69 quotes
Did nothing in particular,
And did it very well.
Of that there is no manner of doubt—
No probable, possible shadow of doubt—
No possible doubt whatever.
The Gondoliers (1889)
Then they began to sing
That extremely lovely thing,
"Scherzando! ma non troppo, ppp."
Art stopped short at the cultivated court of the Empress Josephine.
Patience (1881)
I can tell a woman's age in half a minute — and I do!
Princess Ida (1884)
The lady who dyes a chemical yellow,
Or stains her grey hair puce,
Or pinches her figger,
Is blacked like a nigger
With permanent walnut juice.
The Mikado (1885)
As innocent as a new-laid egg.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed (1919)
By doing so, we shall, in course of time,
Regenerate completely our entire land—
Great Britain is that monarchy sublime,
To which some add (but others do not) Ireland.
Utopia Limited (1893)
I know what love is. There was a happy time when I didn't, but bitter experience has taught me.
Patience (1881)
Is life a boon?
If so it must befall
That death when e're he call
Must call too soon.
The Yeomen of the Guard (1888)
Life's a pudding full of plums;
Care's a canker that benumbs,
Wherefore waste our elocution
On impossible solution?
Life's a pleasant institution,
Let us take it as it comes!
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed (1919)
I've jibe and joke,
And quip and crank,
For lowly folk
And men of rank.
The Yeomen of the Guard (1888)
Or you or I must yield up his life to Ahrimanes. I would rather it were you.
The Sorcerer (1877)
Oh! to be wafted away
From this black Aceldama of sorrow,
Where the dust of an earthy to-day,
Makes the earth of a dusty to-morrow.
Now landsmen all, whoever you may be,
If you want to rise to the top of the tree,
If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool,
Be careful to be guided by this golden rule—
Stick close to your desks and never go to sea,
And you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navee.
H.M.S. Pinafore (1878)
Ah pray, make no mistake,
we are not shy;
We're very wide awake,
The moon and I!
The Mikado (1885)
But I submit, my lord, with all submission,
To marry two at once is Burglaree!
Trial by Jury (1875)
No money, no grovel!
(Actually an ad-lib introduced by Rutland Barrington when playing the rôle of Pooh-Bah, to the annoyance of Gilbert.)
The Mikado (1885)
A popular speaker, however unpopular and insignificant, has only to wind up his speech with half-a-dozen lines of Shakespeare (and to make it clearly understood that they are Shakespeare's) and he will sit down amid thunders of applause.
In enterprise of martial kind,
When there was any fighting,
He led his regiment from behind—
He found it less exciting.
The Gondoliers (1889)