George MikesHumility is one of the most repulsive virtues, nearly always false. ✨ George Mikes (1970). The land of the rising yen: Japan, Harvard Common Press371Reading
George MikesBargaining is a repulsive habit; compromise is one of the highest human virtues - the difference between the two being that the first is practised on the Continent, the latter in … ▶361Humanity
George MikesTelevision is of great educational value. It teaches you while still young how to (a) kill, (b) rob, (c) embezzle, (d) shoot, (e) poison, and, generally speaking, (f) how to grow … ▶362PoliticsTime
George MikesAustralia objects to the mini-skirt not on moral but on economic grounds. Australians are no prudes and the lovely, healthy, sporty Australian girls have no reason to hide their k… ▶352Love
George MikesContinental people have a sex life; the English have hot-water bottles. ✨ How to Be an Alien (1946)374HumanityLife
George MikesTHE British are brave people. They can face anything, except reality.354HumanityTruth
George MikesTo be extravagant you need money. True. But you do not need your own money. ✨ George Mikes (1983). How to be poor, A. Deutsch and M. Sutkiewicz Pub.366Truth
George MikesThe trouble with tea is that originally it was quite a good drink. So a group of the most eminent British scientists put their heads together and made complicated biological exper… ▶378Reading
George MikesAlthough the rudiments of snobbery are there, its finer developments are basically alien to the Australian soul - that is, if Australians have a soul; many people believe that the… ▶314HumanityTruth
George MikesAn Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one. ✨ 'How to be an Alien' (1946) p. 44315Thought
George MikesWhat beefsteak is to Argentina, flamenco to Spain, cool reserve and self-control in all situations to an Englishman, what vodka is to a Russian and beer to a Bavarian, what money … ▶348LifeSadness
George MikesThe world still consists of two clearly divided groups: the English and the foreigners. One group consists of less than 50 million people; the other of 3,950 million. The latter g… ▶294Humanity
George MikesYou can keep a dog: but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals.317Humanity
George MikesIn England only uneducated people show off their knowledge; nobody quotes Latin or Greek authors in the course of conversation, unless he has never read them. ✨ George Mikes… ▶274HumanityReading
George MikesRich people (in Australia) have swimming pools in their gardens but, at least, they do swim in them.256Humanity
George MikesIn England it is bad manners to be clever, to assert something confidently. It may be your own personal view that two and two make four, but you must not state it in a self-assure… ▶192Politics
George MikesRemember that those five hundred words an average Englishman uses are far from being the whole vocabulary of the language. You may learn another five hundred and another five thou… ▶162Humor
George MikesMany Continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game. ✨ 1946 How to be an Alien.206LifeThought
George MikesAustralians are decent people with the right instincts and they wish everybody well; but if all is not well, it is none of their business and they will not lose too much sleep ove… ▶174Humanity
George MikesA couple from Sydney or Melbourne might leave on the same day for their holiday: the wife might go sun-bathing at Surfers Paradise, in Queensland, the husband ski-ing in the Snowy… ▶218Time
George MikesWhen people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles, - but never England. ✨ George Mikes (1973). How to be … ▶196HumanityReadingTime
George MikesThe Art of Conversation could not die in Australia; it never lived. Television did not kill it; there was nothing there to kill.186Death
George MikesJokes are better than war. Even the most aggressive jokes are better than the least aggressive wars. Even the longest jokes are better than the shortest wars. ✨ George Mikes… ▶176Humor
George MikesTravel' is the name of a modern disease which became rampant in themid-fifties and is still spreading. The disease - its scientific name is travelitis furiosus - is carried by a g… ▶144Reading
George MikesThere are many non-intellectual countries; Australia is one of the few anti-intellectual ones.155Politics
George MikesI have often thought that the aim of port is to give you a good and durable hangover, so that during the next day you should be reminded of the splendid occasion the night before.167Thought
George MikesIn the field of snobbery, Australia is an underdeveloped country; even a few British ex-colonies, regarded as under developed in all other respects, could export a great deal of s… ▶1910Life
George MikesOn the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners. ✨ How to Be an Alien (1946)167Humanity
George MikesThe man who is not afraid of danger is not a hero, but a psychopath.1710Life
George MikesIt was decided almost two hundred years ago that English should be the language spoken in the United States. It is not known, however, why this decision has not been carried out.147Politics
