Part Two
A number of sayings, things I’ve
heard people say, things that I have said, or things that I have read.
These have been collected over a number of years, some make sense, some
don’t and some will only make sense to those that were there.
There is no great genius without
some touch of madness
(Seneca)
Anyone can take a man's life, but
no one his death
(Seneca)
Nothing can be created out of nothing
(Lucretius)
With desire comes also fear
(Horace)
Without nervous disorder there can
be no great artist
(Marcel Proust)
Submit to being called a neurotic....
Everything we think of as great
has come to us from neurotics
(Marcel Proust)
I have told you that without nervous
disorder there can be no great artist. What is more … there can be no great
scientist either
(Marcel Proust)
To disagree with three-fourths of
the British Public is one of the first requisites of sanity
(Oscar Wilde)
I can resist everything except temptation
(Oscar Wilde)
Anything that is too stupid to be
spoken is sung
(Voltaire)
He who binds to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy
He who kisses a joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise
(William Blake)
Too many pieces of music finish too
long after the end
(Igor Stravinsky)
Give me a laundry list and I’ll set
it to music
(Gioacchino Antonio
Rossini)
Music is a higher revelation than
all wisdom and philosophy put together
(Beethoven)
If I were not a physicist, I would
probably be a musician
I often think in music
I live my daydreams in music
I see my life in terms of music
(Albert Einstein)
There are two means of refuge from
miseries of life: Music and cats
(Albert Schweitzer)
All music is folk music; I ain’t
never heard no horse sing a song
(Louis Armstrong)
There are more love songs than anything
else
If songs could make you do something
we’d all love one another
(Frank Zappa)
Alcohol is a very necessary article…
It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person
would do at eleven in the morning…
(George Bernard
Shaw)
Government is no more than a committee,
which looks after the interests of the ruling class
Death is nature’s way of telling
you to slow down
Two sheep’s heads are better that
one, that is two heads are better than one even if they are sheep’s heads
Progress is not about being progressive
But about actually moving forward
Due to the recession, the light at
the end of the tunnel has now been turned off
I’ve got a good sense of direction,
said Tweedle Dum to Tweedle Dee
(Peter Lay, 1989)
Don’t race ahead, hurling yourself
against brick walls
Slow down and try to avoid them
I used to think it was a game of
football
But now I know it’s more than that!
I’m scared of being alone
I’m scared of not being one
The toughest person to live with
is yourself
One of the ways you can live life
better is by not reminding yourself you have to live
When the earth is sick, the animals
will begin to disappear, when that happens, the Warriors of the Rainbow
will come to save them
(Ancient Red Indian
Proverb – Greenpeace)
When ordinary people abandon public
space it will be taken over by lawless masculinity
Brin, the well known typing mistake
(Peter Lay, 1979)
The more you get, the more you get
However, the less you get …. The
less you get
(Paul Ledbury,
sometime in the lost 80’s)
Mmm, yes Mummy it’s a lovely haircut,
but on a younger face.
(Beth Szczepura,
c.1988)
I heard some Bay City Rollers the
other day
And I thought they were quite good
(Dave Ballard,
1991)
I know there’s a Father Christmas
But I don’t think there’s a god
(Stephen Westmore,
1993)
Daddy, when Mummy has got no clothes
on, she looks like a horse
(Lana Robinson,
c. 1993)
You may say you love me
But can you respond to my passions
(Terri)
Prometheus swept down from the heavens
bringing the gift of fire....
Wrong move!
(Robert Ludlem)
I don’t do goodbyes; I’m a hello
girl.
(Sophie Predgen-Lay,
1999)
Cyndi Lauper and I have one thing
in common,
We both love life and its true colours…
(Zaira 1999)
Friend: I know what makes the world
go round.
Senan: What’s that then?
Friend: God, God makes the world
go round.
Senan: (After a couple of minutes
of serious contemplation) God doesn’t make the world go round, fat bottomed
girls make the world go round
(Senan Robinson
& school friend, c. 2001)
Life’s a bitch, but sometimes you
just have to kiss it…
(Peter Lay, 2002)
Sometimes life throws at us questions
that are impossible to answer. However, answer them we must,
as best we are able.
(Peter Lay, 2002)
Young people are generally the experts
on what’s important to them, yet they can often feel that their views aren’t
listened to. To ensure that young people develop a better voice it
is vital that adults develop better hearing, ensuring that young people
feel empowered to confidently contribute to the decisions that affect themselves,
their families and their communities.
(Helen Predgen-Lay,
2003)
Only the crazy can remain sane!
(Peter Lay, 2003)
We are living in a karaoke world,
and with it comes the incredible desire for something authentic, forcing
every artist to search for the sound that is both subversive and sexy
(Malcolm Maclaren,
2003)
Across the road is a long way
As the mice say
(Sophie Predgen-Lay,
2003)
According to Douglas Adams, the answer
to the ultimate question is, ‘42’. But, according to Samuel
Predgen-Lay the answer to the ultimate question is, ‘Broccoli’.
