27 Famous Quotes About London that are True, and 17 That are Total Lies

There are countless quotes about London, from politicians to musicians to authors. Some have stood the test of time, and some London quotes just don’t hold up to life in today’s Capital.

Here are 27 quotes about London that are accurate, and 17 quotes about London that are total lies (from my personal opinion as a longtime Londoner).

This post contains affiliate links. See my full affiliate disclosure here.

London Quotes That are 100% Accurate

“There’s nowhere else like London. Nothing at all, anywhere.”
– Vivienne Westwood

This is the premise of so many London Instagram captions, but Vivienne Westwood says it simply and plainly here. London is totally unique, and it has something that we just can’t get enough of. If you know, you know!

“Fragmentarily the City is nothing, but collectively it is gigantic…”
– Charlotte Riddell

Charlotte Riddell was a popular Irish novelist and author, and her quote about London rings just as true as in the Victorian period in which she lived. It’s impossible to take in London all at once; you can only do it piece by piece and neighborhood by neighborhood.

“London is a friend whom I can leave knowing without doubt that she will be the same to me when I return, to-morrow or forty years hence, and that, if I do not return, she will sing the same song to inheritors of my happy lot in future generations.”
– Stella Benson

As someone who has lived in London twice, I can say firsthand that this quote about London is deeply accurate. Returning after my 5 year jaunt back to America, London was exactly the same.

The business change, and friends come and go, but London – as she has stood for over a thousand years – stays the same.

“It is difficult to speak adequately or justly of London. It is not a pleasant place; it is not agreeable, or cheerful, or easy, or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent.”
-Henry James

Henry James – great British-American author of such classics as The Turn of The Screw – captured so much in this London quote. What he wrote about London in the Victorian period is just as true today.

London is not an easy place to live, but it is spectacular. It’s not simple to describe why we live here when it’s difficult, and dirty, and expensive, and sometimes depressing. But it’s because of those moments of breathtaking London experiences that fuel us and give us life, and we gasp for more.

“In this city 300 languages are spoken and the people that speak them live side by side in harmony. This city typifies what I believe is the future of the human race and a future where we grow together and we share and we learn from each other.”
– Ken Livingstone

The former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone summarizes London really well in this quote. Coming from America, which is more segregated, hateful, and polarized, London is a breath of fresh air.

You can experience every culture and every language, and all of these different people live side by side. It’s truly miraculous in our increasingly divided society.

“London is a cluster of communities, great and small, famous and unsung; a city of contrasts, a congregation of diversity.”
– Roy Porter

This London quote by historian Roy Porter echoes what Ken Livingstone said: London is at once a cluster of different communities, and one symbiotic being.

“In London, everyone is different, and that means anyone can fit in.”
– Paddington Bear

A quote about London from a fictional bear says it really well: no matter who you are, what you’re into, what you love or who you love, you can find your place in London.

“London opens to you like a novel itself… It is divided into chapters, the chapters into scenes, the scenes into sentences; it opens to you like a series of rooms, doors and passages. Mayfair to Piccadilly to Soho to the Strand.”
– Anna Quindlen

American author Anna Quindlen summarizes the experience of London splendidly. You can’t see it all at once, or take it all in in one piece. Everytime you walk out the door you’ll get something different, and each neighborhood offers something new.

“If you’re curious, London’s an amazing place.”
– David Bailey

David Bailey, an English fashion and portrait photographer, sees London through the lens of curiosity. You don’t have to be curious to enjoy London, but if you are, you’ll reap the rewards.

London is so layered with history and culture that a little curiosity goes a long way!

“I long to go through the crowded streets of your mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is.”
-Bram Stoker, Dracula

This quote about London from horror classic Dracula says what so many people feel about life in big cities. We love the hustle and bustle, the size, the anonymity. It’s something that small town life just can’t provide.

What’s really interesting about this quote is that Dracula is trying to get himself to London in order to have a larger selection of victims…so it’s taken out of context for sure!

“London is a bad habit one hates to lose.”
– William Sansom

William Sansom, 20th century writer of short stories and poems, captures so much in this short London quote. London is indeed a bad habit – for our wallet, our mental health, and sometimes our physical health. But oh, she is is magnificent and addicting.

“I came to London. It had become the center of my world and I had worked hard to come to it.”
– V. S. Naipaul

So many people work incredibly hard to come to London, and even harder to stay. V. S. Naipaul, a Trinidadian author, knew this firsthand as he settled here in the 20th century.

“London always reminds me of a brain. It is similarly convoluted and circuitous. A lot of cities, especially American ones like New York and Chicago, are laid out in straight lines. Like the circuits on computer chips, there are a lot of right angles in cities like this. But London is a glorious mess.”
-James Geary

James Geary is an American writer and journalist, so he knows (just like us American expats in London) how little sense London streets make. They curve and bend, changing names and postcodes in the blink of an eye.

