Tag Archives: literary oddities

The Devil’s Dictionary: Demagogue

Posted on August 21, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Demagogue, n. A political opponent.” 

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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Raymond Chandler on Chess

Posted on August 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

“As elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency.”

Raymond Chandler

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

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The Algonquin Wits: Ring Lardner on Calvin Coolidge

Posted on August 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

“President Coolidge’s inimitable deadpan personality became a cherished target for the Round Tablers’ wit. After his first meeting with Coolidge, Lardner reported to the group that he had told the president a humorous anecdote, adding, ‘He laughed until you could hear a pin drop.’”

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

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Thorstein Veblen on the Esteem of One’s Peers

Posted on August 18, 2020 | Leave a comment

“In order to gain and hold the esteem of men it is not sufficient merely to possess wealth or power. The wealth or power must be put in evidence, for esteem is awarded only on evidence.”

Thorstein Veblen

The Theory of the Leisure Class ch. 3 (1899)

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

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H.L. Mencken on Protestantism

Posted on August 18, 2020 | Leave a comment

“The chief contribution of Protestantism to human thought is its massive proof that God is a bore.”

H.L Mencken

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

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73 Benedictine Rules

Posted on August 18, 2020 | Leave a comment

“The Benedictines follow a rule divided into seventy-three chapters of advice covering every detail of monastic order and the pursuit of a spiritual life. However, there remains an overriding stipulation that the rules exist to help and are not an end in themselves.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

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Rotten Rejections: Edgar Allan Poe

Posted on August 18, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Readers in this country have a decided and strong preference for works…in which a single and connected story occupies the entire volume.”

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

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Albert Jay Nock on Reading the Dictionary

Posted on August 14, 2020 | Leave a comment

“As sheer casual reading matter, I still find the English dictionary the most interesting book in the English language.”

Albert Jay Nock

Memoirs of a Superfluous Man ch. 1 (1943)

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

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Write It Right: Appreciate for Highly Value

Posted on August 14, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Appreciate for Highly Value. In the sense of value, it means value justly, not highly. In another and preferable sense it means to increase in value.”

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

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Lord Russell on Life, Death, and Cognition

Posted on August 14, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Many people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do so.”

Bertrand Russell

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

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