An Englishman's Castle

Kim du Toit - Daily Rant quotes:

"Every time someone mentions the word 'culture', I reach for my pistol." - Herman Goering

Ouch - whenever this is misquoted it pains me.

Goering is reputed to have said : "Every time someone mentions the word 'culture', I reach for my Browning." Note the pun of Browning the Poet and the gunmaker.

But actually the full quotation is: "Wenn ich Kultur höre ... entsichere ich meinen Browning." It comes from Hanns Johst's most famous play, Schlageter (first performed in April 1933, for Hitler's birthday) and occurs in Act 1, Scene 1. The character who says the line is called Thiemann.

This is usually translated as "Whenever I hear the word culture... I release the safety-catch of my Browning!"