Mason Cooley

Irony regards every simple truth as a challenge.

— Mason Cooley

Self-congratulation pleases only the speaker.

— Mason Cooley

Language cannot say everything, fortunately.

— Mason Cooley

If suffering brought wisdom, the dentist's office would be full of luminous ideas.

— Mason Cooley

Bored by safety, the lover grows jealous and exacting.

— Mason Cooley

An omnipotent God is the only being with no reason to lie.

— Mason Cooley

Shameless: Punish me for my desire if you will. It burns still.

— Mason Cooley

Human nature is a scoundrel'sfavorite explanation.

— Mason Cooley

Laughter and tears may not persuade, but they cannot be refuted.

— Mason Cooley

My aspiration now is to get by luck what I could not get by merit.

— Mason Cooley

Intelligence in isolation turns to aimless marauding.

— Mason Cooley

Popular culture is seductive; high culture is imperious.

— Mason Cooley

A quiet fool can go undiscovered for a long time.

— Mason Cooley

Yearning wants mostly to perpetuate itself.

— Mason Cooley

My mind is led astray by every faint rustle.

— Mason Cooley

Illusions are hazardous, and so are disillusions.

— Mason Cooley

Alcohol postpones anxiety, then multiplies it.

— Mason Cooley

Rule of art: let half-blind purpose lead you.

— Mason Cooley

The depressed fall back exhausted from every undertaking.

— Mason Cooley

Suspense combines curiosity with fear and pulls them up a rising slope.

— Mason Cooley

I gulp down my pleasures, chew over my miseries.

— Mason Cooley

Mistakes are the only universal form of originality.

— Mason Cooley

Bad faith makes the most of every ambiguity.

— Mason Cooley

As a child I was middle-aged and cautious compared to my impulsive father.

— Mason Cooley

Once discover comfort, and there is no turning back.

— Mason Cooley

Writers mean more than they say and say more than they mean.

— Mason Cooley

Talent shuffles the deck. Genius brings a new deck.

— Mason Cooley

Suffering teaches us only that we suffer. Joy shows us which way to go.

— Mason Cooley

As every cockroach knows, thriving on poisons is the secret of success.

— Mason Cooley

After my spectacular failures, I could not be satisfied with an ordinary success.

— Mason Cooley

Even in rapture, part of the mind watches.

— Mason Cooley

Other people's beliefs may be myths, but not mine.

— Mason Cooley

Middle age went by while I was mourning for my lost youth.

— Mason Cooley

Every farewell combines loss and new freedom.

— Mason Cooley

Sexual attraction pairs people, but does not match them.

— Mason Cooley

Profusion gives pleasure up to a point; then we become squeamish.

— Mason Cooley

Carlyle: a passionate outpouring of words recommending silence and self-control.

— Mason Cooley

The critic roams through culture, looking for prey.

— Mason Cooley

Pain pays no attention to moans or excuses.

— Mason Cooley

To remain mysterious, say little and do nothing.

— Mason Cooley