The test of an abstract picture, for me, is not my first reaction to it, but how long I can stand it hanging on the wall of a room where I am living.
— John Betjeman
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More quotes by John Betjeman
History must not be written with bias, and both sides must be given, even if there is only one side.
Stony seaboard, far and foreign,
Stony hills poured over space,
Stony outcrop of the Burren,
Stones in every fertile place.
New Bats in Old Belfries (1945)
Hymn tunes are the nearest we've got to English folk music.
Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!
Continual Dew (1937)
Safe were those evenings of the pre-war world
When firelight shone on green linoleum,
I heard the church bells hollowing out the sky,
Deep beyond deep, like never-ending stars.
Summoned by Bells (1960)
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