as we approached Buckingham House, I saw five or six persons, relieving nature amidst the bushes, with their hinder parts facing the passers-by. I thought this a disgusting piece of indecency ..
Five or six were perfect angels of beauty, and two or three were hideously ugly; and such extremes are more common in England than anywhere else.
I was aware that London justice was speedy and equitable
He kissed his daughter with that tender affection which is more characteristic, I think, of English parents than those of any other nation.
Madame Rufin .. had entered into the spirit of her business without losing her French politeness
the English are like a flock of sheep; they follow each other about, always go to the same place, and never care to shew any originality
The French would be the best reciters if they were not constrained by the rhyme, for they say what they feel better than any other people.
They have neither the passionate monotonous tone of my fellow-countrymen, nor the sentimentality of the Germans, nor the fatiguing mannerisms of the English;
They have neither the passionate monotonous tone of my fellow-countrymen, nor the sentimentality of the Germans
They have neither the passionate monotonous tone of my fellow-countrymen, nor the sentimentality of the Germans…
an Italian never forgets to avenge himself on his enemy
In general, reflecting a strong tradition of tolerance and an adult pragmatic sense that things should be allowed to blow over, the approach here has mostly been the give and take that was reflected by cabinet ministers
I fancied the countess sensible like an Englishwoman
I fancied the countess sensible like an Englishwoman, passionate like a Spaniard
I fancied the countess sensible like an Englishwoman, passionate like a Spaniard, caressing like a Frenchwoman
With the true Englishman's boldness and coolness he came to me one morning, and asked me to give him breakfast.
I welcomed him in the French manner, that is, with combined cordiality and politeness,
Marcoline was depressed, I as gloomy as a splenetic Englishman
The Englishman, who prides himself on his strict adherence to the law of the land, is curt and rude in his manner, and the English officials cannot be compared to the French, who know how to combine politeness with the exercise of their rights.
the English officials cannot be compared to the French, who know how to combine politeness with the exercise of their rights.
The most striking feature in their character is their national pride; they exalt themselves above all other nations. .. My attention was attracted by the universal cleanliness
A man in court dress cannot walk the streets of London without being pelted with mud by the mob
My reply seemed to please her by its character of English independence
The Englishman is entirely carnivorous. He eats very little bread, and calls himself economical because he spares himself the expense of soup and dessert
we went to Drury Lane Theatre, where I had a specimen of the rough insular manners.
I had already seen half a hundred of girls, whom the town pronounced to be pretty, and who did not strike me as even passable.
the English newspapers .. are allowed to gossip about everything, and the writers have the knack of making the merest trifles seem amusing
I saw in the incident a proof of that hospitality for which the English are famed, although they are at the same time profoundly egotistic.
there is in the manners of the [French] something so engaging, so obliging, that you feel attracted towards them as towards a friend
an air of unbecoming haughtiness gives to the [Spanish] a dark, forbidding countenance which certainly does not prepossess in their favour
the French, who always give way so easily to their keen sense of ridicule and equivocation
What delighted me, on my arrival in Paris, was the magnificent road made by Louis XV., the cleanliness of the hotels, the excellent fare they give, the quickness of the service ..
The French are undoubtedly the most witty people in Europe, and perhaps in the whole world
we instinctively recognize Italians, not only from the way they look (fashion is a common denominator in Italy) but also from their outlook on life, whether a pragmatic aptitude for survival .. or a natural spontaneity and sensual self-indulgence
The family, with its ties of loyalty and obligation, is as much a metaphorical as a literal force, binding Italians to nearest and dearest rather than neighbour and nation
I have never met with true sociability except in Frenchmen; they alone know how to jest, and it is rare, delicate, refined jesting, which animates conversation and makes society charming.
To feel nothing one would have to be as cold and impassive as a German.
My new friend introduced me to the professor, who received me with all the polished courtesy of the French man of letters.
In Germany the literary man has an air of mysterious reserve. He thinks he is proclaiming to all the world that he at all events is a man of no pretension, whereas his pride peeps through every moment.
