What a strange… Leo Tolstoy

What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.

Leo Tolstoy

Russian mystic & novelist (1828 - 1910)

January 31st, 2008 - Posted in Leo Tolstoy | | 0 Comments

Those who welcome… Wilson Mizner

Those who welcome death have only tried it from the ears up.

Wilson Mizner

US screenwriter (1876 - 1933)

January 31st, 2008 - Posted in Wilson Mizner | | 0 Comments

The fascination of… P. G. Wodehouse

The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun.

P. G. Wodehouse

British humorist & novelist in US (1881 - 1975)

January 31st, 2008 - Posted in P. G. Wodehouse | | 0 Comments

Even holligans… Quentin Crisp

Even holligans marry, though they know that marriage is but for a little while. It is alimony that is forever.

Quentin Crisp

January 30th, 2008 - Posted in Quentin Crisp | | 0 Comments

It has been my… Abraham Lincoln

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

January 30th, 2008 - Posted in Abraham Lincoln | | 0 Comments

A ship in harbor is… John A. Shedd

A ship in harbor is safe— but that is not what ships are for.

John A. Shedd

January 30th, 2008 - Posted in John A. Shedd | | 0 Comments

If you talk to God,… Thomas Szasz

If you talk to God, you are praying; if God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.

Thomas Szasz

January 29th, 2008 - Posted in Thomas Szasz | | 0 Comments

Obscenity is what… Bertrand Russell

Obscenity is what happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate.

Bertrand Russell

British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)

January 29th, 2008 - Posted in Bertrand Russell | | 0 Comments

Ultimately, the… Elie Wiesel

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.

Elie Wiesel

US (Romanian-born) activist, novelist (1928 - )

January 29th, 2008 - Posted in Elie Wiesel | | 0 Comments

Facts are facts and… Jawaharlal Nehru

Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Indian politician (1889 - 1964)

January 28th, 2008 - Posted in Jawaharlal Nehru | | 0 Comments

A gourmet who… James Beard

A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.

James Beard

January 28th, 2008 - Posted in James Beard | | 0 Comments

The Pilgrim Fathers… (Anon.)

The Pilgrim Fathers landed on the shores of America and fell upon their knees. Then they fell upon the aborigines.

(Anon.)

January 28th, 2008 - Posted in Anon | | 0 Comments

Opera in English… H. L. Mencken

Opera in English is, in the main, just about as sensible as baseball in Italian.

H. L. Mencken

US editor (1880 - 1956)

January 27th, 2008 - Posted in H. L. Mencken | | 0 Comments

LOVE: A word… Henry Fielding

LOVE: A word properly applied to our delight in particular kinds of food; sometimes metaphorically spoken of the favorite objects of all our appetites.

Henry Fielding

English dramatist & novelist (1707 - 1754)

January 27th, 2008 - Posted in Henry Fielding | | 0 Comments

Gratitude is merely… La Rochefoucauld

Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.

La Rochefoucauld

January 27th, 2008 - Posted in La Rochefoucauld | | 0 Comments

Do it big or stay… Opera producer Larry Kelly

Do it big or stay in bed.

Opera producer Larry Kelly

January 26th, 2008 - Posted in Opera producer Larry Kelly | | 0 Comments

We often forgive… Francois De La Rochefoucauld

We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore.

Francois De La Rochefoucauld

French author & moralist (1613 - 1680)

January 26th, 2008 - Posted in Francois de La Rochefoucauld | | 0 Comments

On Thanksgiving Day… Unknown

On Thanksgiving Day all over America, families sit down to dinner at the same moment - halftime.

Unknown

Quotations by unknown authors

January 26th, 2008 - Posted in Unknown | | 0 Comments

The future is much… Don Quisenberry

The future is much like the present, only longer.

Don Quisenberry

January 25th, 2008 - Posted in Don Quisenberry | | 0 Comments

A person is never… Anatole France

A person is never happy except at the price of some ignorance.

Anatole France

French novelist (1844 - 1924)

January 25th, 2008 - Posted in Anatole France | | 0 Comments

When it is a… Voltaire

When it is a question of money, everyone is of the same religion.

Voltaire

French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 - 1778)

January 25th, 2008 - Posted in Voltaire | | 0 Comments

Most of our future… Denny Crum

Most of our future lies ahead.

Denny Crum, Louisville basketball coach

January 24th, 2008 - Posted in Denny Crum | | 0 Comments

It is time I… Professor Scott Elledge on his retirement from Cornell

It is time I stepped aside for a less experienced and less able man.

Professor Scott Elledge on his retirement from Cornell

January 24th, 2008 - Posted in Professor Scott Elledge on his retirement from Cornell | | 0 Comments

A bachelor is a… Don Quinn

A bachelor is a selfish, undeserving guy who has cheated some woman out of a divorce.

Don Quinn

January 24th, 2008 - Posted in Don Quinn | | 0 Comments

Man is the only… Samuel Butler

Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.

Samuel Butler

English composer, novelist, & satiric author (1835 - 1902)

January 24th, 2008 - Posted in Samuel Butler | | 0 Comments

The trouble with… Paul Valery

The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.

