The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Oxford Quick Reference)

Dazzlingly entertaining, this new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations contains over 5,000 quotations hand-picked by the writer and broadcaster Ned Sherrin. Containing a wide coverage of themes, including forty brand new ones such as Autobiography, Awards and Prizes, Parties, Presidents, Smoking, and Tennis, there is something for everyone on every subject imaginable.

From sharp one-liners to witty quips, there are quotations from classic humorists such as Mae West, Oscar Wilde, and Groucho Marx, to today's well known comedians and wits including Dick Vosburgh, Maureen Lipman, Tracey Ullman, Ben Elton, and Ian Hislop. There are of course quotations from famous luminaries from walks of life other than comedy, from Samuel Johnson to Tennessee Williams, and Albert Einstein to the Duke of Wellington.
With details of where each quotation comes from, who said it, where and when, an author index allowing you at a glance to establish who said what, and a detailed keyword index, this is not just an ideal reference tool but also an invaluable and classic collection.
"France is a country where the money falls apart in your hands and you can't tear the toilet paper."
Billy Wilder

"People don't come in my size until they're old. I used to think people were born with big bones and large frames, but apparently these grow when you're about sixty-eight."
Maeve Binchy

"They say the definition of ambivalence is watching your mother-in-law drive over a cliff in your new Cadillac."
David Mamet

"I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!"
George Bush

Ned Sherrin is presenter of BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends. Producer and director of the ground-breaking 1960s satire TV show That Was the Week that Was, and producer of a number of films, including The Virgin Soldiers (1968) and Up Pompeii (1971), he has also written extensively for stage and screen. He has directed many theatre productions such as Side by Side by Sondheim (London 1976 and New York 1977) and Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell (1989). He appears regularly on television and has compiled a number of anthologies, including Cutting Edge (Dent, 1984), Theatrical Anecdotes (Virgin, 1991), and Ned Sherrin in his Anecdotage (Virgin, 1993). He has also written a novel, Scratch an Actor (Sinclair Stevenson, 1995).