Noel Coward quotes

" I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. " # Friends and Friendship

" The higher the buildings, the lower the morals. " # Morality

" Work is more fun than fun. " # Work

" Television is for appearing on - not for looking at. " # Television

" Your motivation? Your motivation is your pay packet on Friday. Now get on with it. " # Superstition

" Wit ought to be a glorious treat like caviar; never spread it about like marmalade. " # Wit # Friends and Friendship # Love

" "Proceeding on the assumption that the reader of this preface is interested in the development of my musical talent, I will try to explain, as concisely as I can, how, in this respect, my personal wheels go round. To begin with, I have only had two music lessons in my life. These were the first steps of what was to have been a full course at the Guildhall School of Music, and they faltered and stopped when I was told by my instructor that I could not use consecutive fifths. He went on to explain that a gentleman called Ebenezer Prout had announced many years ago that consecutive fifths were wrong and must in no circumstances be employed. At that time Ebenezer Prout was merely a name to me (as a matter of fact he still is, and a very funny one at that) and I was unimpressed by his Victorian dicta. I argued back that Debussy and Ravel had used consecutive fifths like mad. My instructor waved aside this triviality with a pudgy hand, and I left his presence forever with the parting shot that what was good enough for Debussy and Ravel was good enough for me. This outburst of rugged individualism deprived me of much valuable knowledge, and I have never deeply regretted it for a moment." " # Patriotism # Love # Life and Living

" My importance to the world is relatively small. On the other hand, my importance to myself is tremendous. I am all I have to work with, to play with, to suffer and to enjoy. It is not the eyes of others that I am wary of, but of my own. I do not intend to let myself down more than I can possibly help, and I find that the fewer illusions I have about myself or the world around me, the better company I am for myself. " # Importance # Friends and Friendship # Love

" I've sometimes thought of marrying, and then I've thought again. " # Marriage

" I have a memory like an elephant. In fact, elephants often consult me. " # Memory