Amusing Quotes - Page 9

• It is now only in letters I write what I feel: not in literature any more, and I seldom say it, because I keep trying to be amusing.

  E. M. Forster

  Writing, Trying, Literature

  E. M. Forster (1987). “Commonplace Book”, p.92, Stanford University Press

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• All I ask of Fate is that the people she hurls into my life, whether they are evil or good, or morally bipolar, should be amusing to one degree or another.... The problem is finding smile-inducing evil people, because the evil are the most humorless, though in the movies they frequently get some of the best lines.

  Dean Koontz

  Fate, Evil People, Bipolar

  Dean Koontz (2014). “The Odd Thomas Series 7-Book Bundle: Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd, Odd Hours, Odd Apocalypse, Odd Interlude, Deeply Odd”, p.742, Bantam

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• It is amusing to hear the modern Christian telling you how mild and rationalistic Christianity really is and ignoring the fact that all its mildness and rationalism is due to the teaching of men who in their own day were persecuted by all orthodox Christians.

  Bertrand Russell

  Christian, Teaching, Men

  Bertrand Russell, John Greer Slater, Peter Köllner (1996). “A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42”, p.221, Psychology Press

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• All really frank people are amusing, and would remain so if they could remember that other people may sometimes want to be frank and amusing too.

  Ada Leverson

  Talking, People, May

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• No one has yet added up all the heavy, stress-filled workdays as well as the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives that are wasted to produce the world's amusements. It is for this reason that "amusements" are not so amusing.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Stress, World, Amusement

  "Path of Life". Book by Leo Tolstoy, Translated by M. Cote (2002), p.81, 1909.

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• In the years since The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, Voinovich has sharpened his satire, and Monumental Propaganda is a novel that slashes and rips -- but not on every page. He expands his narrative to accommodate shrewd philosophy and inventive portraiture, a very amusing disquisition on Soviet latrines and a number of outlandish plot developments. In his translation, Andrew Bromfield deftly shifts his tone and tools as required, remaining true to Voinovich's Vonnegut-like playfulness and appreciation of the absurd.

  Ken Kalfus

  Appreciation, Rip, Philosophy

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• True 'joy' is the difference between just amusing ourselves to death and creating 'meaningful' pleasure.

  Sidney Poitier

  Meaningful, Differences, Creating

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• The education of this president [Obama] is a protracted and often amusing process . . . as he continues to alight upon the obvious with a sense of profound and original discovery.

  George Will

  Discovery, Profound, President

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• There are moments in my show that are very moving as well as amusing.

  Klaus Nomi

  Moving, Moments, Shows

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• I got in journalism for any number of reasons, not least because it's so much fun. Journalism should be in the business of putting pressure on power, finding out the truth, of shining a light on injustice, of, when appropriate, being amusing and entertaining - it's a complicated and varied beast, journalism.

  David Remnick

  Fun, Light, Numbers

  "Media People: The New Yorker’s David Remnick". Interview with Alexandra Steigrad, wwd.com. October 10, 2014.

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• Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Interesting, Dangerous, Certainty

  Donald Rumsfeld (2011). “Known and Unknown: A Memoir”, p.149, Penguin

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• I was naughty. I wasn't bad. Bad is hurting people, doing evil. Naughty is not hurting anyone. Naughty is being amusing.

  Sydney Biddle Barrows

  Hurt, Naughty, People

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• There are no limits to God's compassion with Paradises over their one universally felt want: he immediately created other animals besides. God's first blunder: Man didn't find the animals amusing, - he dominated them and didn't even want to be an 'animal.'

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Men, Compassion, Animal

  'Umwerthung aller Werthe' (1888) bk. 1 'Der Antichrist' aphorism 48

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• Ugliness is more inventive than beauty. Beauty always follows certain camps. I think it's more amusing - ugliness - than beauty.

  Umberto Eco

  Thinking, Certain, Camps

  Interview with Chris Wallace, www.interviewmagazine.com. November 2, 2015.

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• The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.

  Moliere

  Men, Comedy, Duty

  MOLIERE (1965). “TARTUFFE”

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• Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.

  Neil Gaiman

  Cities, Healthy, London

  Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett (2011). “Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch”, p.44, Harper Collins

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• It was strange and amusing...and, honestly, a bit embarrassing...to realize how much being near Bella had softened me. It seemed like no one was afraid of me any more. If Emmett found out about this, he would be laughing for the next century.

  Stephenie Meyer

  Laughing, Would Be, Next

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• I think we must quote whenever we feel that the allusion is interesting or helpful or amusing.

  Clifton Fadiman

  Thinking, Interesting, Helpful

  Clifton Fadiman (1957). “Any Number Can Play”, Cleveland : World Publishing Company

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• Philosophers, if they have much imagination, are apt to let it loose as well as other people, and in such cases are sometimes led to mistake a fancy for a fact. Geologists, in particular, have very frequently amused themselves in this way, and it is not a little amusing to follow them in their fancies and their waking dreams. Geology, indeed, in this view, may be called a romantic science.

  Granville Penn

  Dream, Mistake, Science

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• Some people may have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them. They achieve it. They do not achieve it unwittingly, by “doin' what comes naturally”; and they don't stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves. All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.

  John W. Gardner

  Greatness, Discipline, People

  "Excellence: Can We Be Equal And Excellent Too?".

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• Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest... beautiful, no. Amusing, yes.

  Josephine Baker

  Beauty, Beautiful, Luck

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• Contention, especially violence, is not the way to deal with our problems. Unfortunately, television, videos, movies, and electronic games teach otherwise. Even cartoons and many children's programs depict violence in amusing ways, suggesting that no one really gets hurt and that any disagreement can be solved by a karate kick or the use of some weapon.

  Harold Anthony Oaks

  Hurt, Children, Media

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• Gossip can also kill, because it kills the reputation of the person! It is so terrible to gossip! At first it may seem like a nice thing, even amusing, like enjoying a candy. But in the end, it fills the heart with bitterness, and even poisons us.

  Pope Francis

  Nice, Heart, Gossip

  Pope Francis (2016). “The Infinite Tenderness of God: Meditations on the Gospels”, p.39, The Word Among Us Press

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• I prefer women with a past. They're always so damned amusing to talk to.

  Oscar Wilde

  Past

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• It is my belief, you cannot deal with the most serious things in the world unless you understand the most amusing.

  Winston Churchill

  Serious Things, World, Belief

  Winston Churchill (1987). “The Irrepressible Churchill: Stories, Sayings and Impressions of Sir Winston Churchill”, London : Robson Books

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