Mortimer Quotes & Sayings

The odd thing is if you asked me to do the accent now I would find it very difficult unless I was also playing that part, because I associate it so much with entering into the role and stepping into someone else's shoes. — Emily Mortimer

The student can read as fast as his mind will let him, not as slow as his eyes make him. — Mortimer J. Adler

There were moments where I was being kicked in the stomach, and even though I had this brace on to protect me, I still had to prepare myself for it . You can't be relaxed when that's happening. You have to brace your muscles. I can remember thinking as it was about to happen "Wasn't that how Houdini died?" I think it was. — Emily Mortimer

Never believe a rumour until you hear it officially denied. — John Mortimer

Literature is a means to delight the mind and embolden the spirit. — Ian Mortimer

The first stage of elementary reading - reading readiness - corresponds to pre-school and kindergarten experiences. — Mortimer J. Adler

Emancipation of human labor from economic servitude and exploitation, i.e., from organizations of production in which the conditions of work are determined by a master class who own the means of production, and in which the fruits of work are alienated from workers to the benefit of masters. — Mortimer Adler

The materialist assumption that spiritual substances do not exist is as much an act of faith as the religious belief in the reality of angels. — Mortimer Adler

Our view of history diminishes the reality of the past. We concentrate on the historic event as something that has happened, and in so doing we ignore it as a moment which, at the time, is happening. — Ian Mortimer

Ultimately there can be no disagreement between history, science, philosophy, and theology. Where there is disagreement, there is either ignorance or error. — Mortimer Adler

If you are reading in order to become a better reader, you cannot read just any book or article. You will not improve as a reader if all you read are books that are well within your capacity. You must tackle books that are beyond you, or, as we have said, books that are over your head. Only books of that sort will make you stretch your mind. And unless you stretch, you will not learn. — Mortimer J. Adler

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom in learning from books as well as from nature. — Mortimer J. Adler

Ask others about themselves, at the same time, be on guard not to talk too much about yourself. — Mortimer Adler

I am a good mother and I feel proud about it. — Emily Mortimer

Marriage is like pleading guilty to an indefinite sentence. Without parole. — John Mortimer

In judging a practical book, everything turns on the ends or goals. — Mortimer J. Adler

These three rules of analytical reading - about terms, propositions, and arguments - can be brought to a head in an eighth rule, which governs the last step in the interpretation of a book's content. More than that, it ties together the first stage of analytical reading (outlining the structure) and the second stage (interpreting the contents). The last step in your attempt to discover what a book is about was the discovery of the major problems that the author tried to solve in the course of his book. (As — Mortimer J. Adler

All books will become light in proportion as you find light in them. — Mortimer J. Adler

Books are absent teachers. — Mortimer J. Adler

Never buy a saddle until you have met the horse. — Mortimer Zuckerman

Think of yourself as a detective looking for clues to a book's general theme or idea, alert for anything that will make it clearer. — Mortimer J. Adler

If your friend wishes to read your 'Plutarch's Lives,' 'Shakespeare,' or 'The Federalist Papers,' tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat - but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart. — Mortimer J. Adler

We do not have to know everything about something in order to understand it; too many facts are often as much of an obstacle to understanding as too few. — Mortimer J. Adler

A lecture has been well described as the process whereby the notes of the teacher become the notes of the student without passing through the mind of either. — Mortimer J. Adler

The ability to retain a child's view of the world with at the same time a mature understanding of what it means to retain it, is extremely rare - and a person who has these qualities is likely to be able to contribute something really important to our thinking. — Mortimer J. Adler

It is only obvious that teaching is a very special art, sharing withonly two other arts-argriculture and medicin-an exceptionally important characteristic. — Mortimer J. Adler

You will find that your comprehension of any book will be enormously increased if you only go to the trouble of finding its important words, identifying their shifting meanings, and coming to terms. Seldom does such a small change in habit have such a large effect. — Mortimer J. Adler

At Eton boys are woken at 5 a.m.; lessons begin at 6 a.m. and go on to 8 p.m. Teaching is generally in Latin and is a matter of learning by rote, — Ian Mortimer

It's a hard thing to do, to be given a script, and know that you've got to turn up on the first day of the shoot - generally without having had any rehearsal - and present a character. It's really baffling; it's incredibly hard to know how to begin, to approach it, other than just thinking about it. — Emily Mortimer

All gentlemen of any rank with whom he holds conversations can speak Latin, French, Spanish or Italian. They are aware that the English language is only used in this island and would consider themselves uncivilized if they knew no other tongue than their own. — Ian Mortimer

