Tag Archives: humor

George Bernard Shaw on Newspapers

Posted on June 24, 2019 | Leave a comment

“A newspaper is a device unable to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization.”

George Bernard Shaw

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

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Frank Zappa on Rock Journalism

Posted on June 19, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read.”

Frank Zappa

Quoted in Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan. 1978

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

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Memo from John Gardner

Posted on June 18, 2019 | Leave a comment

“One should fight like the devil the temptation to think well of editors. They are all, without exception–at least some of the time–incompetent or lazy. By the nature of their profession they read too much, with the result they grow jaded and cannot recognize talent though it dances in front of their eyes.”

John Gardner

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

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Rotten Rejections: The Lonely by Paul Gallico

Posted on June 13, 2019 | Leave a comment

“My dear boy, what a masterpiece! How beautifully thought out! What color, what fire! It’s truly magnificent writing. It’s so poetic. Do take it over to Harper’s Bazaar where they will really know how to appreciate it.”

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

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The Algonquin Wits: Heywood Broun on His Dooryard

Posted on June 13, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Many people [in the city] buy a house just to get the trees which are thrown in with the deal. I’ve got three and a large part of the overhang from a tree next door. This trespasser, from a strictly material standpoint, is a finer three than any which I possess, but I prefer my own horse chestnut just the same. It’s a one-man tree and would never think of dividing its loyalty between two houses.”

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

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The Devil’s Dictionary: Presidency

Posted on June 8, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Presidency, n. The greased pig in the field game of American politics.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000.

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Sinclair Lewis on Advertising

Posted on June 7, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless.”

Sinclair Lewis

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

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The Algonquin Wits: Franklin Pierce Adams on Confidentiality

Posted on June 3, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Ninety-two percent of the stuff told you in confidence you couldn’t get anyone else to listen to.”

Franklin Pierce Adams

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

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The Devil’s Dictionary: Corporation

Posted on June 3, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000. 

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Rotten Reviews: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Posted on June 1, 2019 | Leave a comment

“The most insipid, ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life.”

 Samuel Pepys, Diary

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

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