Mason Cooley

The unknowable creates the greatest controversies.

— Mason Cooley

Lying just for the fun of it is either art or pathology.

— Mason Cooley

Opportunity often goes begging. Luck, never.

— Mason Cooley

The limitations of pleasure cannot be overcome by more pleasure.

— Mason Cooley

Courage overrides self-doubt, but does not end it.

— Mason Cooley

Couples who come to understand one another often part.

— Mason Cooley

I was once in love with books. Now they go their way and I go mine.

— Mason Cooley

In middle age, going naked contributes little to public enjoyment.

— Mason Cooley

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

— Mason Cooley

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

— Mason Cooley

A restaurant with candles and flowers evokes more reveries than the Isle of Bali does.

— Mason Cooley

In adding up her assets, the ambitious lady calculated the worth of her beautiful body as coldly as everything else.

— 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

Worried about being a dull fellow? You might develop your talent for being irritating.

— Mason Cooley

Some marriages depend on domestic arguments the way the courts depend on litigation.

— Mason Cooley

In love, we worry more about the meaning of silences than the meaning of words.

— Mason Cooley

People who expect deference resent mere civility.

— Mason Cooley

A sentimental aphorism is even more a surprise than a hard- boiled sonnet.

— Mason Cooley

The narcissist enjoys being looked at and not looking back.

— Mason Cooley

Mind and body obstruct one another's pleasures.

— Mason Cooley

Great talkers do not stop for breath, and never look at the clock.

— Mason Cooley

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

— Mason Cooley

Fantasy mirrors desire. Imagination reshapes it.

— Mason Cooley

Suspicion is the beginning of wisdom, and of madness.

— Mason Cooley

Imagination has rules, but we can only guess what they are.

— Mason Cooley

Sexual boredom is ousting sexual deviance as the problem.

— Mason Cooley

The intimacy of love absolves us of our guilty separateness.

— Mason Cooley

Alone, I am drunk on my thoughts; in company, I am sober again.

— Mason Cooley

Children enjoy inflicting pain until unhappiness teaches them tenderness.

— Mason Cooley

Nothing goes sour more easily than the life of pleasure.

— Mason Cooley

More are weakened than strengthened by their troubles.

— Mason Cooley

Smooth white skin invites something that will leave a trace, a kiss or a slap.

— Mason Cooley

The New Right: kiss the bankers and spank the babies.

— Mason Cooley

Whatever is spoken of acquires a certain existence.

— Mason Cooley

A sense of blessedness comes from a change of heart, not from more blessings.

— Mason Cooley

Always assume that a lucky hit will not be repeated.

— Mason Cooley

When I get the point, I often don't know what to do with it.

— Mason Cooley

Seeing my malevolent face in the mirror, my benevolent soul shrinks back.

— Mason Cooley

Abyss-mongering makes professors and poets feel daring.

— Mason Cooley