All Arthur Smith Quotes
- The real change that paintings undergo is in the perceptions of the viewer. Change
- Sky and clouds and trees and little figures relaxing in the perfect rural rhythm of their surroundings: these are the staples of a Gainsborough landscape. Clouds
- The best way to prepare for a night out with a Shakespearean tragedy is to do a bit of reading up in the afternoon, eat… Afternoon
- Reading the play at home, however fulfilling, can never be the vivacious experience that Shakespeare intended. Experience
- The Bible has no doubt had much influence in its time, but it provides very few laughs. None, in fact. Bible
- Only the pun remains. The pun, beloved of Shakespeare, children and tabloid headline-writers, is normally eschewed in the modern, sophisticated circles in which I move. Beloved
- The pun exists in a social and political void, caring nothing for the issues of its day, content merely to display itself in its small… Caring
- A savage review is much more entertaining for the reader than an admiring one; the little misanthrope in each of us relishes the rubbishing of… Admiring
- Theatricals can be irritating, but will provide a better night out than mobile phone salespeople. Better
- I myself am pathetically impressed when I meet writers of very long novels. How can they spend so many hundreds of hours at the miserable,… Creating
- The book may be garbage, but if it weighs in at a kilo or more, I stand before its author in awe. Author
- Travel books are, by and large, boring. They lodge uncomfortably between fact, fiction and autobiography. Autobiography
- Occasionally I find a travel book that is both illuminating and entertaining, where vivid writing and research replace self-indulgence and sloppy prose. Book
- When synchronised swimming first appeared on TV, we laughed very heartily, and I, for one, applauded the decision to introduce humour into the Olympics. Appeared
- When a writer dies you get a higher standard of obituary. Dies
- Global warming, the ongoing destruction of the planet, Third World debt, the uselessness of the railways, the takeover by the corporations, the scary George Bush… All
- Someone once described me as the Zelig of comedy, and I think I know what he means. Comedy