Everybody who's been on television more than once wears in public an expression of fatuous affability. Because you may be addressed at any moment by somebody. Quentin Crisp More Quotes by Quentin Crisp More Quotes From Quentin Crisp The British do not expect happiness. I had the impression, all the time that I lived there, that they do not want to be happy; they want to be right. Quentin Crisp britishimpressionwant The war between the sexes is the only one in which both sides regularly sleep with the enemy. Quentin Crisp sleepwarsex Abatement in the hostility of one's enemies must never be thought to signify they have been won over. It only means that one has ceased to constitute a threat. Quentin Crisp threatmeanenemy You will survive if you believe in yourself. Quentin Crisp believe-in-yourselfifsbelieve Ask yourself, if there was to be no blame, and if there was to be no praise, who would I be then? Quentin Crisp blameaskspraise Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms for its weaknesses. Quentin Crisp powercharacterhands You can't be a person and a lady. If you're a person, you can open the damned door yourself. Quentin Crisp personsifsdoors If you don't stay in some days, you can't recharge your batteries. Quentin Crisp batteriesifs I was amazed to receive later a substantial sum for sitting in my room and talking about myself. If only I could get some of the back pay! Quentin Crisp sittingpaytalking Our clothes are too much a part of us for most of us ever to be entirely indifferent to their condition: it is as though the fabric were indeed a natural extension of the body, or even of the soul. Quentin Crisp fabricclothessoul I am asked how to remain young, and I say 'Never, never work.' And that, of course, is the secret of it. Quentin Crisp coursessecretyoung Development of character consists solely in moving toward self-sufficiency. Quentin Crisp selfcharactermoving Sex is the last refuge of the miserable. Quentin Crisp sarcasticfunnysex I started to shed the monstrous aesthetic affectation of my youth so as to make room for the monstrous philistine postures of middle age, but it was some years before I was bold enough to decline an invitation to "Hamlet" on the grounds that I knew who won. Quentin Crisp ageroomsyears In most cases an act of unwelcome sex is no more bother than being vaccinated, so there's no point going on about it as if it werea fate worse than death. With skill and good manners you can avoid having to make the sacrifice, but should you find yourself in a compromising situation largely of your own making, you should stop defending your virtue and start worrying about your maturity. It will give you something to think about while the savage pumper bangs away. Quentin Crisp fatesacrificesex Nothing in our culture, not even home computers, is more overrated than the epidermal felicity of two featherless bipeds in desperate congress. Quentin Crisp hometwoculture Manners are love in a cool climate. Quentin Crisp climateinspirationallove It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freedom; it is the constant repetition of them that has this liberating effect. Tolerance is the result not of enlightenment, but of boredom. Quentin Crisp freedomsimpleblessing A fair share of anything is starvation diet to an egomaniac. Quentin Crisp egomaniacsstarvationshare In Manhattan, every flat surface is a potential stage and every inattentive waiter an unemployed, possibly unemployable, actor. Quentin Crisp manhattansurfaceactors
