"The English are polite by telling lies. The Americans are polite by telling the truth."

Malcolm Bradbury Education See all quotes by Malcolm Bradbury →

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More by Malcolm Bradbury

“'I think, George,' says Merion, ' the trouble is that you don't have a conflict model of society.'”

“You see, you are an optimist and live on hope. I am a pessimist and live on experience.”

“A conventional good read is usually a bad read, a relaxing bath in what we know already. A true good read is surely an act of innovative creation in which we, the readers, become conspirators.”

“I've often thought that my scruples about stealing books were the only thing that stood in the way of my being a really great scholar.”

“'Everyone exploits somebody.'”

“'It must be nice to think there is a true reality,' says Miss Callendar. 'I've always found reality a matter of great debate.'”

Resonant Thoughts

"ruth is the ground and condition of freedom. Unless it is true that human beings deserve to have fundamental liberties respected and protected, the tyrant does no wrong in violating them. Relativism, …"

— Robert P. George

Philosophy1955

#truth

"You need one of those slave-driving old studio bosses if you ask me, not a sensitive graduate who went into movies because he liked the clouds in Antonioni and then turned himself into a nouvelle vagu…"

— Julian Barnes

Literature1946

#truth

"A third story, about a 12th century king Harsha of Kashmir, is apparently true but has nothing to do with religious persecution: he plundered Hindu temples of all sects including Buddhism, in his own …"

— Harsha of Kashmir

1050–1101

#truth