Red Imported Fire

Famous quotes containing the words red, imported and/or fire:

    With the old kindness, the old distinguished grace,
    She lies, her lovely piteous head amid dull red hair
    Propped upon pillows, rouge on the pallor of her face.
    She would not have us sad because she is lying there,
    And when she meets our gaze her eyes are laughter-lit,
    Her speech a wicked tale that we may vie with her....
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    If the jests that you crack have an orthodox smack,
    You may get a bland smile from these sages;
    But should it, by chance, be imported from France,
    Half-a-crown is stopped out of your wages!
    Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)

    In England if something goes wrong—say, if one finds a skunk in the garden—he writes to the family solicitor, who proceeds to take the proper measures; whereas in America, you telephone the fire department. Each satisfies a characteristic need; in the English, love of order and legalistic procedure; and here in America, what you like is something vivid, and red, and swift.
    Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947)