All James Thurber Quotes
- There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures. Glare
- There is no exception to the rule that every rule has an exception. Every Rule
- Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else? Everybody
- A word to the wise is not sufficient if it doesn't make sense. Make Sense
- He who hesitates is sometimes saved. Hesitates
- 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… Apart
- A drawing is always dragged down to the level of its caption. Always Dragged
- There is something about a poet which leads us to believe that he died, in many cases, as long as 20 years before his birth. Believe
- All men kill the thing they hate, too, unless, of course, it kills them first. All
- With sixty staring me in the face, I have developed inflammation of the sentence structure and definite hardening of the paragraphs. Birthday
- Discussion in America means dissent. America
- It's a naive domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption. Amused
- Man has gone long enough, or even too long, without being man enough to face the simple truth that the trouble with man is man. Face
- Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation. Desperation
- The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his. Animal
- There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else. Anything Else
- You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward. Backward
- The appreciative smile, the chuckle, the soundless mirth, so important to the success of comedy, cannot be understood unless one sits among the audience and… Among
- Last night I dreamed of a small consolation enjoyed only by the blind: Nobody knows the trouble I've not seen! Blind
- The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel. Comedy
- I'm 65 and I guess that puts me in with the geriatrics. But if there were fifteen months in every year, I'd only be 48.… Age
- My opposition to Interviews lies in the fact that offhand answers have little value or grace of expression, and that such oral give and take… Answers
- Comedy has to be done en clair. You can't blunt the edge of wit or the point of satire with obscurity. Try to imagine a… Blunt
- Sophistication might be described as the ability to cope gracefully with a situation involving the presence of a formidable menace to one's poise and prestige… Ability
- Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies… American