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I am making slow but steady progress with this - just over half the clues done - but I am having difficulty in deciding which letters need entering round the perimeter as, in many cases, there is more than one possibility. The only perimeter word of which I am reasonably confident is "next" at the bottom of the right-hand column. Some guidance as to where the quote starts in the perimeter - top left corner? - and the word lengths in the quote ( if only for the first two or three words ) would be much appreciated.

Hi alwayspuzzled, "next" is actually the 1st word of the quotation which isn't in my copy of ODQ and starts (4,2,3,10 ....).
Hope this helps.

Many thanks for your help Ginge. I shall go back to this later. My OQD is the fifth edition so whether the quote will be there or not is anybody's guess.

I've solved 26 clues but have come to a halt and am nowhere near seeing a quotation.
I'd really appreciate a few hints on some of the clues in the bottom half:
32a One sadly inadequate abandoned by husband blending into the background (8)
34a Ancient duty previously for men close to here (9)
23d Williams's furniture - a little boring (8)
31d Tongue wagging host's carrying on (5)
Many thanks

This is a tough puzzle, not helped by having so many obscure words.

34a I have FORESTAGE (I can't quite parse it)
23d Shakespeare calls furniture "tire"
31d This is a language, an anagram of host and o.
32a I don't know this one either, bobbibunny, sorry.

I've got nowhere with the following if anyone can drop hints please (the clues are all normal):

7a Hanky short of length wrapping singular cosmetic ointment (5)
19a You'll find me in Derby perhaps wearing uniform (6)
13a Red force's hostilities only bolstering weak point (9)

Orson and Bobbibunny, I gave up on this puzzle, but 32 involved 'pathetic', apathetic - I can't remember the details!

I think 7a is a skin lotion

Hi all, both malone and chrisg are correct. I hadn't previously heard of the 5 letter word for hanky.
32a stag as in party, men only
19a Derby as in shoe
13a the definition is red and the "usual" abbreviation for hostilities only is part of the wordplay.
Hope this helps and I'll try to look in later.
Worth retrieving from the recycling malone, quite satisfying on completion.

Many thanks again Ginge. With your prompt I was able to find the quote and finish the puzzle. As others have said there are some obscure words - What would EV be without those? - but it is certainly worth persevering with.

I've finished but I cannot agree with those who say it is worth persevering with. At the end you get a quotation and inside the grid is the name of man who made it (3 words, each on a different line). But the feeling at the end is "so what"?

This puzzle has been nothing but a tedious slog. Far too many obscure words (a few are expected but not this many) and although Chambers is recommended in the preamble Oxymoron adds to the difficulty by not using the definition directly. For example, 25a is a gazelle (in Chambers) but then a gazelle is an antelope. 15d is a wharf, but then a wharf is a dock. 7a is not described as an ointment, etc.

BTW, the quote is not in ODQ but it is in my Collins Dictionary of Quotations (1995). It would have been nice if the preamble had mentioned this.

I think I'll give the next Oxymoron puzzle a miss.