Peter Ustinov Quotes

1921–2004 England

Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov, CBE FRSA (16 April 1921 – 18 March 2004), born Peter Alexander von Ustinov, was an Academy Award-winning English actor, writer, dramatist and raconteur.

England
Academics
Actors
Autobiographers
Comedians

Also known as: Ustinov, Peter

Random Peter Ustinov quote

53 quotes

Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.

Backstabbing for Beginners : My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (2008)

Pavarotti is not vain, but conscious of being unique.

Sex is a conversation carried out by other means.

Marriages and Families (1997)

I am just a man, not fit to do the work of God... or the Devil.

Billy Budd (1962)

You know Seymour, there are some men who cannot stand too much perfection. They see it as a disease, which must be stamped out at its first rash showing.

Billy Budd (1962)

It is unfortunate for all that no moral issue has ever been clearer. Any attempt to plea-bargain with outlaws and renegades will only be at the expense of honor, decency and self-respect.

It's wrong to flog a man. It's against his being a man.

Billy Budd (1962)

Playwrights are like men who have been dining for a month in an Indian restaurant. After eating curry night after night, they deny the existence of asparagus.

Contemporary Quotations (1988)

Basically I'm a very serious person, but I think the form it takes with me is comedy. I see the amusing side of all potentially pompous situations.

BBC obituary (2004)

If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.

BBC obituary (2004)

It's hot. And there's a lot of it. I like everything about it except the flavor.

Billy Budd (1962)

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

BBC obituary (2004)

The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come.

BBC obituary (2004)

Critics search for ages for the wrong word, which, to give them credit, they eventually find.

BBC obituary (2004)

I have said elsewhere that parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth.

Dear Me (1977)

To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than is normal.

BBC obituary (2004)

I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me the most civilized music in the world.

Dear Me (1977)

I'd rather be buried at sea than on the shore when I come to die. Will you stand by the plank, mates, so I can shake a friendly hand before I sink?

Billy Budd (1962)

Her virtue was that she said what she thought, her vice that what she thought didn't amount to much.

BBC obituary (2004)

I have four children which is not bad considering I'm not a Catholic.

BBC obituary (2004)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Peter Ustinov (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.