Quotable Quotes

[BigBearJohn]

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."-- Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."-- Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." -- Moses Hadas
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." -- Abraham Lincoln
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."-- Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."-- Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend...if you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second...if there is one."-- Winston Churchill, in response
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."-- Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator."-- John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial."-- Irvin S. Cobb
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt."-- Robert Redford
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."-- Forrest Tucker
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."-- Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."-- Oscar Wilde

[petronius]

1. My favorite epitaph (apparently a South African judge a century or so back):

Here lies in death, who always living lied,
A base amalgem of deceit and pride;
A wily African of monstrous shape,
The mighty Quinbus Flestrin of the Cape.
Rogue paramount, ten thousand rogues among,
He rose and shone like phosphorous from dung;
The wolf and fox their attributes combined,
To form the odious features of his mind;
Where kennelled deep, by shame, by fear, unawed,
Lurk'd rapine, villainy, deceit, and fraud,
Hypocrasy, servility, and lust;
A petty tyrant, and a judge unjust.
Partial and stern, in every case he tried,
He judged like Pilate, and like Pilate he died.
Urged to depair, by crimes precluding hope,
He chose a bullet, to avoid the rope.
Consistent knave! His life in cheating passed,
He shot himself to cheat the law at last.
Acme of crimes, self murder crowned the whole,
And gave to worms his corpse - to fiends his soul.

[saltpoint]

2. Those are terrific fun. The Shaw-Churchill exchange had me really going.

Gore Vidal and Truman Capote did not like each other.

When Capote died, Vidal was in a dinner party and was told by one of the waiters of the news of Capote's passing. Vidal thought a moment and then replied, "Excellent career move."

[allalone]

3. Hi, BBJohn

love those quotes. I use the Groucho Marx one all the time. love it.
Are you here yet? hmm?

[BigBearJohn]

4. Cant help myself

:toast:

[varkam]

5. ROFL @ the Churchill quote

That's a classic :rofl:

[HawkerHurricane]

6. Churchill had many great quotes...

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.

Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.
(This is what I thought of when Bush and Cheney wouldn't testify seperatly to the 9/11 commission)

I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.

If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.