Time is for dragonflies and angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long. James Thurber More Quotes by James Thurber More Quotes From James Thurber Unless artists can remember what it was to be a little boy, they are only half complete as artist and as man. James Thurber menboysart Editing should be, especially in the case of old writers, a counselling rather than a collaborating task. The tendency of the writer-editor to collaborate is natural, but he should say to himself, 'How can I help this writer to say it better in his own style?' and avoid 'How can I show him how I would write it, if it were my piece?' James Thurber editorseditingwriting Every man is occasionally visited by the suspicion that the planet on which he is riding is not really going anywhere; that the Force which controls its measured eccentricities hasn't got anything special in mind. If he broods on this somber theme long enough he gets the doleful idea that the laughing children on a merry-go-round or the thin, fine hands of a lady's watch are revolving more purposely than he is. James Thurber menchildrenideas Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else? James Thurber non-conformistnonconformistinvesting I never quite know when I'm not writing. Sometimes my wife comes up to me at a party and says, "Dammit, Thurber, stop writing." She usually catches me in the middle of a paragraph. James Thurber wifepartywriting Beautiful things don't ask for attention. James Thurber secret-lifeattentionbeautiful The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people - that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature. James Thurber naturefunpeople But what is all this fear of and opposition to Oblivion? What is the matter with the soft Darkness, the Dreamless Sleep? James Thurber feardreamdeath I have figured for you the distance between the horns of a dilemma, night and day, and A and Z. I have computed how far is Up, how long it takes to get Away, and what becomes of Gone. I have discovered the length of the sea serpent, the price of priceless, and the square of the hippopotamus. I know where you are when you are at Sixes and Sevens, how much Is you have to have to make an Are, and how many birds you can catch with the salt in the ocean - 187,796,132, if it would interest you. James Thurber distanceoceannight History is replete with proofs, from Cato the Elder to Kennedy the Younger, that if you scratch a statesman you find an actor, but it is becoming harder and harder, in our time, to tell government from show business. James Thurber scratchesbecominggovernment When all things are equal, translucence in writing is more effective than transparency, just as glow is more revealing than glare. James Thurber glarejusticewriting Don't count your boobies until they are hatched. James Thurber I write humor the way a surgeon operates, because it is a livelihood, because I have a great urge to do it, because many interesting challenges are set up, and because I have the hope it may do some good. James Thurber challengeswritinginteresting Humor and pathos, tears and laughter are, in the highest expression of human character and achievement, inseparable. James Thurber laughterexpressioncharacter Comedy has to be done en clair. You can't blunt the edge of wit or the point of satire with obscurity. Try to imagine a famous witty saying that is not immediately clear. James Thurber stupidwittytrying Comedy has ceased to be a challenge to the mental processes. It has become a therapy of relaxation, a kind of tranquilizing drug. James Thurber drughumorchallenges Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone? James Thurber hilariouswittyfunny The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms -hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal. James Thurber heartlesslaughtermen Man is flying too fast for a world that is round. Soon he will catch up with himself in a great rear end collision. James Thurber airplanementravel 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. James Thurber humorhairthinking
