Memorable Quotes and quotations from James ThurberJames Thurber US author, cartoonist, humorist, & satirist (1894 - 1961)James Thurber - - Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility. James Thurber - - A husband should not insult his wife publicly, at parties. He should insult her in the privacy of the home. James Thurber - - All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why. James Thurber - - Let us not look back in anger, or forward in fear, but around us in awareness. James Thurber - - It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. James Thurber - New Yorker, Feb. 4, 1939, "The Fairly Intelligent Fly" - There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else. James Thurber - - Human Dignity has gleamed only now and then and here and there, in lonely splendor, throughout the ages, a hope of the better men, never an achievement of the majority. James Thurber - - The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people--that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature. James Thurber - - I hate women because they always know where things are. James Thurber - - You can fool too many of the people too much of the time. James Thurber - "Carpe Noctem, If You Can", in "Credos and Curios" (1962) - I do not have a psychiatrist and I do not want one, for the simple reason that if he listened to me long enough, he might become disturbed. James Thurber - - Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. James Thurber - - I loathe the expression "What makes him tick." It is the American mind, looking for simple and singular solution, that uses the foolish expression. A person not only ticks, he also chimes and strikes the hour, falls and breaks and has to be put together again, and sometimes stops like an electric clock in a thunderstorm. James Thurber - - It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. James Thurber - - There are two kinds of light--the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures. James Thurber - New Yorker cartoon caption, June 5, 1937 - Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone? James Thurber - - I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness. James Thurber - - If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons. James Thurber - - He who hesitates is sometimes saved. James Thurber - - Its better to know some of the questions, than all of the answers. James Thurber - - The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel. James Thurber - - You can fool too many of the people too much of the time. James Thurber - My Life and Hard Times (1933) - Her own mother lived the latter years of her life in the horrible suspicion that electricity was dripping invisibly all over the house. James Thurber - - Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else? James Thurber - - Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation. James Thurber - - If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons. James Thurber - - You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward. James Thurber - New Yorker, Apr. 29, 1939 "The Bear Who Let It Alone" - You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward. James Thurber - in Edward R. Murrow television interview - The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself. James Thurber - New Yorker, Apr. 29, 1939 "The Owl who was God" - You can fool too many of the people too much of the time. James Thurber - New Yorker, Feb. 18, 1939 "The Shrike and the Chipmunks" - Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead. James Thurber - - It had only one fault. It was kind of lousy. James Thurber - - Early to rise and early to bed Makes a male healthy, wealthy and dead James Thurber - - I think that maybe if women and children were in charge we would get somewhere. James Thurber - - It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. James Thurber - - I hate women because they always know where things are. |
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