Top 29 John Betjeman Quotes
#1. 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!
John Betjeman
#2. Imprisoned in a cage of sound, even the trivial seems profound
John Betjeman
#3. And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.
John Betjeman
#4. And I think it was the outline of that church tower at Belaugh against the sky which gave me a passion for churches so that every church I've past since I've wanted to stop and look in.
John Betjeman
#5. Oh Wasn't it naughty of Smudges? Oh, Mummy, I'm sick with disgust. She threww me in front of the judges, And my silly old collar-bone's bust.
John Betjeman
#6. Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows.
John Betjeman
#7. Oh better far those echoing hells
Half-threaten'd in the pealing bells
Than that this 'I' should cease to be -
John Betjeman
#8. On out deathbeds we're not going to regret all the work we didn't do. We're going to regret all the sex we didn't have!
John Betjeman
#9. I don't think I am any good. If I thought I was any good, I wouldn't be.
John Betjeman
#10. A whispering and watery Norfolk sound
Telling of all the moonlit reeds around.
John Betjeman
#11. Silver and ermine and red faces full of port wine.
John Betjeman
#12. Approval of what is approved of
Is as false as a well-kept vow.
John Betjeman
#13. Ludlow ... is probably the loveliest town in England with its hill of Georgian houses ascending from the river Teme to the great tower of the cross-shaped church, rising behind a classic market building.
John Betjeman
#14. Now if the harvest is over, And the world cold, Give me the bonus of laughter, As I lose hold.
John Betjeman
#15. Topography is one of my chief themes in my poetry..about the country, the suburbs and the seaside ... then there come's love ... and increasingly; the fear of death.
John Betjeman
#18. It's strange that those we miss the most Are those we take for granted.
John Betjeman
#19. Norfolk would not be Norfolk without a church tower on the horizon or round a corner up a lane. We cannot spare a single Norfolk church. When a church has been pulled down the country seems empty or is like a necklace with a jewel missing.
John Betjeman
#20. I have a Vision of the Future, chum. The workers flats in fields of soya beans tower up like silver pencils, score on score.
John Betjeman
#21. Too many people in the modern world view poetry as a luxury, not a necessity like petrol. But to me it's the oil of life.
John Betjeman
#22. Gracious Lord, oh bomb the Germans. Spare their women for Thy Sake, And if that is not too easy, We will pardon Thy Mistake. But, gracious Lord, whate'er shall be, Don't let anyone bomb me.
John Betjeman
#23. Hymn tunes are the nearest we've got to English folk music..
John Betjeman
#24. There are two thing you need for a jolly good hymn.The first is a set of words that expresses the mood or sentiment of the worshipper.The second-and perhaps even more important- is a good tune..with a simple popular melody.
John Betjeman
#26. I ought to warn you that my verse is of no interest to people who can think.
John Betjeman
#27. And now, dear Lord, I cannot wait Because I have a luncheon date.
John Betjeman
#28. And behind their frail partitions Business women lie and soak, Seeing through the draughty skylight Flying clouds and railway smoke. Rest you there, poor unbelov'd ones, Lap your loneliness in heat, All too soon the tiny breakfast, Trolley-bus and windy street!
John Betjeman
#29. People's backyards are much more interesting than their front gardens, and houses that back on to railways are public benefactors.
John Betjeman
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