(December 2003)
Everything is done, except the things
that aren’t.
(John Predgen,
2003)
Have you heard about my obsession
with peanut butter?
(Dennis Predgen,
December 2003)
Fiat Multipla. Now what is
that about?
(Peter Lay, 2003)
She didn’t go to Hospital
She went to Tesco’s
(Heard in an Early
Learning Centre, December 2003)
We’ve sacrificed the planet for the
wealth of a few
Childhood is dying and there is
nothing we can do
(Heard on radio
5, December 2003)
Roses Are red
But tulips are redder
She may look pretty
But I love you better
(Sophie Predgen-Lay,
December 2003)
I went out, but I came back for the
coffee break
(Sarah Tuckman,
January 2004)
Last one up the stairs is a rotten
egg!
Sophie (7), understanding, races
up the stairs, not wanting to be a rotten egg.
Samuel (3), misunderstanding, races
up the stairs, wanting to be a rotten egg.
Oliver (3), also misunderstanding,
wants to go to the shop to buy some rotten eggs
(January, 2004)
There is no ‘i’ in team
Kathryn: What’s your name?
Peter: Peter
Kathryn: Pizza?
Peter: No, Peter
Kathryn: Pizza?
Peter: No, Peter
Kathryn: Can you spell it?
Peter: P, E, T, E, R
Kathryn: Pitsa?
(Conversation with
Kathryn Obschlager @Midem2004
Snot-boy - super hero, captures badies
by sneezing over them!
(Peter Lay, 2004)
It is what we value, not what we
have, that makes us rich.
If you are heading in the right direction,
just keep on walking
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
Stop smoking! You get your
sense of smell back.
I live in New York.
Why do I want it back?
(Bill Hicks)
Boltning light
(Sam Allaway, April
2004)
I can't hear I've got a cushion on
my head
(Sam Predgen-Lay,
April 2004)
No more things should be presumed
to exist than are absolutely necessary.
Pain is temporary
Quitting is forever
(Lance Armstrong)
Employees can work topless in tropical
fish shops in Liverpool
(Lisa Walker, April
2004)
Don't judge a man until you have
walked a mile in his shoes. Then when you do judge him, he
will be a mile away and you'll have his shoes.
Though we travel the world over to
find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not
(Anon)
One of the pleasantest things in
the world is going on a journey
(William Hazlett)
Death can be fatal
(Motif, 2003)
People in Iceland read more books
per capita than any other people in the world.
The longest place name still in use
is ‘Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki-maungahoronukupokaiwe-nuakit
natahu’, a hill in New Zealand.
It's physically impossible to lick
your own elbow.
In Milan there is a law that requires
a smile on the face of all citizens at all times. The only exemptions include
time spent in hospitals or attending funerals.
It is illegal to carry old chewing
gum stuck to the tip of your nose in Somalia.
The Chinese ideogram for 'trouble'
depicts two women living under one roof.
Despite a population of over 1 billion,
China has only about 200 family names.
Charlie Chaplin once came third in
a Charlie Chaplin look-alike competition.
It's illegal in Alabama to wear a
fake moustache that causes laughter in church.
If Barbie were a real person, her
measurements would be 39-23-33. She would be seven feet, two inches tall
and would have to walk around on all fours because she's too top-heavy.
To prepare them for marriage, a 12-year-old
girl of the Vacococha tribe of Peru is placed in a basket in the hut of
her prospective in-laws and must remain suspended over an open fire night
and day for three months. If the prospective in-laws take care of her (as
they are expected to during marriage), she survives, but if not, she is
slowly roasted and the in-laws are killed for not looking after her.
The Spanish Inquisition once condemned
the entire Netherlands to death for heresy.
95% of people will try to lick their
own elbow after reading this.
Sometimes it is entirely appropriate
to kill a fly with a sledgehammer.
There’s more to life than golf
(Colin Montgomery,
2004)
More people die of donkeys then plane
crashes.
More people die of ball-point pens
then plane crashes.
More people die of shaking vending
machines then plane crashes.
More people die of falling coconuts
then plane crashes.
Your chances of winning the lottery
get a lot better if you buy a ticket.
There is a saying, Happy as Larry
But someone who is always alone
is called a Larry
So why is Larry so happy?
(Kathryn Beaty,
July 2004)
Why does anyone want to live in Florida?
Hurricane's Charley, Frances (2.4
million evacuated) & Ivan, all within 4 weeks!
(Peter Lay, 9th
Sept 2004)
Demise of the elephant
The elephant strikes back
Return of the elephant
(Peter Lay, Sept
2004)
What's the difference between a Fiat
Brava and a Fiat Bravo? Only one is well done!
(Laura Joslin,
September 2004)
Mummy, I love your boobies,
They make a lovely pair of ear muffs…
(Samuel Predgen-Lay,
December 2004)