 | Literary Zingers |
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These were sent to me by a dear friend.
I was reminded of what Mary McCarthy said about Lillian Hellman, that “…every word she writes is a lie, including ‘an’ and ‘the’.” (Which, by the way, I know a guy that was actually sitting in the audience of the Dick Cavett show when she said that.)
My favorite is the double entendre by Billy Wilder: Short, tart and oh-so-witty.
Anyway, enjoy….
I feel so miserable without you: it’s almost like having you here. (Stephen Bishop)
A modest little person, with much to be modest about. (Winston Churchill — about Clement Atlee)
I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial. (Irvin S. Cobb)
I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. (Clarence Darrow)
He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary. (William Faulkner — about Ernest Hemingway)
He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others. (Samuel Johnson)
He had delusions of adequacy. (Walter Kerr)
I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it. (Groucho Marx)
They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. (Thomas Brackett Reed)
He loves nature in spite of what it did to him. (Forrest Tucker)
I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. (Mark Twain)
His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork. (Mae West)
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. (Oscar Wilde)
He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends. (Oscar Wilde)
He has Van Gogh’s ear for music. (Billy Wilder)
I would give my right arm to be ambidextrous. (Sam Spade)