But how lovely to wander the streets of London and find something new every time! And all the history to be seen here under every brick; that’s something you can’t find in America.

“I have often amused myself with thinking how different a place London is to different people.”
-James Boswell

I often wonder about this quote from 18th century Scottish biographer James Boswell when I hear people say that they hate London. Personally, I am in love with this city. But so many others find it too difficult, or messy, or unappealing. What do they see in London that I don’t?

“You are now / In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow / At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore / Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more / Yet in its depth what treasures!”
-Percy Bysshe Shelley

This London quote summarizes this city so incredibly well, you’d never know it was written about Victorian London except for the prose.

Percy Shelley – who famously proposed to his wife Mary Shelley in a graveyard in London – summarizes life in london so well with ocean imagery like “ebb and flow,” “wrecks,” and “depths.”

London is massive, and messy, and heartbreaking, and difficult. Yet there are so many rewards to be found on every street, it’s hard to stay mad at London.

‘The truth is, that in London it is always a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be.”
-Jane Austen

Still true today, even when the air is much cleaner than in Austen’s era. Viruses spread like wildfire here.

Trust me, I have a toddler growing up in London.

“Nothing is certain in London but expense.”
-William Shenstone

100% accurate. No notes.

“London, London, London town / You can toughen up or get thrown around.”
-Kano

The only truth I would add is: you can make more money or get thrown out. But this quote from East Ham-born rapper Kano is totally accurate!

“Oh, I love London society! It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just what society should be.”
-Benjamin Disraeli

19th century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli probably ran with a different crowd than I do. I find that today the weirdos in London tend to keep that part of their identify well hidden.

But the ones who fly their freak flags high, even on the tube? Those are your friends for life. You can find your lovely weirdos here, it just takes some time.

quotes about london: “One of the things I most liked about the city – apart from all its obvious attractions, the theatre, the galleries, the exhilarating walks by the river – was that so few people ever asked you personal questions.” Julia Gregson

“One of the things I most liked about the city – apart from all its obvious attractions, the theatre, the galleries, the exhilarating walks by the river – was that so few people ever asked you personal questions.”
-Julia Gregson

I think of London as the most anonymous city in the world, and I love London for exactly this reason. Strangers don’t usually talk to strangers, or call attention to themselves, and small talk consists of only “you alright?” It’s a great city for introverts like me!

“You might laugh, you might frown / Walkin’ round London town / Sun is in the sky oh why oh why? / Would I wanna be anywhere else.”
– Lily Allen, LDN

Why do people keep coming back to London, even though it abuses our wallets and our mental health? Because there’s nowhere else like it.

Those who really love London – and would never want to live anywhere else – accept this fact. We surrender to the all-powerful being that is this inescapable, inevitable city.

“Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner / That I love London so / Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner / That I think of her wherever I go / I get a funny feeling inside of me / Just walking up and down / Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner / That I love London town.”
– Hubert Gregg, Maybe It’s Because I’m A Londoner

Songwriter and BBC broadcaster Hubert Gregg was in the know. Those of use who live here know that there is nowhere else we’ll be happy.

“It is not the walls that make the city, but the people who live within them. The walls of London may be battered, but the spirit of the Londoner stands resolute and undismayed.”
-King George VI

One of my best London girlfriends was in a black cab near London Bridge on June 3rd, 2017. She got an alert on her phone, and told the driver what was happening, as they were headed in that direction.

“Blimey,” the driver said, shrugging, and carried on toward the attack. That’s the attitude of Londoners, and I think it harkens back to the old mantra of “Keep Calm And Carry On” of WWII days. Londoners are indeed undismayed by everything.

The only time I ever saw true emotion from a Londoner was the day the Queen died last year. An old lady was crying on the bus (very quietly, so as to not attract any attention to herself).

“I’ve been walking about London for the last 30 years, and I find something fresh in it every day.”
– Walter Besant, 19th-century novelist and historian

You could walk the same streets everyday and still notice a small detail you’ve never seen before. London is deeply layered, and there’s so many new things to see and do all the time.

“London is a modern Babylon.”
– Benjamin Disraeli

It really is! It feels like the centre of the world; the only place to be; where you can find everything and everyone.

quotes about london: "i like this great spirit of London which I feel around me" Charlotte Bronte

“I like the spirit of this great London which I feel around me.”
-Charlotte Bronte

This is what it comes down to: either you understand the magic of London and you need it in your life, or you’ll never understand it. This is the spirit of London, and some of us get hooked on it immediately.

“London’s greatest strength is our diversity.”
– Sadiq Khan

It truly is. Immigrants make this incredible city what it is, and if we could celebrate that financially and not just in spirit, it would be even better.

