Sunday 26 August 2007

When insults had style

This was sent to me from a friend in New York

When Insults had style:

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"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)

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend... If you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill...

followed by Churchill's response:
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second, if there is one." - Winston Churchill

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others."- Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West

6 comments:

Pigtown-Design said...

Well done, you!

Just read about Mark Birely on NYSD. Not in the guardian yet.

HOBAC said...

Sad - he was very creative.

Patricia Gray said...

Can you hear me laughing across the Atlantic Ocean??? These are all great. Thanks for the laughs!!

franki durbin said...

LOL! These were delivered with great panache, I can see that.

Lovely post... even if it is insulting ;)

franki durbin said...

Okay... reading these more closely I do have a favorite...

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others."- Samuel Johnson


goodness! what an insult this would have been...

Things That Inspire said...

These men and women were masters of language...great post, great quotes!