Dorothy Parker

[On hearing that Clare Boothe Luce was invariably kind to her inferiors:] And where does she find them?

— Dorothy Parker

A girl's best friend is her mutter.

— Dorothy Parker

The nowadays ruling that no word is unprintable has, I think, done nothing whatever for beautiful letters. The boys have gone hog-wild…

— Dorothy Parker

Why, after all, should readers never be harrowed? Surely there is enough happiness in life without having to go to books for…

— Dorothy Parker

It was written without fear and without research.

— Dorothy Parker

Brevity is the soul of lingerie.

— Dorothy Parker

There must be courage; there must be no awe. There must be criticism, for humor, to my mind, is encapsulated in criticism.…

— Dorothy Parker

I don't know much about being a millionaire, but I'll bet I'd be darling at it.

— Dorothy Parker

Never throw mud: you can miss the target, but your hands will remain dirty.

— Dorothy Parker

If I didn't care for fun and such, I'd probably amount to much, but I shall stay the way I am, because…

— Dorothy Parker

I like to think of my shining tombstone. It gives me, as you might say, something to live for.

— Dorothy Parker

I don't mind anything that's written about me, as long as it's not true.

— Dorothy Parker

But I don't give up; I forget why not.

— Dorothy Parker

Scratch an actor and you'll find an actress.

— Dorothy Parker

If wild my breast and sore my pride, I bask in dreams of suicide, If cool my heart and high my head…

— Dorothy Parker

My own dear love, he is strong and bold And he cares not what comes after. His words ring sweet as a…

— Dorothy Parker

On lady novelists: As artists they're rot, but as providers they're oil wells; they gush. Norris said she never wrote a story…

— Dorothy Parker

[Completely bored by a country weekend, wiring to a friend:] For heaven's sake, rush me a loaf of bread, enclosing saw and…

— Dorothy Parker

If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.

— Dorothy Parker

The two most beautiful words in the English language are 'cheque enclosed.'

— Dorothy Parker

By the time you swear you're his, shivering and sighing, and he vows his passion is infinite and undying. Make a note…

— Dorothy Parker

Anthologists are lazy fellows who like to spend a quiet evening at home raiding good books.

— Dorothy Parker

Somewhere, there, is an analogy, in a small way, if you have the patience for it. But I guess it isn't a…

— Dorothy Parker

Four be the things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe. Four be the things I'd been…

— Dorothy Parker

[On James Gould Cozzens' By Love Possessed:] It is a vast enterprise encompassing all sorts of love, except, naturally, those branches which…

— Dorothy Parker