George Mikes
George Mikes
George Mikeswas a Hungarian-born British author best known for his humorous commentaries on various countries...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth15 February 1912
fun humorous america
It is great fun dying in the United States of America. It is great fun first of all for the undertakers who make a wonderful living out of it but also for the deceased who suddenly becomes the centre of attention and fuss.
drama humorous writing
American radio is the reverse of the Shakespearean stage. In Shakespeare's time the world's greatest dramas were acted with the most primitive technical arrangements; on the American air the world's most primitive writing is performed under perfect technical conditions.
may way criminals
A criminal may improve and become a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him.
humorous japan united-states
Japan is, you often feel, an improved version of the United States.
dirty humorous home
It is often said that the Japanese are extremely clean at home, or inside any house or office, but dirty and untidy outside. 'Go and look at a railway station,' I was told, 'and you'll be horrified.' I went and was horrified; horrified by the cleanliness of the place.
new-york humorous car
Nobody uses his car in New York, because so many people use it that traffic is congested and unbearably slow.
funny sports party
A great deal of the pupils time was spent going through, once again, the History of the Communist (Bolshevik) Party of the Soviet Union. He had learnt it at elementary school; at secondary school; at his sports club; at the Komsomol; at the university; at a folk dancing course; at the chess-club.
sarcastic country humorous
Was he joking? Was he being sarcastic? Aggressive? Impertinent? Or just courteous? There was no telling from his impassive face. What a country, he thought despairingly. In Russia you always knew. If a man made a stern face he was threatening; if he was laughing uproariously, he was joking.
humorous russia attention
In Moscow they do not pay much attention to the living but keep their cemeteries in a splendid state.
crowds pushing behaviour
A foreign observer is struck by our gentleness: by the orderly behaviour of the English crowds, the lack of pushing and quarrelling, the willingness to form queues.
language humour exquisite
The English take everything with an exquisite sense of humour. They are only offended if you tell them that they have no sense of humour.
funny war museums
Japan suffered terribly from the atomic bomb but never adopted a pose of moral superiority, implying: 'We would never have done it!' The Japanese know perfectly well they would have used it had they had it. They accept the idea that war is war; they give no quarter and accept none. Total war, they recognize, knows no Queensberry Rules. If you develop a devastating new weapon during a total war, you use it; you do not put it into the War Museum.
achievement stupidity goes-on
To have created a Welfare State was a great achievement; but we must go on to create a Welfare Planet.
country mean france
Prices in Italy are only slightly lower than in France, which means that Italy is a very expensive country for everyone, natives, visitors and tourists.