Mason Cooley Quotes

Skepticism may undermine beliefs, but never belief.

The muse is blind as Cupid and skittish as Diana.

Creative memory is the historian's most subtle opponent.

Necessity makes heroes of us all.

Nature often seems like an idea that has had its day.

Regretting the past does not prevent me from repeating it.

History takes place between the Fall and the Apocalypse, with a narrow escape route called Salvation.

Theory now: concern for truth must not hobble our discussion.

My father liked to moralize, and so do I. But he was in earnest, while I am embarrassed and pretend that I am merely being witty.

In the museums, everything is in quotation marks.

Forgetting and remembering are governed by laws, but we cannot find out what they are.

When I prayed for success, I forgot to ask for sound sleep and good digestion.

Discontented women dream of being rescued by Prince Charming. Discontented men dream of finding a horny blond in the back seat ofa taxi.

In New York, pretending to be above the struggle means no seat on the bus and a table next to the kitchen.

Yawns are hard to refute.

Truth usually stammers at first.

Reclusive? The inner city will secure your privacy better than any desert cave.

An ardent lover often makes a cold friend.

Aphorisms have never seduced anybody, but they have fooled some into considering themselves worldly-wise.

My obsessions used to be my protectors, but now they have taken me prisoner.

Your flattery is as full of contempt as your insults were.

Irony dissolves sentiment, but occasionally a sentiment is strong enough to dissolve irony.

The writer considers sayability before anything else.

An event is not over until everyone is tired of talking about it.

Listening to people keeps them entertained.

The past is ignorant of the present. Be careful in taking its advice.

After I have said what is required by my vanity and my morality, I may find a moment for Truth.

Eternity eludes us, even as a thought.

Helplessness is a mighty power.

The harp is an insipid instrument--no good for dancing, feasting, or marching, only for sitting primly in a parlor or on a cloud.

To be successful be ahead of your time, but only a little.

In ethics, prudence is not an important virtue, but in the world it is almost everything.

The eros of advertising is lurid but not specific.

The poor live slow and hard; the rich, fast and easy. The rest of us shuffle along as we may.

Tears are great peace-makers.

Without a little negligence, life would be intolerable.

Shameless: Punish me for my desire if you will. It burns still.

The closeups of pornography make human genitals look like undiscovered prehistoric animals.

Elegance thrives on exclusion.

Progress may feel more like loss than gain.

Pornography does not inspire violence, but you can break a leg trying to imitate it.

The unknowable creates the greatest controversies.

Never lie in writing.

Yearning wants mostly to perpetuate itself.

Language cannot say everything, fortunately.

Intellectuals have opinions on subjects they just heard about five minutes ago.

In the present age, a man with harmonious ideas is regarded as out of touch.

The eye deals with excess more easily than the stomach does.