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
travel names disease
Travel' 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 germ called prosperity.
art australia television
The Art of Conversation could not die in Australia; it never lived. Television did not kill it; there was nothing there to kill.
mean people kingdoms
When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles, - but never England.
country australia intellectual
There are many non-intellectual countries; Australia is one of the few anti-intellectual ones.
humorous cutting russia
When a wicked and unworthy subject annoyed the Sultan of Turkey or the Czar of Russia, he had his head cut of without much ceremony; but when the same happened in England, the monarch declared : "We are not amused".
girl australia healthy
Australia 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 knees and thighs. However, the mini-skirt is disastrous for the wool-trade.
tired home gay
You must not refuse any additional cups of tea under the following circumstances: if it is hot; if it is cold; if you are tired; if anybody thinks that you might be tired; if you are nervous; if you are gay; before you go out; if you are out; if you have just returned home; if you feel like it; if you do not feel like it; if you have had no tea for some time; if you have just had a cup.
liars dirty stories
If somebody tells you an obviously untrue story, on the Continent you would remark, "You are a liar, Sir, and a rather dirty one at that." In England you just say "Oh, is that so?" Or "That's rather an unusual story, isn't it?
years two decision
It 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.
queues form englishmen
An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.
dog cat
A dog will flatter you but you have to flatter the cat.
sports thinking cricket-match
Many Continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game.
growing-up educational school
Television 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 up into a Wild West outlaw or gangster by the time you leave school.
humility virtue
Humility is one of the most repulsive virtues, nearly always false.