Television, radio, and all the sources of amusement and information that surround us in our daily lives are also artificial props. They can give us the impression that our minds are active, because we are required to react to stimuli from the outside. But the power of those external stimuli to keep us going is limited. They are like drugs. We grow used to them, and we continuously need more and more of them. Eventually, they have little or no effect. Then, if we lack resources within ourselves, we cease to grow intellectually, morally, and spiritually. And we we cease to grow, we begin to die. — Mortimer J. Adler

If you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot expect the book to give you any insight you don't already possess — Mortimer J. Adler

In the middle of the swinging sixties people in England were apparently under some sort of obligation to have a good time and most of them didn't. A Russian and an American walked about in space to no one's particular advantage. The Beatles received their British Empire medals and, so it was said, smoked cannabis in the lavatories at Buckingham Palace. American aeroplanes were bombing Vietnam, but no one seemed to talk about the nuclear holocaust any more. — John Mortimer

History is not just about the analysis of evidence, unrolling vellum documents or answering exam papers. It is not about judging the dead. It is about understanding the meaning of the past - to realize the whole evolving human story over centuries, not just our own lifetimes. — Ian Mortimer

To escape jury duty in England, wear a bowler hat and carry a copy of the Daily telegraph. — John Mortimer

Understanding is a two-way operation; the learner has to question himself and question the teacher. — Mortimer J. Adler

On the three pigs he and his wife own: We acquired the pigs last year. My wife was born on a pig farm and has always been very fond of pigs. Of course, they are for eating, which is why they are named Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. You wouldn't want to eat Rufus, Marcus and Esmeralda. — John Mortimer

I never felt I was quite the ticket academically. I always felt I had to put in an enormous amount of effort not to be disappointing. So I worked really hard, but at the time it suited me, because I didn't do very much else. — Emily Mortimer

You never lose by loving, only by holding back"

Faith Mortimer — Faith Mortimer

First, an angel is spiritually present at whatever place in physical space happens to be occupied by the body on which it acts. It can be present at that place without leaving Heaven which is its spiritual residence ... — Mortimer Adler

The human mind is as naturally sensitive to arguments as the eye is to colors. (There may be some people who are argument-blind!) But the eye will not see if it is not kept open, and the mind will not follow an argument if it is not awake. — Mortimer J. Adler

There is no more irritating fellow than the one who tries to settle an argument about communism, or justice, or freedom, by quoting from the dictionary. Lexicographers may be respected as authorities on word usage, but they are not the ultimate founts of wisdom. — Mortimer J. Adler

A book is a work of art. (Again, — Mortimer J. Adler

THE FIRST STAGE OF ANALYTICAL READING, OR RULES FOR FINDING WHAT A BOOK IS ABOUT 1. Classify the book according to kind and subject matter. 2. State what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity. 3. Enumerate its major parts in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole. 4. Define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve. — Mortimer J. Adler

A practical problem can only be solved by action itself. When your practical problem is how to earn a living, a book on how to make friends and influence people cannot solve it, though it may suggest things to do. Nothing short of the doing solves the problem. It is solved only by earning a living. — Mortimer J. Adler

What on earth was Henry talking about?'
'His soul. I wonder where he keeps it. — John Mortimer

Great speed in reading is a dubious achievement; it is of value only if what you have to read is not worth reading. — Mortimer J. Adler

I'm still shy - I'm no good at my children's parent-teacher conferences, and I'm slowly learning how to ask for what I want. But I now know that I have a reserve of courage to draw upon when I really need it. There's nothing that I'm too scared to have a go at. — Emily Mortimer

The rules for reading yourself to sleep are easier to follow than are the rules for staying awake while reading. Get into bed in a comfortable position, make sure the light is inadequate enough to cause slight eyestrain, choose a book that is either terribly difficult or terribly boring - in any event, one that you do not really care whether you read or not - and you will be asleep in a few minutes. Those who are experts in relaxing with a book do not have to wait for nightfall. A comfortable chair in the library will do any time — Mortimer J. Adler

According to the Theory of War, which teaches that the best way to avoid the inconvenience of war is to pursue it away from your own country, it is more sensible for us to fight our notorious enemy in his own realm, with the joint power of our allies, than it is to wait for him at our own doors. King Edward III (1339) — Ian Mortimer

The ultimate end of education is happiness or a good human life, a life enriched by the possession of every kind of good, by the enjoyment of every type of satisfaction. — Mortimer Adler

Aristotle uses a mother's love for her child as the prime example of love or friendship. — Mortimer Adler

The dictionary also invites a playful reading. It challenges anyone to sit down with it in an idle moment. There are worse ways to kill time. — Mortimer J. Adler

My chief reason for choosing Christianity was because the mysteries were incomprehensible. What's the point of revelation if we could figure it out ourselves? If it were wholly comprehensible, then it would just be another philosophy. — Mortimer Adler

Katrina," he said, his mouth going dry.
"I'm feeling like Winnie. I'm ready to cry."
He slid down his bars to the mesh of the floor,
feeling even more gloomy than ever before.