.. nostalgia, or home sickness. With the Swiss and the Sclavs it is really a fatal disease .. Germans are subject to this weakness also; whilst the French suffer very little, and Italians not much more from the complaint.
nostalgia, or home sickness. With the Swiss and the Sclavs it is really a fatal disease.. Germans are subject to this weakness also; whilst the French suffer very little, and Italians not much more from the complaint.
The men of Spain dwell mentally in a limited horizon, bounded by prejudice on every side; but the women, though ignorant, are usually intelligent; while both sexes are the prey of desires ..
All the religion of the Spaniard is in outward show and ceremony. A profligate woman before yielding to the desires of her lover covers the picture of Christ, or the Virgin, with a veil.
The Spaniard is chiefly ambitious of praise, for praise he will do anything; .. He wants to be thought superior to his fellows, as the Spanish nation is superior to all other nations; he wants to be .. considered as the possessor of all the virtues.
nowhere will you find such soft beds or such delicious wines as in the good land of France.
To a Frenchman a foreigner is a sacred being; he receives the best of hospitality, not merely in form, but in deed; and his welcome is given with that easy grace which so soon sets a stranger at his ease.
in England, and still more in Spain, a foreigner means an enemy
The Frenchman is said to be light and frivolous, but in most cases he is a very serious person; brave, when he is succeeding - but too easily depressed; very clever with his hands, and generally ambiable, polite, and urbane.
The genuine Italian is kind and courteous to all - high and low, rich and poor; and his courtesy is enhanced by a wonderfully gracious, charming, and attractive manner.
The people of Spain differ from each other as much as the climates.
The country people are kind, courteous and gentle. They are fond of dance and song; .. the women have .. kindly ways. All are good-tempered, obliging, and polished in their manner.
The Dutch love freedom ; they are hard-working and thrifty; they are brave and self-possessed; and generous to those who have been overtaken by disaster. The Dutchman is slow in promising; but he always keeps his promise. He is slow to make up his mind..
He is slow, but sure. He is thrifty and fond of money; but he is still more fond of liberty .. Frankness, industry, love of liberty, a burning love of country - these are the main characteristics of the Swiss
The Germans, on the whole, are a straightforward, honest, steady, hard-working, brave, and loyal people.
The Japanese are essentially kind-hearted, gentle, courteous, amiable, temperate, orderly and thrifty. .. Their spade-husbandry turns the country into one beautifully-kept garden, in which one might vainly look for a weed
A japanese house is made of wood, and is a thing of beauty inside and out.
The ]apanese year is marked by a series of festivals and holidays that are very important in the lives of the people. .. The returning-from-an-expedition present is almost an obligation in ]apanese life.
The ]apanesè love of flowers is not limited to occasions of special festivity.
The Japanese are a warlike people. The fighting man has always been looked upon as the flower of his race.
The theatre has always held a big place in ]apanese life. ..PopuIar pIays are, according to European standards, immensely long.
Americans think of occupations in terms of jobs, and people are thought of not as possessing a skill, not as irrevocably committed to some type of work by virtue of birth or status or residence, but rather as holding a job
The eradication of any sign of not having always been an American has become of prime importance in a country in which almost everyone is a newcomer each with a different past
[The wife] became the mistress of all the symbo1s of social position, [while the husband] became the one who worked to purchase the symbols. His authority over his children lacked the bulwarks which it had in the old world.
.. those peculiarly American habits of speech and manner which a European calls "walking as if he owned the world", developed in an atmosphere in which no modesty needed to be invoked by a tiny child proclaiming his exploits.
American hospitality is premised on the presence of outsiders bringing relaxation into the home. And there are no high walls, high hedges or doors that are hard to negotiate.
it is the wife who continues to make the choices about education, health and way of living, while the husband devotes himself to business and an interest, in most cases devoted to spectatorship, in sports.
the general belief in the United States that nothing is fixed and final; one can always start over again, learn a new job, find a new husband or wife, learn a new game, buy a new car.
the how of living, the business of making a living - originally the natural preoccupation of people flung on a new continent - has become the most respected activity for the American male.
Every man in America does not actually aspire to high office or great riches, but he does aspire to be counted successful within his own group .. The need to prove that one is good is the drive behind the need for success ..
Americans have consistently used material symbols for their most immaterial values, proving the values of their own institutions .. by the outward and visible signs of house and car, plumbing and electric light, food and drink.
