George Jean Nathan Quotes

Quotes about:

Art Criticism Imagination Literature Love Theatre

Bad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote.

George Jean Nathan

Freedom, Democracies Have, Political

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Love demands infinitely less than friendship.

George Jean Nathan

Love, Friendship, Relationship

George Jean Nathan (1952). “The world of George Jean Nathan”

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A man reserves his true and deepest love not for the species of woman in whose company he finds himself electrified and enkindled, but for that one in whose company he may feel tenderly drowsy.

George Jean Nathan

Love, Witty, Men

George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff (1998). “The World of George Jean Nathan: Essays, Reviews, & Commentary”, Hal Leonard Corporation

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It is also said of me that I now and then contradict myself. Yes, I improve wonderfully as time goes on.

George Jean Nathan

Goes On, Literature, Now And Then

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All that is necessary to raise imbecility into what the mob regards as profundity is to lift it off the floor and put it on a platform.

George Jean Nathan

Stupidity, Platforms, Raises

George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff (1998). “The World of George Jean Nathan: Essays, Reviews, & Commentary”, Hal Leonard Corporation

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An optimist is a fellow who believes a housefly is looking for a way to get out.

George Jean Nathan

Believe, Optimism, Literature

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No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.

George Jean Nathan

Life, Wisdom, Crazy

George Jean Nathan (1972). “The World in Falseface”, p.21, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

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I drink to make other people interesting.

George Jean Nathan

Drinking, Book, Beer

George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff (1998). “The World of George Jean Nathan: Essays, Reviews, & Commentary”, Hal Leonard Corporation

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The path of sound credence is through the thick forest of skepticism.

George Jean Nathan

Atheism, Forests, Sound

George Jean Nathan (1971). “Materia, Critica: New Introd. by Charles Angoff”, p.5, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

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Criticism is the art of appraising others at one's own value.

George Jean Nathan

Art, Criticism, Literature

George Jean Nathan (1972). “The World in Falseface”, p.3, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

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Politics is the diversion of trivial men who, when they succeed at it, become important in the eyes of more trivial men.

George Jean Nathan

Eye, Men, Important

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Whenever a man encounters a woman in a mood he doesn't understand, he wants to know if she's tired.

George Jean Nathan

Tired, Men, Encounters

George Jean Nathan (1925). “The American Mercury”

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It is the mark of a superior person that, left to themselves they are able endlessly to amuse, interest and entertain themselves out of their personal stock of meditations, ideas, criticisms, memories, philosophy, humor and what not.

George Jean Nathan

Memories, Philosophy, Self Esteem

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A man admires a woman not for what she says, but what she listens to.

George Jean Nathan

Men, Admire

George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff (1998). “The World of George Jean Nathan: Essays, Reviews, & Commentary”, Hal Leonard Corporation

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Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.

George Jean Nathan

Real, Patriotic, Political

Testament of a Critic bk. 1 (1931)

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The notion that as a man grows older his illusions leave him is not quite true. What is true is that his early illusions are supplanted by new, and to him, equally convincing illusions.

George Jean Nathan

Men, Illusion, Convincing

George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff (1998). “The World of George Jean Nathan: Essays, Reviews, & Commentary”, Hal Leonard Corporation

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Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few.

George Jean Nathan

Love, Anniversary, Disappointment

George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff (1998). “The World of George Jean Nathan: Essays, Reviews, & Commentary”, Hal Leonard Corporation

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All one has to do to gather a large crowd in New York is to stand on the curb a few minutes and gaze intently at the sky.

George Jean Nathan

New York, Sky, Crowds

George Jean Nathan (1927). “The New American Credo: A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind”

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A ready way to lose your friend is to lend him money. Another equally ready way to lose him is to refuse to lend him money. It is six of one and a half dozen of the other.

George Jean Nathan

Friends, Money, Reading

George Jean Nathan (1943). “Beware of Parents: A Bachelor's Book for Children”

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Love is the emotion that a woman feels always for a poodle dog and sometimes for a man.

George Jean Nathan

Funny, Dog, Love Is

George Jean Nathan (1952). “The world of George Jean Nathan”

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In the theatre, a hero is one who believes that all women are ladies, a villain one who believes that all ladies are women.

George Jean Nathan

Believe, Hero, Theatre

Henry Louis Mencken, George Jean Nathan (1929). “The American Mercury”

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An abstainer is the sort of man you wouldn't want to drink with even if he did.

George Jean Nathan

Men, Want, Drink

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Art is the sex of the imagination.

George Jean Nathan

Art, Sex, Imagination

George Jean Nathan (1972). “The World in Falseface”, p.7, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

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Beauty makes idiots sad and wise men merry.

George Jean Nathan

Wise, Men, Idiot

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Common sense, in so far as it exists, is all for the bourgeoisie. Nonsense is the privilege of the aristocracy. The worries of the world are for the common people.

George Jean Nathan

People, Common Sense, Worry

George Jean Nathan (1960). “The magic mirror: selected writings on the theatre”

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Born: March 14, 1882
Died: April 8, 1958
Occupation: Critic
Cite this Page: Citation

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