#english

I was playing rugby and the other games English school children do, and there was an event in which races were run, and I won these by a considerable margin. ↗

— Roger Bannister

#considerable #english #english school #event #games

I'm very sensitive to the English language. I studied the dictionary obsessively when I was a kid and collect old dictionaries. Words, I think, are very powerful and they convey an intention. ↗

— Drew Barrymore

#convey #dictionaries #dictionary #english #english language

I can give you the King's English and then I can take it to the street, but do both or do one and don't do one knowing only the street. That's going to hold you back because what comes out is going to impress people, and it will impress them negatively. ↗

— Angela Bassett

#because #both #comes #english #give

Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing. ↗

— Robert Benchley

#command #drawing #english #english language #fine

I haven't spoken English with native speakers in several months. I've been speaking Arabic. ↗

— John Walker Lindh

#been #english #haven #i #months

But at the time when he wrote, Englishmen, with the rarest exceptions, wrote only in French or Latin; and when they began to write in English, a man of genius, to interpret and improve on him, was not found for a long time. ↗

— George Saintsbury

#english #englishmen #exceptions #found #french

American professional athletes are bilingual; they speak English and profanity. ↗

— Gordie Howe

#athletes #bilingual #english #profanity #professional

Natalie said, “That detective in charge of the case: is he your Jake?” My mouth dried. The words felt arid and dusty as I forced them out. “Who told you his name?” Like I had to ask. “Lisa pointed him out on television the other night, and I recognized him as one of the cops who was in here the other day.” I opened my mouth, and then shut it. Jake had to know he was fighting a rearguard action. And I was through lying to my own friends and family. “Yeah,” I said. “We used to be friends. A long time ago. He’s married now.” “Bastard,” she said. I shook my head. “Not really. He never lied to me. I just didn’t ask the questions I didn’t want to know the answers to. ↗

— Josh Lanyon

#death

From this point on in our lives, she had whispered to him earlier, we will either find or lose our souls. ↗

— Michael Ondaatje

#love #michael-ondaatje #romance #the-english-patient #war

We are men without ambition, and all we want is to be left alone, in peace so that we can try and be happy. So few people will understand this simplicity. ↗

— Upamanyu Chatterjee

#english #men