YESTERDAY WE SHARED ENGLISH QUOTES from the likes of Noel Coward, Dorothy Sayers, W. Somerset Maugham, and even Irishman George Bernard Shaw. Today in Part 2, two extended commentaries follow, one from The Queen Mum, the other from Bertrand Russell.
The Queen Mum and a Big Red Bus. Wikipedia recounts, “Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900—30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. After her husband died, she was officially known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II.”
Queen Elizabeth, 1900—2002. Image from Inspiring Quotes.
Queen Mum advised, “Wouldn’t it be terrible if you’d spent all your life doing everything you were supposed to do … and suddenly one day you were run over by a big red bus, and as the wheels were crunching into you, you’d say, ‘Oh my God, I could have got so drunk last night!’ That’s the way you should live your life, as if tomorrow you’ll be run over by a big red bus.”
Bertrand Russell’s Terrifying Experience. The Letters column of London Review of Books is every bit as erudite as the rest of this publication. In its October 10, 2024 issue, Barry Goldman, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, shares Bertrand Russell’s account of an encounter with William Ewart Gladstone.
Wikipedia notes, “Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual.” Image by Yousuf Karsh for Anelo—National Arhief via Wikipedia.
Russell has appeared twice here at SimanaitisSays: “A Close Shave with Set Theory” and “The 1981 Lotus 88—Bertrand Russell Would Have Loved It!”
Here’s Russell’s recollection of his meeting in 1889 with William Ewart Gladstone, British statesman and Liberal Party politician. “Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for 12 years,” Wikipedia notes, “spread over four non-consecutive terms (the most of any British prime minister) beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894.”
Gladstone in 1892. Portrait by Samuel Alexander Walker from Wikipedia.
“Far the most terrifying experience of my life was connected with Mr Gladstone,” recounted Russell. “When I was seventeen, a very shy and awkward youth, he came to stay with my family for the weekend. I was the only ‘man’ in the house, and after dinner, when the ladies retired, I was left tête-à-tête with the ogre. I was too petrified to perform my duties as a host, and he did nothing to help me out.”
Russell said, “For a long time we sat in silence; at last, in his booming bass voice, he condescended to make his one and only remark: ‘This is very good port they’ve given me, but why have they given it me in a claret glass?’ ”
“Since then,” Russell concluded, “I have faced infuriated mobs, angry judges and hostile governments, but never again have I felt such terror as in that searing moment.”
Talk about a memorable encounter. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024