated as a model and Kate Moss would be used as a paint brush.
27. Bill Gates American businessman: The world has had a tendency to focus a disproportionate amount of attention on me.
28. John Paul Getty American businessman: The best form of charity I know is the art of meeting a payroll.
29. James Goldsmith British financier: When you marry your mistress you create a job vacancy.
30. Hubert Gregg English songwriter: I'm blessed with total recall, apart from where I left my umbrella.
31. Matt Groening American humorist: You tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try. (Homer Simpson) ...and: Kids are the best...You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the internet and all. (Homer Simpson)
32. Woody Guthrie American folksinger: I ain't a communist necessarily, but I been in the red all my life.
33. Robert Heinlein American novelist: More than three can't agree on when to have dinner, much less when to strike. More than six people cannot decide a thing.
34. David Hockney British artist: The reason you start painting yourself is that you are a model; a cheap model. I mean, you've always got yourself.
35. Peter Jay British journalist, economist and former diplomat: It makes one feel like the geography teacher who showed a map of the world to Genghis Khan. (claiming to have explained monetarism to Margaret Thatcher)
36. David Kay American weapons inspector: We have not yet found shiny, pointy things that I would call a weapon.
37. Peter Kay British comedian: Garlic bread - it's the future. I've tasted it.
38. John Kerry US politician: How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?
39. Ann Landers US advice columnist: At every party there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.
40. Nigella Lawson British cookery writer: Diets are like boyfriends - it never really works to go back to them.
41. Jay Leno American comedian: The US finally came up with an exit strategy. Unfortunately it's for the World Cup. (after the US soccer team were knocked out in the early stages of the World Cup)
42. Gary Lineker English footballer: Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and, at the end, the Germans win.
43. Ken Livingstone British politician: This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful... It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old. (On the suicide bombings in London, 7 July 2005)
44. Linda McCartney American photographer and animal rights activist: I don't eat anything with a face.
45. Denis MacShane British politician: I liken the French/British relationship to a very old married couple who often think of killing each other but would never dream of divorce.
46. Bill Maher American comedian: Suicide is our way of saying to God: "You can't fire me. I quit."
47. Warren Mitchell British actor: You don't retire in this business. You just notice the phone hasn't rung for 10 years.
48. Nick Park Animator and creator of Wallace & Gromit: I never thought that playing with plasticine would lead to such a glamorous life.
49. Philip Pullman British writer: I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn't any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway.
50. John Reid Labour MP and former Home Secretary: Our system is not fit for purpose.
51. Andy Roddick American tennis player: Maybe I'll just punch him or something. (On how he might beat Roger Federer)
52. Anita Roddick British businesswoman: I watch where the cosmetics industry is going and then walk in the opposite direction.
53. Nicholas Serota British art expert: This is a plea for patience. Your scepticism will gradually diminish and your fear will turn to love... All art was modern once.
54. Felipe Scolari Portuguese football coach: Now there is so much professionalism, we have to revert to urging players to like the game, love it, do it with joy.
55. O. J. Simpson American football player: Fame vaporises, money goes with the wind, and all that's left is character.
56. Upton Sinclair American novelist: It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
57. Linda Smith British comedian: I play all my country and western music backwards. Your lover returns, your dog comes back to life and you cease to be an alcoholic.
58. Lynne Truss British writer: Abuse is the currency of all reality shows.
59. Robin Williams US actor: There were a lot of doctors in rehab. It's rather like being in a fat farm with nutritionists.
60. Edward O. Wilson American sociobiologist: Wonderful theory, wrong species. (On Marxism, which he considered more suited to ants than to humans)
2 комментария
Рекомендуемые комментарии
Создайте аккаунт или войдите в него для комментирования
Вы должны быть пользователем, чтобы оставить комментарий
Создать аккаунт
Зарегистрируйтесь для получения аккаунта. Это просто!
Зарегистрировать аккаунтВойти
Уже зарегистрированы? Войдите здесь.
Войти сейчас