Take care of the pence and the pounds – and the counterquotes will take care of themselves

FAMOUS PENCE AND POUNDS QUOTE: “Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.”         William Lowndes (1652-1724)         British politician        Quoted by Lord Chesterfield in a letter to his son, Feb. 5, 1750

PANSIES AND POUNDS QUOTE: “Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound brought his boat in...and Noel [Coward] and friends — Doris Casterlosse, Ivor Novello, Douglas Fairbanks and Lady Ashley — went aboard for parties. Lady Casterlosse and Coward were given an open guest list by Sir Dudley and Lady Pound for one party. Casterlosse confided, ‘Noel, I have a dreadful feeling we've asked too many queer people.’ Coward reassured her, ‘If we take care of the pansies, the Pounds will take care of themselves.’”        British playwright and composer Noël Coward (1899-1973)         Anecdote from Noël Coward: A Biography, by Philip Hoare (1998)

LUXURIES AND NECESSITIES QUOTE: “Take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves.”        Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)        American writer and critic        Attributed quip (also attributed to Oscar Wilde)

PEONIES AND DAHLIAS QUOTE: “Take care of the peonies and the dahlias will take care of themselves.”        Franklin P. Adams (1881-1960)        American writer and avid gardener        When asked about the prized dahlias in his garden

BEGINNING AND END QUOTE: “A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. That is the heart of it. Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself.”        Harlan Ellison (b. 1943)        American author and screenwriter        In his famous non-linear story,          “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman (1965)

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