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Shawords

Quote#Humour & Wit

The days and weeks of screwed-up smiles and laboured courtesy, the…

Quote byRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury · 1830–1903

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: On canvassing for election; 'The Faction-Fights', Bentley's Quarterly Review, vol. II (March & July 1859), p. 355.

English (original)

The days and weeks of screwed-up smiles and laboured courtesy, the mock geniality, the hearty shake of the filthy hand, the chuckling reply that must be made to the coarse joke, the loathsome, choking compliment that must be paid to the grimy wife and sluttish daughter, the indispensable flattery of the vilest religious prejudices, the wholesale deglutition of hypocritical pledges.

— Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

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