Katrina went over to offer some cheer,
to say something kind into Mortimer's ear.
But what could she say? What could she do
for a friend who felt so inconsolably blue?
So gently, she rested her hand on his head.
Because sometimes our words ...
... are best left unsaid. — Robert Paul Weston

Men are creatures of passion and prejudice. The language they must use to communicate is an imperfect medium, clouded by emotion and colored by interest, as well as inadequately transparent for thought. — Mortimer J. Adler

I decided to give acting a serious, committed try, and soon after, I read the script for 'Lovely and Amazing.' The story was beautiful and honest, and the characters struggled with the same insecurities many women - including me - face. I didn't think I had a chance in hell of being in the film, but I knew I had to go for it. — Emily Mortimer

This memory was both happy and sad: happy because it was so pleasant, and sad because it made Penelope think about how much she missed Swanburne
the girls, the teachers, Miss Mortimer. Or perhaps it was her own much younger self, that pint-sized person whom she could never be again, whom she missed. It was hard to say. — Maryrose Wood

The secret of good health and happiness is to have rather small illnesses throughout your life which you can rely on to stop you doing anything you don't want to do. — John Mortimer

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I cook a big one for everyone - bacon and eggs. I own a lot of eggcups. — Emily Mortimer

I'm always sort of anticipating life being difficult, but on a basic level, that's sort of on the surface, on a basic level, I'm optimistic in the sense that I think it's all going to be alright in the end. — Emily Mortimer

Men value things in three ways: as useful, as pleasant or sources of pleasure, and as excellent, or as intrinsically admirable or honorable. — Mortimer Adler

What borders on the criminal is the poor teaching and neglect of those subjects that deal with the history of ideas and ideals, a knowledge of which is essential to all youth who would assume their place in society as thinking, feeling human beings. — John Mortimer Smith

The freedom to make a fortune on the stock exchange has been made to sound more alluring than freedom of speech. — John Mortimer

One reader is better than another in proportion as he is able of a greater range of activity in reading and exerts more effort. — Mortimer Adler

In short, we can only learn from our "betters". — Mortimer J. Adler

Mortimer Lindquist seemed to have finally given in to the inevitable. I'd seen him with a bad toupee, and with an even worse comb-over, but this was the first time I'd seen him sporting a full-on Charles Xavier. — Jim Butcher

All genuine learning is active, not passive. It involves the use of the mind, not just the memory. It is a process of discovery, in which the student is the main agent, not the teacher. — Mortimer Adler

You are exposing yourself all the time as an actor. There's the risk of being thought of as bad or boring or unattractive. — Emily Mortimer

Only hidden and undetected oratory is really insidious. What reaches the heart without going through the mind is likely to bounce back and put the mind out of business. — Mortimer J. Adler

He was keen to use English as well as French in daily conversation, writing letters in English and commissioning translations of French and Latin books. — Ian Mortimer

As you travel around medieval England you will come across a sport described by some contemporaries as 'abominable ... more common, undignified and worthless than any other game, rarely ending but with some loss, accident or disadvantage to the players themselves'. This is football. — Ian Mortimer

Guy de Chauliac's advice to those wishing to avoid infection is as follows: 'Go quickly, go far, and return slowly. — Ian Mortimer

It's quite nice when you've been generally dissed about your irrelevancy and then suddenly have people coming on bended knee and saying we need you to come back. — Edward Mortimer

Theories of love are found in the works of scientists, philosophers, and theologians. — Mortimer Adler

Up the stairs I found an imposing headquarters, decorated with the portraits and busts of solemn, whiskered old darlings who, no doubt, bled their customers with leeches and passed on the information to alarmed small boys that self-abuse leads to blindness. — John Mortimer

We must also realize-students, teachers, and laymen alike-that even when we have accomplished the task that lies before us, we will not have accomplished the whole task. We must be more than a nation of functional literates. We must become a nation of truly competent readers, recognizing all that the word competent implies. Nothing less wil satisfy the needs of the world that is coming. — Mortimer J. Adler

