The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations

by Antony Jay (Editor)

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $4.69

  This revised new edition provides more than 4,500 quotations, covering the people, events, and ideas of some 2,500 years of politics: the inspiring speeches and the disastrous gaffes. Antony Jay has selected the best sayings of and about politicians both past and present, ranging from Karl Marx to George W. Bush and Elizabeth I to Ken Livingstone, and touching on subjects as diverse as warfare, nationalism, honesty, and the ever-sensitive issue of taxation. Newspaper headlines, Slogans, and other special categories are grouped together for easier access, and an extensive index helps you to find out who really said that half-remembered phrase. With the addition of Sound bites of 2000-3, events covered include the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the enlargement of the European Union. Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water, the sharks are circling again - anonymous British Cabinet Minister on the forthcoming report of the European Convention. States like these...constitute an axis of evil - George W. Bush. I wasn't even in the index - Edwina Currie, on John Major's autobiography. You know what some people call us: the nasty party - Theresa May. A good day to bury bad news - summary of Jo Moore's email of 11 September 2001. You don't look tall if you surround yourself by short grasses - Michael Portillo on Iain Duncan Smith. Entitlement cards will not be compulsory, but everyone will have to have one - John Prescott. There is no list, and Syria isn't on it - Jack Straw.

• Used

  Paperback
  1997

  $3.25

  `funny, striking, thought-provoking and incisive ...will appeal to those browsing through it as least as much as to those who wish to use it as a work of reference' Observer `Completely captures the comic aspect of politics while still presenting some serious messages ...It is hard to stop browsing once you start' Daily Mail `This reader devoured it from cover to cover, discovering ...some excellent and unfamiliar quotations ...it fills a serious gap.' Financial Times `Marshalled with wit and meticulous attribution of sources' Guardian `full of good one-liners ' Sunday Telegraph This lively and illuminating dictionary presents a vintage crop of over 4,000 quotations reflecting every facet of political life. Examples range from the pivotal and momentous to the rhetorical, the sincere, the bemused, the tongue-in-cheek, and the downright rude, with memorable words from the old hands as well as from contemporary politicians. `Politics is just like showbusiness, you have a hell of an opening, coast for a while and then have a hell of a close.' Ronald Reagan `A big cat detained briefly in a poodle parlour, sharpening her claws on the velvet.' Matthew Parris of Lady Thatcher in the House of Lords This book is intended for journalists; writers; politicians; speech-writers; anyone with an interest in politics from classical and biblical times to the present day.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $3.25

  This thought-provoking and fascinating collection has been newly enlarged and updated. From Machiavelli to Nelson Mandela, Antony Jay (author of the famous TV series Yes Minister) has chosen the words and ideas which have shaped the world we live in today. This new edition covers quotations generated by events such as the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, upheavals in the European Union, the re-election of George W. Bush, and the British Labour government's historic third term. And of course the gaffes and the back-biting that form the everyday currency of political in-fighting are fully detailed too. Misquotations, Slogans, and other special categories are grouped together for easier access, and an extensive index helps you to trace that half-remembered phrase. 'I can only go one way. I've not got a reverse gear.' Tony Blair 'I met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is that Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns' George Galloway 'That's Lazarus with a triple bypass.' John Howard, when asked if he thought he could regain leadership of the Australian Liberal party 'If I want to talk to Europe who do I call?' Henry Kissinger 'The job of the Federal Reserve is to take away the punch bowl just when the party is getting good.' William McChesney Martin Jr. 'We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.' Condoleezza Rice 'No one is fit to be trusted with a secret who is not prepared, if necessary, to tell an untruth to defend it.' Lord Salisbury