Link Copied!
Stephen Fry Quotes (1957-)
Actor, Writer, Director
About Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born August 24, 1957) is a British writer, comedian, actor, broadcaster and director.
Best Stephen Fry Quotes
Shortest
Earliest
Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Stephen Fry quotes.
βGreasy, miserable, British and patheticβ
βPathetic, naive, like small noisy tantrums.β
βWit can be beautiful, because it expresses and distils an idea.β
βAn original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them.β
βI don't need you to remind me of my age, I have a bladder to do that for me.β
βHe takes coke and has slept with a prostitute - but he's a TV presenter for God's sake!β
βShe has a very intense poetic mind. That's what makes it β that voice that comes in.β
βIt is a clichΓ© that most clichΓ©s are true, but then like most clichΓ©s, that clichΓ© is untrue.β
βMy vocal cords are made of tweed. I give off an air of Oxford donnishness and old BBC wirelesses.β
βLife, that can shower you with so much splendour, is unremittingly cruel to those who have given up.β
βA cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that isn't there.β
βMy mother has an absolute passion for sour fruit and can strip a gooseberry bush quicker than a priest can strip a choirboy.β
βMy first words, as I was being born... I looked up at my mother and said, "that's the last time I'm coming out one of those."β
βI gather a repulsive nobody writing in a paper no one of any decency would be seen dead with has written something loathesome and inhumane.β
βI have to mime at parties when everyone sings Happy Birthday . . . mime or mumble and rumble and growl and grunt so deep that only moles, manta rays and mushrooms can hear me.β
βDacre is, all those who have had the misfortune to work for him assure me, just about as loathsome, self-regarding, morally putrid, vengeful and disgusting a man as it possible to be.β
βGod once had Bach and Michelangelo on his side, he had Mozart, and now who does he have? People with ginger whiskers and tinted spectacles who reduce the glories of theology to a kind of sharing.β
βI think it was Horry Walpole who remarked, βIn this life one should try everything once except incest and country dancing.β It is an excellent rule, as I remarked to my mother in bed last night.β
βIt's now very common to hear people say, "I'm rather offended by that", as if that gives them certain rights. It's no more than a whine. It has no meaning, it has no purpose, it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. "I'm offended by that." Well, so fucking what?β
Stephen Fry Quotes by Topic
Find exactly what you are looking for by browsing this categorized list of Stephen Fry quotes by topic.
Stephen Fry on Catholic Church 3 quotes
ββExtra Ecclesiam nulla salusβ. Outside the church, there is no salvation. That is a dogma that has been used to excuse all the missionary zeal. All the rape and torture of the Aztecs and the Incas. All the horrors of South America and Africa and the Philippines. And the rest of the world. To which other churches and other cultures have also their guilt to admit. Itβs not unique to the Catholic Church and I never said it was.β
Stephen Fry on Alternative medicine 2 quotes
βAlternative medicine people call themselves "holistic" and say it's the "whole" approach. Well, if it's the whole approach, let it be the mind as well. Use logic, use sense, use the incredible five wits you were given by creation.β
Stephen Fry on Cheese
βCheese is the celebration of milk when it goes 'off' big-time-stylee.β
Stephen Fry on Homeopathy
βThe powers of the placebo are so strong that it may be morally wrong to call homeopathy a lie because the moment you say it then a placebo falls to pieces and loses its power.β
Stephen Fry on Placebo effect
βThe powers of the placebo are so strong that it may be morally wrong to call homeopathy a lie because the moment you say it then a placebo falls to pieces and loses its power.β
Stephen Fry on Choriamb
βRupert Brooke experimented with accentual versions of choriambs, ... Brooke came up with lines like Light-foot dance in the woods, whisper of life, woo me to wayfaringβ
Stephen Fry on The Da Vinci Code
βWe were apparently rather resistant to the idea of destroying witches in England, unlike views espoused in so-called books β and I use the word "book" very loosely β like The Da Vinci Code. [pretends to spit in disgust] It is complete loose stool water. It is arse-gravy of the worst kind.β
Stephen Fry on Witchcraft
βWe were apparently rather resistant to the idea of destroying witches in England, unlike views espoused in so-called books β and I use the word "book" very loosely β like The Da Vinci Code. [pretends to spit in disgust] It is complete loose stool water. It is arse-gravy of the worst kind.β
Stephen Fry on Narcissism
βPerhaps narcissism is best defined as a need to look on other people as mirrored surfaces who satisfy us only when they reflect back a loving or admiring image of ourselves. When we look into another's eyes, in other words, we are not looking to see who they are, but how we are reflected in their eyes. By this definition, which of us can honestly disown our share of narcissism?β
Stephen Fry on Decoration
βAt the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth, stepped back from the tree and listened. There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision.β
Stephen Fry on Energy
βThe real key word that triggers my rage is the word "energy". When people start talking about positive or negative types, for instance, negative energy β what are you talking about? What do you mean? Let's think about it, what does energy mean? Well, we know what it means, you know, energy from petrol when it's burned and moves a car and makes it move, it's like this. "This room has positive energy." Now, where the fuck is it going, then? It's not moving. It's covering up such woolly thinking, such pathetic nonsense.β
Stephen Fry on Sexuality
βItβs the strange thing about this church, it is obsessed with sex, absolutely obsessed. Now, they will say we with our permissive society and our rude jokes, we are obsessed. No, we have a healthy attitude, we like it, itβs fun, itβs jolly, because itβs a primary impulse it can be dangerous and dark and difficult, itβs a bit like food in that respect only even more exciting. The only people who are obsessed with food are anorexics and the morbidly obese, and that in erotic terms is the Catholic Church in a nutshell.β
What Stephen Fry Said About Others
Discover personal opinions Stephen Fry shared regarding contemporaries.
Stephen Fry on Peter Cook 3 quotes
βThe funniest man who ever drew breath.β
Stephen Fry on Kate Bush 2 quotes
βShe has a very intense poetic mind. That's what makes it β that voice that comes in.β
Stephen Fry on Rik Mayall
βSimply distraught to hear of the death of Rik Mayall. An authentic comedy genius and a prince among men.β
Stephen Fry on William Saroyan
βHe is one of the most underrated writers of the century. He takes his place naturally alongside Hemingway, Steinbeck and Faulkner.β
Stephen Fry on Jair Bolsonaro
βThat must rank amongst the strangest and most chilling encounters I've ever experienced. Bolsonaro is typical of homophobes I've met all over the world with their mantras that gays are out to take over society, recruit children or abuse them. Even in a progressive country like Brazil their lies create hysteria amongst the uneducated from which violence can grow that can end in brutal attacks like the one that killed Alexandre Ivo.β
About Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born August 24, 1957) is a British writer, comedian, actor, broadcaster and director.