In Elizabethan England you will only find small codpieces. Large ones, stuffed with wool and looking like an erect male member, are out of date — Ian Mortimer

Good books are over your head; they would not be good for you if they were not. — Mortimer J. Adler

Death a friend that alone can bring the peace his treasures cannot purchase, and remove the pain his physicians cannot cure. — Mortimer Collins

Getting more information is learning, and so is coming to understand what you did not understand before. But there is an important difference between these two kinds of learning. — Mortimer J. Adler

All the flower children were as alike as a congress of accountants and about as interesting. — John Mortimer

You can't change people. You know that. You can't make them stop hating each other, or longing to blow up the world, not by walking through the rain and singing to a small guitar. Most you can do for them is pull them out of the womb, thump them on the backside and let them get on with it. — John Mortimer

The mind can atrophy, like the muscles, if it is not used. — Mortimer J. Adler

Perhaps we know more about the world than we used to, and insofar as knowledge is prerequisite to understanding, that is all to the good. But knowledge is not as much a prerequisite to understanding as is commonly supposed. We do not have to know everything about something in order to understand it; too many facts are often as much of an obstacle to understanding as too few. There is a sense in which we moderns are inundated with facts to the detriment of understanding. — Mortimer J. Adler

Can't get around the old minimum wage, Mortimer. — Dan Aykroyd

The great writers have always been great readers, but that does not mean that they read all the books that, in their day, were listed as the indispensable ones. In many cases, they read fewer books than are now required in most of our colleges, but what they did read, they read well. Because they had mastered these books, they became peers with their authors. They were entitled to become authorities in their own right. In the natural course of events, a good student frequently becomes a teacher, and so, too, a good reader becomes an author. — Mortimer J. Adler

In some remote regions of Islam it is said, a woman caught unveiled by a stranger will raise her skirt to cover her face. — Raymond Mortimer

Mortimer had maxed three credit cards stocking the cave with canned goods and medical supplies and tools and everything a man needed to live through the end of the world. There were more than a thousand books along shelves in the driest part of the cave. There used to be several boxes of pornography until Mortimer realized that he'd spent nearly ten days in a row sitting in the cave masturbating. He burned the dirty magazines to keep from doing some terrible whacking injury to himself. — Victor Gischler

Fewer Americans are at work today than in April 2000, even though the population since then has grown by 31 million. — Mortimer Zuckerman

He does what he thinks God would do if God only knew the facts. — Mortimer Zuckerman

Memories help make us who we are.(Taken from novel...A Very English Affair) — Faith Mortimer

I'm just happy to be a film where for once I don't have to worry about my hair, because my managers are always complaining about my hair looking depressing in my movies. Which is true. I mean, it's true. — Emily Mortimer

My name is Mortimer Alexander and I am a licensed summoner."
"Darn. I'd hoped you were the pizza delivery guy. — Jana Oliver

It's very difficult to find the time or the money for people to organize rehearsals for some movies. It staggers me how little preparation often goes into these scenes which are difficult and complicated. You think, "God, it's crazy. I've never met this person before and here I am having to work at how to do a whole performance on the set." It was great to have a few days of just talking to Michael [Caine]and Daniel [Barber] and thinking about the characters and the relationship between them before we started shooting. — Emily Mortimer

In idling, the motor's running, but you're letting your mind take in anything. Things pop into it. Those are the gifts of subterranean conscious. — Mortimer Adler

Friendship is a very taxing and arduous form of leisure activity. — Mortimer Adler

51st State was one that I loved doing because the character was so out there, and in a way I was sad to leave the character behind. I'm afraid I could never be that cool in real life! — Emily Mortimer

W. H. Auden once suggested that to understand your own country you need to have lived in at least two others. One can say something similar for periods of time: to understand your own century you need to have come to terms with at least two others. The key to learning something about the past might be a ruin or an archive but the means whereby we may understand it is
and always will be
ourselves. — Ian Mortimer

The reader tries to uncover the skeleton that the book conceals. The author starts with the skeleton and tries to cover it up. His aim is to conceal the skeleton artistically or, in other words, to put flesh on the bare bones. If he is a good writer, he does not bury a puny skeleton under a mass of fat; on the other hand, neither should the flesh be too thin, so that the bones show through. If the flesh is thick enough, and if the flabbiness is avoided, the joints will be detectable and the motion of the parts will reveal the articulation. — Mortimer J. Adler