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The Gold Bat quotes

The lines readers remember from The Gold Bat, by P. G. Wodehouse.

9 quotes · About the book

Standout lines

He would have made a splendid actor: he was so good at resting.

II: The Gold BatRead from here
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The indoor leg lacked a boot, so that it was evident that its owner had at least had the energy to begin to change. That he had given the thing up after that, exhausted with the effort, was what one naturally expected from Clowes.

He would have made a splendid actor: he was so good at resting.

“Hurry up and dress,” said Trevor; “I want you to come over to the baths.”

The most immediate effect of telling anybody not to do a thing is to make him do it, in order to assert his independence.

VI: Trevor Remains FirmRead from here
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The most immediate effect of telling anybody not to do a thing is to make him do it, in order to assert his independence.

Trevor’s first act on receipt of the letter was to include Barry in the team against the Town. It was what he would have done in any case, but, under the circumstances, he felt a peculiar pleasure in doing it.

It is this indomitable gift of looking on the bright side that makes us Englishmen what we are.

X: Being a Chapter of AccidentsRead from here
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“Anyhow,” said Shoeblossom, as his footsteps died away, “we saved the sausages.”

It is this indomitable gift of looking on the bright side that makes us Englishmen what we are.

An excellent thing is your lemon at halftime. It cools the mouth, quenches the thirst, stimulates the desire to be at them again, and improves the play.

XVI: The Ripton MatchRead from here
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During the interval there were lemons.

An excellent thing is your lemon at halftime. It cools the mouth, quenches the thirst, stimulates the desire to be at them again, and improves the play.

Possibly the Wrykyn team had been happier in their choice of lemons on this occasion, for no sooner had the game been restarted than Clowes ran the whole length of the field, dodged through the three-quarters, punted over the back’s head, and scored a really …

That profound thinker, Mr. Tony Weller, was never so correct as in his views respecting the value of an alibi. There are few better things in an emergency.

XVII: The Watchers in the VaultRead from here
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“O’Hara and Moriarty? Really, I can’t remember. I know they left at about a quarter to seven.”

That profound thinker, Mr. Tony Weller, was never so correct as in his views respecting the value of an alibi. There are few better things in an emergency.

To smoke at school is to insult the divine weed.

XX: The Finding of the BatRead from here
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That anybody should dare to smoke in a house which was going to play in the final for the House Football Cup made him rage internally, and he proposed to make things bad and unrestful for such.

To smoke at school is to insult the divine weed.

When you are obliged to smoke in odd corners, fearing every moment that you will be discovered, the whole meaning, poetry, romance of a pipe vanishes, and you become like those lost beings who smoke when they are running to catch trains.

All quotes

Jump to a chapter
  1. II: The Gold Bat
  2. VI: Trevor Remains Firm
  3. X: Being a Chapter of Accidents
  4. XVI: The Ripton Match
  5. XVII: The Watchers in the Vault
  6. XX: The Finding of the Bat
  7. XXII: A Dress Rehearsal
  8. XXIII: What Renford Saw

II: The Gold Bat

He would have made a splendid actor: he was so good at resting.

Read from here
Show the passage

The indoor leg lacked a boot, so that it was evident that its owner had at least had the energy to begin to change. That he had given the thing up after that, exhausted with the effort, was what one naturally expected from Clowes.

He would have made a splendid actor: he was so good at resting.

“Hurry up and dress,” said Trevor; “I want you to come over to the baths.”

VI: Trevor Remains Firm

The most immediate effect of telling anybody not to do a thing is to make him do it, in order to assert his independence.

Read from here
Show the passage

The most immediate effect of telling anybody not to do a thing is to make him do it, in order to assert his independence.

Trevor’s first act on receipt of the letter was to include Barry in the team against the Town. It was what he would have done in any case, but, under the circumstances, he felt a peculiar pleasure in doing it.

X: Being a Chapter of Accidents

“Anyhow,” said Shoeblossom, as his footsteps died away, “we saved the sausages.”

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And Mr. Seymour stalked off to clean himself.

“Anyhow,” said Shoeblossom, as his footsteps died away, “we saved the sausages.”

It is this indomitable gift of looking on the bright side that makes us Englishmen what we are.

It is this indomitable gift of looking on the bright side that makes us Englishmen what we are.

Read from here
Show the passage

“Anyhow,” said Shoeblossom, as his footsteps died away, “we saved the sausages.”

It is this indomitable gift of looking on the bright side that makes us Englishmen what we are.

XVI: The Ripton Match

An excellent thing is your lemon at halftime. It cools the mouth, quenches the thirst, stimulates the desire to be at them again, and improves the play.

Read from here
Show the passage

During the interval there were lemons.

An excellent thing is your lemon at halftime. It cools the mouth, quenches the thirst, stimulates the desire to be at them again, and improves the play.

Possibly the Wrykyn team had been happier in their choice of lemons on this occasion, for no sooner had the game been restarted than Clowes ran the whole length of the field, dodged through the three-quarters, punted over the back’s head, and scored a really …

XVII: The Watchers in the Vault

That profound thinker, Mr. Tony Weller, was never so correct as in his views respecting the value of an alibi. There are few better things in an emergency.

Read from here
Show the passage

“O’Hara and Moriarty? Really, I can’t remember. I know they left at about a quarter to seven.”

That profound thinker, Mr. Tony Weller, was never so correct as in his views respecting the value of an alibi. There are few better things in an emergency.

XX: The Finding of the Bat

To smoke at school is to insult the divine weed.

Read from here
Show the passage

That anybody should dare to smoke in a house which was going to play in the final for the House Football Cup made him rage internally, and he proposed to make things bad and unrestful for such.

To smoke at school is to insult the divine weed.

When you are obliged to smoke in odd corners, fearing every moment that you will be discovered, the whole meaning, poetry, romance of a pipe vanishes, and you become like those lost beings who smoke when they are running to catch trains.

XXII: A Dress Rehearsal

“I must say I’ve got a nice, cheery, comforting lot of friends,” he said.

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Trevor gave a rather annoyed laugh.

“I must say I’ve got a nice, cheery, comforting lot of friends,” he said.

“That’s just what Clowes has been trying to explain to me.”

XXIII: What Renford Saw

“I wish,” said Harvey, his voice full of acute regret, “that it had been my turn to feed those ferrets.”

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“Shouldn’t think so,” said Harvey. “They never do make rows about fights, and neither of them is a prefect, so I don’t see what it matters if they do fight. But, I say—”

“I wish,” said Harvey, his voice full of acute regret, “that it had been my turn to feed those ferrets.”

“I don’t,” said Renford cheerfully. “I wouldn’t have missed that mill for something. Hullo, there’s the bell. We’d better run.”

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