There is something about a poet which leads us to…

There is something about a poet which leads us to believe that he died, in many cases, as long as 20 years before his birth.

Unsourced

Other James Thurber Quotes

Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies a native American urge. - View Quote Details on Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but…
If a playwright tried to see eye to eye with everybody, he would get the worst case of strabismus since Hannibal lost an eye trying to count his nineteen elephants during a snowstorm while crossing the Alps. - View Quote Details on If a playwright tried to see eye to eye with…
Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest earliest natural resources, which must be preserved at all cost. - View Quote Details on Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of…
Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone? - View Quote Details on Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you…
The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel. - View Quote Details on The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste,…
Now I am not a cat man, but a dog man, and all felines can tell this at a glance — a sharp, vindictive glance. - View Quote Details on Now I am not a cat man, but a dog…
Once upon a sunny morning a man who sat in a breakfast nook looked up from his scrambled eggs to see a white unicorn with a golden horn quietly cropping the roses in the garden. The man went up to the bedroom where his wife was still asleep and woke her. “There’s a unicorn in the garden,” he said. “Eating roses.” She opened one unfriendly eye and looked at him. “The unicorn is a mythical beast,” she said, and turned her back on him. The man walked slowly downstairs and out into the garden. The unicorn was still there; he was now browsing among the tulips. - View Quote Details on Once upon a sunny morning a man who sat in…
But those rare souls whose spirit gets magically into the hearts of men, leave behind them something more real and warmly personal than bodily presence, an ineffable and eternal thing. It is everlasting life touching us as something more than a vague, recondite concept. The sound of a great name dies like an echo; the splendor of fame fades into nothing; but the grace of a fine spirit pervades the places through which it has passed, like the haunting loveliness of mignonette. - View Quote Details on But those rare souls whose spirit gets magically into the…
Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man. - View Quote Details on Old age is the most unexpected of all the things…
I hate women because they always know where things are. - View Quote Details on I hate women because they always know where things are.