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

Politics inflame the passions in a way that few beloveds can match.

— 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

After an argument, silence may mean acceptance or the continuation of resistance by other means.

— Mason Cooley

A small boy puts his hand on the wall, and looks down intently as he wriggles his toes. The birth of thought?

— Mason Cooley

If beggars do not hate the rest of us, they are even more abject than I had imagined.

— Mason Cooley

Innocence is thought charming because it offers delightful possibilities for exploitation.

— Mason Cooley

For the purpose of knowledge, one must know how to use that inner current that draws us to a thing, and then…

— Mason Cooley

The ninety percent of human experience that does not fit into established narrative patterns falls into oblivion.

— Mason Cooley

Repetition comforts me for a time, then closes in.

— Mason Cooley

Of course I want to be good, but that may not be to your advantage.

— Mason Cooley

Prudence does not save us, but shows us pictures of our destroyers.

— Mason Cooley

Experience is a great spoiler of pleasures.

— Mason Cooley

The discontented believe that their regrets are about the past.

— Mason Cooley

Drunks conjure an endless drama from their bottles.

— Mason Cooley

Pleasure usually comes when called, but not happiness.

— Mason Cooley

I feel that I have something significant to say, but I cannot think what it is.

— Mason Cooley

Boredom turns to panic if my beloved leaves before the usual time.

— Mason Cooley

Intellectuals have opinions on subjects they just heard about five minutes ago.

— Mason Cooley

Our vices are attempts to combine self-medication and enjoyment.

— Mason Cooley

Dignity takes alarm at the unexpected sound of laughter.

— Mason Cooley

Hope likes justification, but can do without.

— Mason Cooley

The lion cares less about being king of the beasts than about finding his dinner.

— Mason Cooley

I change my opinions often, but not my way of thinking.

— Mason Cooley

To understand a literary style, consider what it omits.

— Mason Cooley

People invent gods to explain their suffering.

— Mason Cooley

All the powers of imagination combine in hypochondria.

— Mason Cooley

When a modest man praises himself, people listen.

— Mason Cooley

Don't sacrifice yourself for me. I will not be grateful.

— Mason Cooley

I like the old wisdom--puns, riddles, spells, proverbs.

— Mason Cooley

Progress may feel more like loss than gain.

— Mason Cooley

With every physical pain, my moral fibre unravels a little.

— Mason Cooley

The egg is the symbol of perfection. Do you want an egg?

— Mason Cooley