Quotes from Ben Elton

H]e was damned if he was going to water down his arguments simply to satisfy the preference of the mob for dogma and ignorance.

Kaiser's memorial church, along the Kantstrasse, where mobs of youths were starting

Tears began to fall on the notes Frieda

gothic nightmares.

It was not the first time people had taken a good square look at Armaggedon and decided that they would prefer it to happen to somebody else. Ever since Noah built the Ark, the seductive notion that it is possible to opt out, to stand on the sidelines whilst global cataclysm passess you by, has exercised a strong pull.

Her brave crusade was, put simply, to "woke" up the past. She did not simply wish to consign sexism to history. She wanted to remove sexism from history.

I threaten to kill lots of people. But it doesn't actually mean that in a tweet.' 'Mean what?' 'Mean that you actually want to kill them. It's more like "Oh, I disagree with you. Maybe you should think things through more", that sort of thing.

History is made by people. And the majority of people are arseholes. Which is I suppose why the majority of history has been so disastrous.

Britain's most talked-about and much-loved TV show was now linked irrevocably with the enablement of sexual abuse. Whether people agreed with that view or not was irrelevant.

Julian and his team of copy-writers had noted that the phrase 'Lest we forget' had so far been reserved for fallen soldiers. In minutes they had created a viral post accusing 'crazed trans multi-cultural zealots' of claiming that a dead transsexual was as much an English hero as the fighter pilots who had died during the Battle of Britain. Malika's algorithms then swiftly sent the message to the people most likely to be annoyed by it.

Toby was rendered momentarily speechless. Was the minister out of his mind? Was this man seriously suggesting that political debate should return to the days of actual discussion of the issues? Was he literally raving tonto?

With privilege comes responsibility, you must understand that. People expect us to lead by example and we shall not disappoint them.

Why do you still care about those people, Frieda?' he asked. 'Do they care about you?' 'Wolf, I'm a doctor. I do not require my commitment to be reciprocal.

He had his own YouTube channel and a track available on iTunes. That sort of life profile carries a lot of cultural capital in a room full of middle-class white people in a permanent state of agony over their privilege.

In my experience, if you look people in the eye they usually mind their own business

Matlock knew he should understand what that meant. He knew he should be able to work out what 'straight' meant when referring to a woman who was biologically male. He took a guess.

She spoke loudly in order to be heard above the noise of personal communitainers that were thudding and banging all around them. Some people used earphones, some didn't, clearly believing that as many people as possible should be given the opportunity to appreciate their musical taste. That, combined with the mass leakage from the headsets, created a terrible din and even discreet private conversations had to be conducted at a yell.

I thought we'd done with that. Who's the celebrity this time?' 'Samuel Pepys.

I want to convict Samuel Pepys in a court of law,' Cressida said, 'and I want that court to impose an appropriate, if theoretical, prison sentence on him.

Let's prove that humanity is basically made up of nasty, spiteful, self-interested, mean-spirited CUNTS. Whatever their gender or their precious fucking sexuality, they're all cunts. We're all cunts. Let's get out there and shatter the fucking rainbow!

ironies. Hubris, pride, comes before a fall. When

They were the Saturday Club, a secret society of which only the four of them were aware and which none other could join.

Professor Sengupta had the self-satisfied habit common to many academics of pretending an intellectual equality with his audience in order to happily demonstrate his own superiority.

Good, because words are important, Trafford. Clear thinking. Logic. Precision. Above all, understanding. You can understand nothing if words can mean anything.