I haven't seen the original yet, so I don't know the context, but I found this quote in a book I'm reading: Franklin: Have you ever though, Headmaster, that your standards might perhaps be a little out of date? Headmaster: Of course they're out of date. Standards always are out of date. That is what makes them standards. It's from Alan Bennett, "Forty Years On", Faber, London, 1969.