Famous quotes by Writers

"The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon, or a didactic work"

"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue"

"To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered"

"When I was young there was no respect for the young, and now that I am old there is no respect for the old. I missed out coming and going"

"The belief in some being who can be the judge of all human matters is a very comfortable one - all wrongs will be righted and all rights will be rewarded"

"One failure is worth seven and a half successes"

"Most people are awaiting Virtual Reality; I'm awaiting virtuous reality"

"Poets are soldiers that liberate words from the steadfast possession of definition"

"Historian: an unsuccessful novelist"

"Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit"

"It is great folly to wish to be wise all alone"

"Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing"

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home"

"The secret of being a bore... is to tell everything"

"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices"

"When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion"

"Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy"

"The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year"

"The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all"

"The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great"

"The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third"

"Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die"

"Prejudices are what fools use for reason"

"Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time"

"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible"

"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking"

"Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument"

"God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well"

"Friendship is the marriage of the soul, and this marriage is liable to divorce"

"Fear follows crime and is its punishment"