Mason Cooley

Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.

— Mason Cooley

The modernist writers found despair inspirational.

— Mason Cooley

Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.

— Mason Cooley

Money comes to life as it is spent.

— Mason Cooley

Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.

— Mason Cooley

Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.

— Mason Cooley

Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.

— Mason Cooley

Experience teaches us, but we scarcely know what.

— Mason Cooley

The body has a mind of its own.

— Mason Cooley

In retirement, I look for days off from my days off. Mason Cooley

— Mason Cooley

My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.

— Mason Cooley

The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.

— Mason Cooley

Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.

— Mason Cooley

Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.

— Mason Cooley

Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.

— Mason Cooley

I am now old enough to make common cause with my predecessors against my successors.

— Mason Cooley

Reading a great book causes jolts and frights.

— Mason Cooley

The beloved is the ultimate fetish.

— Mason Cooley

Nature often seems like an idea that has had its day.

— Mason Cooley

Death is frightening, and so is Eternal Life.

— Mason Cooley

To avoid taking responsibility, I become unresponsive but hang on until the other person leaves me.

— Mason Cooley

Writers tell more truths, and more lies, than most.

— Mason Cooley

In describing someone's character, I reveal my own.

— Mason Cooley

If you are going to break a Law of Art, make the crime interesting.

— Mason Cooley

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

— Mason Cooley