Hundreds of new sayings recorded for posterity in Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

The latest edition, the eighth, is out today, with more than 700 new quotations and 200 new authors.

Editor Elizabeth Knowles said: “There has to be evidence that phrases are being quoted.

“One of the differences now is the existence of the internet – if a quotation catches the public attention it can go viral and a large number of people can encounter it very quickly. There are quite a lot of websites today featuring inspirational quotes – we all come to the point where someone else’s words express exactly what we want to say.”

• Among those quoted are Boris Johnson, above ("My policy on cake is still pro having it and pro eating it." ) and Lady GaGa, below ("Just trying to change the world one sequin at a time.)

One of the editor’s favourite newly discovered quotations is Charles Darwin’s: “I feel like an old warhorse at the sound of a trumpet when I read about the capturing of rare beetles.”

And one of her favourite quotations of all time is by Christa McAuliffe, who died in the 1986 Challenger disaster. She said: “I touch the future. I teach.”

“It’s very simple, very poignant,” said Ms Knowles.

The editor, who is single and has no children, has dedicated most of her working life to the Oxford English Dictionary. Ms Knowles, 67, joined OUP in Walton Street in 1977 and retired seven years ago, but remains editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

“I retired from employment but not from work,” said Ms Knowles, who read English at Exeter University.

She is in charge of the team researching and selecting new quotations for the dictionary, which first appeared in 1941.

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