Paul Valery

French critic & poet (1871 - 1945)

January 23rd, 2008 - Posted in Paul Valery | | 0 Comments

A little inaccuracy… H.H. Munro (Saki)

A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.

H.H. Munro (Saki)

January 23rd, 2008 - Posted in H.H. Munro (Saki) | | 0 Comments

Let a short Act of… George Bernard Shaw

Let a short Act of Parliament be passed, placing all street musicians outside the protection of the law, so that any citizen may assail them with stones, sticks, knives, pistols, or bombs without incurring any penalties.

George Bernard Shaw

Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)

January 23rd, 2008 - Posted in George Bernard Shaw | | 0 Comments

It is even harder… H. L. Mencken

It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.

H. L. Mencken

US editor (1880 - 1956)

January 23rd, 2008 - Posted in H. L. Mencken | | 0 Comments

I refuse to consign… Brigid Brophy

I refuse to consign the whole male sex to the nursery. I insist on believing that some men are my equals.

Brigid Brophy

January 22nd, 2008 - Posted in Brigid Brophy | | 0 Comments

Manners are… Evelyn Waugh

Manners are especially the need of the plain. The pretty can get away with anything.

Evelyn Waugh

English novelist & satirist (1903 - 1966)

January 22nd, 2008 - Posted in Evelyn Waugh | | 0 Comments

A great many people… William James

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

William James

US Pragmatist philosopher & psychologist (1842 - 1910)

January 22nd, 2008 - Posted in William James | | 0 Comments

In times of joy,… W.H. Auden

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

W.H. Auden

January 22nd, 2008 - Posted in W.H. Auden | | 0 Comments

We would have… Mort Sahl

We would have broken up except for the children. Who were the children? Well, she and I were.

Mort Sahl

January 21st, 2008 - Posted in Mort Sahl | | 0 Comments

Children are never… Edgar Allan Poe

Children are never too tender to be whipped. Like tough beefsteaks, the more you beat them, the more tender they become.

Edgar Allan Poe

US short story author, editor, & poet (1809 - 1849)

January 21st, 2008 - Posted in Edgar Allan Poe | | 0 Comments

Discovery consists… Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi, in Irving Good, The Scientist Speculates (1962)

US biochemist (1893 - 1986)

January 21st, 2008 - Posted in Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi | | 0 Comments

We need to make a… Dr. Suzanne Botts

We need to make a decision, no matter what it is.

Dr. Suzanne Botts

January 21st, 2008 - Posted in Dr. Suzanne Botts | | 0 Comments

People who have no… Anatole France

People who have no faults are terrible; there is no way to take advantage of them

Anatole France

French novelist (1844 - 1924)

January 20th, 2008 - Posted in Anatole France | | 0 Comments

“9W”Answer to the… Steve Allen

“9W”Answer to the question: Do you spell your name with a V, Mr. Vagner?

Steve Allen, from the Question Man segment on the Steve Allen Show

January 20th, 2008 - Posted in Steve Allen | | 0 Comments

He who despairs… Albert Camus

He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool.

Albert Camus

French existentialist author & philosopher (1913 - 1960)

January 20th, 2008 - Posted in Albert Camus | | 0 Comments

Whenever you find… Mark Twain

Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.

Mark Twain

US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)

January 20th, 2008 - Posted in Mark Twain | | 0 Comments

In the long run we… John Maynard Keynes

In the long run we are all dead.

John Maynard Keynes

English economist (1883 - 1946)

January 19th, 2008 - Posted in John Maynard Keynes | | 0 Comments

Wagner drives the… P.A. Fiorentino

Wagner drives the nail into your head with swinging hammer blows.

P.A. Fiorentino

January 19th, 2008 - Posted in P.A. Fiorentino | | 0 Comments

(Of Jesus): “A… Shelley (Queen Mab)

(Of Jesus): “A parish demogogue.”

Shelley (Queen Mab)

January 19th, 2008 - Posted in Shelley (Queen Mab) | | 0 Comments

There are tones of… Robert Frost

There are tones of voices that mean more than words.

Robert Frost

US poet (1874 - 1963)

January 19th, 2008 - Posted in Robert Frost | | 0 Comments

The ornament of a… Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

January 18th, 2008 - Posted in Ralph Waldo Emerson | | 0 Comments

The prelude to… Eduard Hanslick

The prelude to Tristan and Isolde reminds me of the Italian painting of the martyr whose intestines are slowly being unwound from his body on a reel.

Eduard Hanslick

January 18th, 2008 - Posted in Eduard Hanslick | | 0 Comments

A man with his… Henery Miller

A man with his belly full of the classics is an enemy of the human race.

Henery Miller, Tropic of Cancer 1934

January 18th, 2008 - Posted in Henery Miller | | 0 Comments

He who fights too… Friedrich Nietzsche

He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself; and if you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you.

Friedrich Nietzsche

German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

January 18th, 2008 - Posted in Friedrich Nietzsche | | 0 Comments

We are here and it… H. L. Mencken

We are here and it is now. Further than that all human knowledge is moonshine.

H. L. Mencken

US editor (1880 - 1956)

January 17th, 2008 - Posted in H. L. Mencken | | 0 Comments

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