W. C. Fields, pseudônimo de William Claude Dukenfield, foi um humorista e ator estadunidense.
No cinema, foi um dos criadores mais inventivos da comédia burlesca e era conhecido por seu mau humor .
Wikipedia
“Sou livre de qualquer preconceito. Odeio todo mundo, indistintamente.”
I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.
citado em "Saturday review": Volume 50 - página 19, Bernard Augustine De Voto - Saturday Review Associates, 1967
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“Os ricos não passam de pobres com dinheiro.”
A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.
citado em "The Numismatist": Volume 69 - página 883, American Numismatic Association - 1956
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“Leio a Bíblia em busca de brechas.”
I'm looking for loopholes.
relatado um amigo, visitando WC Fields pouco antes de sua morte, encontrando-o sentado no jardim a ler a Bíblia; conforme mencionado em "The Illustrated weekly of India": Volume 83,Edição 2 - página 60, 1962
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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it.
citado em "Chemical and engineering news": Volume 28 - página 368, American Chemical Society - 1949
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“Um homem que detesta crianças e cachorros não pode ser mau de todo.”
any man who hates dogs and little children can't be all bad
citado em "Lost in the horse latitudes": Edição 1132 - página 192, Harry Allen Smith - Doubleday, Doran & company, inc., 1944 - 224 páginas
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“Preferia estar vivo, nem que fosse em Filadélfia.”
I would rather be in Philadelphia
instruções de WC Field, para sua lápide, conforme citado em "New scientist": Volume 78 - página 247, New Science Publications, 1978
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“Este mundo está se tornando tão perigoso que um sujeito pode se dar por feliz se sair dele vivo.”
The world is a very dangerous place. You're lucky if you get out of it alive.
citado em "Where he went: three novels" - página 46, Robert Paul Smith - Viking Press, 1958 - 338 páginas
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“Não me importo de ser levado a beber. O que me preocupa é ser levado para casa.”
I never worry about being driven to drink; I just worry about being driven home
citado em "20,000 quips & quotes" - Página 438, Evan Esar - Barnes & Noble Publishing, 1995, ISBN 1566195292, 9781566195294 - 908 páginas
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“(Ao ser perguntado por que nunca bebia água): Peixes fodem nela.”
Don't drink the water, fish fuck in it
citado em "The Feeding web: issues in nutritional ecology" - página 174, Joan Dye Gussow - Bull Pub. Co., 1978, ISBN 0915950146, 97809159501401978 - 457 páginas
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“Não há homem vivo que nunca quiz de dar um chute na bunda de um guri, pelo menos uma vez na vida.”
There's not a man alive who hasn't wanted to boot a kid at least once in his life!'
citado em "Scene, channel 2 and 17": Volumes 11-12 - página 9, Twin City Area Educational Television Corporation (Saint Paul, Minn.), KTCA-TV (Television station : Saint Paul, Minn.) - Twin City Area Educational Television Corp., 1985
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“Sorria assim que acordar. Livre-se logo dessa obrigação.”
Start every day with a smile and get it over with.
citado em "American opinion": Volume 28 - página 19, Robert Welch, Inc., 1985
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“Here lies W. C. Fields. I would rather be living in Philadelphia.”
This was an epitaph Fields proposed for himself in a 1925 article in Vanity Fair. It refers to his long standing jokes about Philadelphia (his actual birthplace), and the grave being one place he might actually not prefer to be. This is often repeated as "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia.", or "All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia." which he might have stated at other times. It has also sometimes been distorted into a final dig at Philadelphia: "Better here than in Philadelphia." Fields' actual tomb at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California simply reads "W. C. Fields 1880–1946".
“Never give a sucker an even break.”
According to Collier's (28 November 1925), Fields is said to have used this line as early as 1923 in the musical comedy play Poppy. It became the title of one of his films in 1941 (and Fields' character also spoke this line in the sound film version of Poppy [1938] and in You Can't Cheat an Honest Man [1940]).
“I'd rather have two girls at twenty-one each, than one girl at forty-two.”
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1940)
To a waitress, in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
“She's all dressed up like a well-kept grave.”
In reference to Jan Duggan's character in The Old Fashioned Way (1934)
“And it ain't a fit night out for man nor beast.”
The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933). Fields adapts an English proverb that was popular in the 17th century. (James Howell, English Proverbs (1659): "When the wind is in the east it is good for neither man nor beast"; John Ray, English Proverbs (1670): "When the wind's in the East, It's neither good for man nor beast." In rhyming "east" with "beast" the proverb refers to weather patterns in the British isles.)
“Mr. Fields, could you tell me the reason for your well-known aversion to water?” “Delighted, my dear,” he replied with suddenly increased bonhomie. “Never touch the stuff—very unhealthy. Fish fuck in it.”
Fonte: Halliwell’s Hundred: A filmgoer’s nostalgic choice of films from the golden age By Leslie Halliwell, New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons 1982, Pg. 231: "The story goes that a polite young lady journalist invited him to lunch at Chasen’s in hope of a story. Lunch in his case was a liquid affair, and left him uncommunicative. Noticing the passion with which he shooed away the hovering waiter with the ice water jug, she seized an opening. “Mr. Fields, could you tell me the reason for your well-known aversion to water?” “Delighted, my dear,” he replied with suddenly increased bonhomie. “Never touch the stuff—very unhealthy. Fish fuck in it.”
As quoted in "One Word More: Liberalism Can Be a Bit Confusing" by Ralph McGill, in The Atlanta Constitution (14 August 1938)