Mason Cooley

Love talks and talks. Lust is brief and to the point.

— Mason Cooley

Love Songs Now: Fewer broken hearts, more sexual misery.

— Mason Cooley

Human nature is a scoundrel's favorite explanation.

— Mason Cooley

Modern thought does not offer consolations, but upsets.

— Mason Cooley

What I eat turns into my body. What I read turns into my mind.

— Mason Cooley

The sentimental want to be thrilled by everything.

— Mason Cooley

To win hearts, smile kindly on people's weaknesses.

— Mason Cooley

The Media: bold sex and violence, timid politics and morals.

— Mason Cooley

Against classical philosophy: thinking about eternity or the immensity of the universe does not lessen my unhappiness.

— Mason Cooley

When my expectations are exactly fulfilled, I feel that something uncanny has happened.

— Mason Cooley

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

— Mason Cooley

Realism absorbs the ideal by adding a few small imperfections. Example: it paints a few specks of mud on the white gown…

— Mason Cooley

Prudence does not make people happy; it merely deprives them of the excitement of being constantly in trouble.

— Mason Cooley

Young poets bewail the passing of love; old poets, the passing of time. There is surprisingly little difference.

— Mason Cooley

The lazy manage to keep up with the earth's rotation just as well as the industrious.

— Mason Cooley

Mars and Venus are at it again. This time, Hephaestus is standing by with a private detective, a photographer, and a lawyer.

— Mason Cooley

I cling to depression, thinking it a form of truth.

— Mason Cooley

Always late: thus I make you the prisoner of my freedom.

— Mason Cooley

We are more tied to our faults than to our virtues.

— Mason Cooley

Self-righteous victims invite extra nails.

— Mason Cooley

Victory brings obliviousness; defeat, attentiveness.

— Mason Cooley

Being charming takes time and effort, and I am busy.

— Mason Cooley

Good manners protect the privileged, but leave the unprivileged more vulnerable.

— Mason Cooley

I tried self-sacrifice a couple of times in my youth.

— Mason Cooley

Futility has become a great subject, full of opportunities.

— Mason Cooley

Talk about yourself as much as you like, but do not expect others to listen.

— Mason Cooley

The aftermath of joy is not usually more joy.

— Mason Cooley

Healthy vanity sweeps through life. Sickly vanity lies in bed.

— Mason Cooley

My struggles with myself seldom reach aerobic level.

— Mason Cooley

The banker rubs his nose, thinking of his cat stalking something on the lawn.

— Mason Cooley

We express disappointment in everything except ourselves.

— Mason Cooley

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

— Mason Cooley

I keep renaming my motives, but continue doing the same things.

— Mason Cooley

Inevitably, almost everything we say is either quotation or paraphrase.

— Mason Cooley

Modern literature seduces with insults, riddles, and inside stories.

— Mason Cooley

First literature came to refer only to itself, the literary theory.

— Mason Cooley

A moment of eloquence enthralls us. An hour's worth leaves us stupefied.

— Mason Cooley

Photography knows how to authenticate its misrepresentations.

— Mason Cooley

Skepticism does not preserve us from foolhardy deeds.

— Mason Cooley

Profundity often goes past the issue to some deep but useless truth.

— Mason Cooley