Tag Archives: humor

The Doubter’s Companion: Aspen Institute

“Aspen Institute: A supermarket of conventional wisdom for middle-level executives. Corporate life, particularly for those not on the fast track, has all the bureaucratic pitfalls of directionless boredom. To distract these confused but loyal servants from what Thoreau called their ‘lives of quiet desperation,’ they are periodically shipped off to rest camps where, over the period of a few days, they are taught important things which can change their lives, their company, the world. Failing that, the experience may help them hold on a bit longer.”

Excerpted from: Saul, John Ralston. The Doubter’s Companion. New York: The Free Press, 1994.

John McCain on Hypocrisy

“If hypocrisy were gold, the Capitol would be Fort Knox.”

John McCain

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

Charles Ives on Awards

“Awards are merely the badges of mediocrity.”

Charles Ives

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

G.K. Chesterton on Journalism

“Journalism consists largely in saying ‘Lord Jones died’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.”

G.K. Chesterton

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

Fran Lebowitz on Sleep

“Sleep is death without the responsibility.”

Fran Lebowitz, Metropolitan Life “Why I Love Sleep” (1978)

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Dorothy Parker on Hollywood Money

“Speaking of Hollywood money, Mrs. Parker said: ‘It’s congealed snow; it melts in your hand.’”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Write It Right: Demean for Debase or Degrade

“Demean for Debase or Degrade. ‘He demeaned himself by accepting charity.’ The word relates, not to meanness, but to demeanor, conduct, behavior. One may demean oneself with dignity and credit.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

Rotten Reviews: The Odd Women

“A generous, sensitive, intelligent and literate book that despite its generosity, sensitivity, humanity, and literacy, manages to be a deadly bore.”

The New Yorker

Excerpted from: Barnard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.   

Michael Korda on Hypocrisy and Ambition

“An ounce of hypocrisy is worth a pound of ambition.”

Michael Korda

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

Book of Answers: Henry Fielding

“Whom did novelist Henry Fielding summon to court for the murder of the English language? Poet laureate Colley Cibber in 1740. Fielding issued the summons under the pseudonym ‘Captain Hercules Vinegar.’”

Excerpted from: Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa. Literature: The New York Public Library Book of Answers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.