Famous Quotes About London that Are Total Lies

Some London quotes don’t stand the test of time, or they were never true to begin with.

Let’s look at some quotes about London that don’t hold true today.

quotes about london by Ben Aaronivitch, author of the Rivers of London series

“My Dad says that being a Londoner has nothing to do with where you’re born. He says that there are people who get off a jumbo jet at Heathrow, go through immigration waving any kind of passport, hop on the tube and by the time the train’s pulled into Piccadilly Circus they’ve become a Londoner.”
– Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London book series

I love Ben Aaronovitch and his fantastic Rivers of London books, but you don’t become a Londoner until you can’t make rent, get on the wrong branch of the Northern Line, and get drunk and eat a kebab that gives you food poisoning worse than any hangover.

“London is a roost for every bird.”
– Benjamin Disraeli

I disagree, Mr. Disraeli. London isn’t for everyone. You need a strong will and a strong wallet to stay here. But if you can make it – and if you really, truly love it here – you can find your people.

“You will recognise, my boy, the first sign of old age: it is when you go out into the streets of London and realise for the first time how young the policemen look.”
– Sir Seymour Hicks

Nope. The first sign of old age is when you’re getting passed by a pram, or mistakenly stand on the left, or need priority seating on the bus. I can’t wait to grow old here!

P.s…the coppers do look like teeny children, though.

“One thing about London is that when you step out into the night, it swallows you.”
– Sebastian Faulks

London doesn’t swallow you – it’s a very safe city for a major metropolitan area. What it swallows is pounds. They just seem to disappear from your account the moment you step outside.

“There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it and it’s filled with people who are filled with shit and it goes by the name of London.”
–Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd

As much as I love Sweeney Todd, this is a rather pessimistic view of London! But it’s probably accurate for the time period in which the show is set. I honestly believe that most people in London are nice. They just come off as rude and brusque.

Maybe Sweeney Todd is just singing about people in Chelsea in this verse…

“The Thames is no ordinary waterway, it is the golden thread of our nation’s history.”
– Winston Churchill

The Thames truly defines London and the history of Britain, but there’s nothing “golden” about it.

It’s a gross murky green, and it’s full of bodies and centuries upon centuries of waste, and shipwrecks, and hidden dangers, and nightmare fuel.

“The Thames is liquid history.”
– John Burns

John Burns – famous politician of the mid-to-late Victorian era- was born during the great stink of 1958, so I suppose it’s not his fault he doesn’t get the joke? At that period in time, the Thames was liquid sewage and corpses.

“There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear – the city of London and the South Seas.”
-Herman Melville

Herman Melville – author of classics such as Moby Dick – wasn’t around in the world of CCTV, so I’ll forgive him this one.

You are literally on camera everywhere you go in London these days! To disappear would not be easy, though he’s right that it’s such an anonymous city – you don’t need to utter a word to anyone if you don’t feel like it.

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
-Samuel Johnson

Probably the most famous quote about London, and it’s partly true. But what I think is more accurate is that if you’re tired of London, it may be time to leave.

There is so much to discover here in every alleyway and every street; there are endless things to do. But this city can and will wear you down, so if you’re truly tired of it, it may be time to move on.

“I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air — or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.”
–Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sure, London has “loungers and idlers,” but that mostly comes from this city’s huge generational wealth. The rest of us work our asses off to have the privilege to be here!

“A person who is tired of London is not necessarily tired of life; it might be that he just can’t find a parking place.”
– Paul Theroux

If you own a car in London, it’s your own fault you can’t find a place to park. Just saying.

“The streets of London have their map, but our passions are uncharted. What are you going to meet if you turn this corner?”
– Virginia Woolf

You’re probably going to meet a pile of dog shit if you don’t watch where you’re going. And who has time for passions? We need to make rent.

No offense, Miss Woolf. Love your work.

“It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.”
–Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

Does Conan Doyle remember the notorious streets of London in his day? Streets policemen wouldn’t dare walk down unless they were in pairs? Streets where a serial killer murdered sex workers and never got caught? I don’t think the ‘smiling and beautiful countryside’ has much on Victorian London in terms of “sin.”

Today, however? Pretty accurate.

“When there are things that don’t go according to plan, London will cope.”
– Jeremy Hunt

Except when there is a tube strike. We don’t cope with that very well.

“The best bribe which London offers to-day to the imagination, is, that, in such a vast variety of people and conditions, one can believe there is room for persons of romantic character to exist, and that the poet, the mystic, and the hero may hope to confront their counterparts.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poets and mystics can’t even afford to live in Ealing, so I doubt you’ll meet them in London. You can certainly try, though. The diversity sentiment is accurate, however.