Placing the extraordinary at the center of the ordinary, as realism does, is a great comfort to us stay-at-homes. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
The realist lies for advantage. The fantasist lies to give his dreams a flavor of reality. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
Realism absorbs the ideal by adding a few small imperfections. Example: it paints a few specks of mud on the white gown… — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
When appearance and reality coincide, philosophy and literary criticism find themselves with nothing to say. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived. — Mason Cooley Copy Share Image