Flexible and innovating in every mechanical field, willing to alter the material basis, the actual locality, the occupation on which his life rests at the drop of a hat, he clings obstinately to the social forms which he feels make all this possible
What I like in England is the taste for extravagance.
in England, it is very little that women will do in the fields except to glean and make hay; the first is a party of pilfering, and the second of pleasure: in France, they plough and fill the dung-cart
in England, it is very little that they will do in the fields except to glean and make hay; the first is a party of pilfering, and the second of pleasure: in France, they plough and fill the dung-cart.
These are but trifles, but they show liberality, and it is fair to report them.
The husbandry poor and the people miserable. .. I conceive them to be honest and industrious; they seem clean; are civil, and have good countenances.
there was an instance of French politeness shewn to his lordship, that marks the urbanity of this people
It is not in the power of an English imagination to figure the animals that waited upon us here, at the Chapeau Rouge. .. walking dung-hills.—But a neatly dressed clean waiting girl at an inn, will be looked for in vain in France.
the boat well contrived for driving in at one end, and out at the other, without the abominable operation, common in England, of beating horses till they leap into them
To those who are fond of gilding here is enough to satiate; so much that to an English eye it has too gaudy an appearance.,, As to the garden, it is beneath all contempt, except as an object to make a man stare at the efforts to which folly can arrive
Having now crossed the kingdom, and been in many French inns, I shall in general observe, that they are on an average better in two respects, and worse in all the rest, than those in England.
the common cookery of the French gives great advantage. ..they give such a number and variety of dishes, that if you do not like some, there are others to please your palate. The desert at a French inn has no rival at an English one..Beds are better in France..
We are so unaccustomed in England to live in our bed-chambers, that it is at first aukward in France to find that people live no where else .. We dress for dinner in England with propriety,.. but by doing it at noon, too much time is lost
If I may hazard a remark on the conversation of French assemblies, from what I have known here, I should praise them for equanimity but condemn them for insipidity.
One circumstance I must remark .. because it has struck me repeatedly, is the taciturnity of the French.
go in England to towns that contain 1500, 2000, or 3000 people, in situations absolutely cut off from all dependence .. you will meet with neat inns, well dressed and clean people keeping them, good furniture, and a refreshing civility;
banishment alone will force the French nobility to execute what the English do for pleasure—reside upon and adorn their estates.
There is .. an elegant and spacious theatre..This elegant and agreeable luxury .. is known in every country in Europe except England: the possessors of great estates here preferring horses and dogs very much before any entertainment a theatre can yield
These people, like other Frenchmen, eat little meat; in the town of Leyrac five oxen only are killed in a year; whereas an English town with the same population would consume two or three oxen a week.
These people, like other Frenchmen, eat little meat; in the town of Leyrac five oxen only are killed in a year; whereas an English town with the same population would consume two or three oxen a week
A more singular spectacle, was to see two ladies present at a dinner of this sort, with five or six and twenty gentlemen; such a thing could not happen in England. To say that the French manners in this respect, are better than our own, is an obvious truth.
a member of the Academy of Sciences at Paris is sure of a good reception every where.
there are an infinity of one-horse cabriolets, which are driven by young men of fashion and their imitators alike fools, with such rapidity as to be real nuisances, and render the streets exceedingly dangerous
the French are quiet in their houses, and do things without effort
On my arrival at his seat, he was sitting down to dinner with his family .. An English family in the country, similar in situation, taken unawares in the same way, would receive you with an unquiet hospitality, and an anxious politeness;
This idea is purely French; they have no notion of private people going out of their way for the public good, without being paid by the public
I remark, in the sentiments that are applauded, the same generous feelings in the audience in France, that have many times in England put me in good humour with my countrymen.
We are too apt to hate the French, for myself I see many reasons to be pleased with them; attributing faults very much to their government; perhaps in our own, our roughness and want of good temper are to be traced to the same origin.
Like all French seats, there is a town, and a great potager to remove before it would be consonant with English ideas.
An Englishman who has not travelled, cannot imagine the figure made by infinitely the greater part of the countrywomen in France; it speaks, at the first sight, hard and severe labour: