Mason Cooley

The power of the past does not depend on our knowledge of it.

— Mason Cooley

Nonsense is socially OK, but not stupidity.

— Mason Cooley

If we think about the obvious long enough, it dissolves.

— Mason Cooley

The suburbs: signs of life, but no proofs.

— Mason Cooley

A sense of righteousness is even more dangerous than a violent temper.

— Mason Cooley

In comedy, the witty style wins out over every mishap of the plot.

— Mason Cooley

Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.

— Mason Cooley

A yawn is more disconcerting than a contradiction.

— Mason Cooley

If you insist on asking me why I feel the way I do, I plan to take the Fifth Amendment.

— Mason Cooley

General statements omit what we really want to know. Example: some horses run faster than others.

— Mason Cooley

A beautiful woman peers out her window, as full of envy as the harridan who peers up at her from the street.

— Mason Cooley

After Voltaire: envy is chained to the portico of the temple of glory and can neither enter nor leave.

— Mason Cooley

The young are just as opinionated as the old, but have more exciting things to do than sit around airing their opinions…

— Mason Cooley

The sage belongs to the same obsolete repertory as the virtuous maiden and the enlightened monarch.

— Mason Cooley

The beginning, middle, and end are parodied, reversed, and hidden by modernism, but not abandoned.

— Mason Cooley

Civilization must be destroyed. The hairy saints Of the North have earned thiscrumb by their complaints.

— Mason Cooley

Complaining is the favorite pastime of millions.

— Mason Cooley

The hysterical find too much significance in things. The depressed find too little.

— Mason Cooley

Logic teaches rules for presentation, not thinking.

— Mason Cooley

Attaining even mediocrity is often a struggle.

— Mason Cooley

Self-realization sounds good. But what if only an enraged dwarf emerges?

— Mason Cooley

Travelers never think that they are the foreigners.

— Mason Cooley

I have learned to keep to myself how exceptional I am.

— Mason Cooley

Addicts turn their pleasures into vengeful Gods.

— Mason Cooley

When a paradox is widely believed, it is no longer recognized as a paradox.

— Mason Cooley

If I had found the words I was looking for, I would not have read so much.

— Mason Cooley

As desire recedes, the world becomes clear, pale, and empty.

— Mason Cooley

The sheen of ocean gleams on the blue fish-plate.

— Mason Cooley

In conversation, everyone sits in confident judgment on the world.

— Mason Cooley

Natural Man, in our current version, is a disgruntled adolescent.

— Mason Cooley

Giving out crowns to everyone will not make a nation of kings.

— Mason Cooley

For some, bottles of liquor gleam like the towers of Eldorado.

— Mason Cooley

In bridge clubs and in councils of state, the passions are the same.

— Mason Cooley

In art, a dress is never just a dress; nor in life either.

— Mason Cooley

Every declaration of love contains an unstated list of exceptions and demands.

— Mason Cooley

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

— Mason Cooley

Many have attempted unnatural acts, but Nature has always shown the way.

— Mason Cooley

My mentors grow old and foolish. I am afraid.

— Mason Cooley

Frivolous sorrow is folly. Frivolous enjoyment is not.

— Mason Cooley

I know that I am what I am. But I am not sure what I am.

— Mason Cooley