Osbert Sitwell quotes

Everywhere men have unlocked the prisoners within, and from under the disguising skins the apes have leapt joyfully out. (Osbert Sitwell)
Educ[ated]: during the holidays from Eton. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
Hell has a climate, but no situation. It lies in the spirit, and not in space. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
The Rich Man's Banquet, which was to last for a decade, had now begun: the feast, it was recognised, went to the greediest. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
For Poetry is the wisdom of the blood, That scarlet tree within, which has the power To make dull words bud forth and burst in flower. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
The artist, like the idiot or clown, sits on the edge of the world, and a push may send him over it. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
How simple-minded of the Germans to imagine that we British could be cowed by the destruction of our ancient monuments! As though any havoc of the German bombs could possibly equal the things we have done ourselves! View quote
Osbert Sitwell
The only difference between an artist and a lunatic is, perhaps, that the artist has the restraint or courtesy to conceal the intensity of his obsession from all except those similarly afflicted. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
Heroic figures are now obsolete,So Demigod and Devil find retreatIn minds of children - as rare beasts and men,Elsewhere extinct, persist in hill or fenFrom man protected - where each form assumesGigantic stature and intention, loomsFrom wind-moved, twilight-woven histories:For them each flower teems with mysteries. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
They loved him, I think, because, with all his merits, he showed them to be rich: looking at his portraits, they understood at last how rich they really were. View quote
Osbert Sitwell
The British bourgeoisie Is not born And does not die, But, if it is ill, It has a frightened look in its eyes. (Osbert Sitwell)