The Spoken Word in All Its Glory
December 13, 2007
This was sent to me by a friend today. Of all the things that get passed around these days via email, this is one of the more notable and inspiring ones. And so I pass it on to you. Enjoy.
A Time When Words Were Used Beautifully
There was a time when words were used beautifully. These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued, before a great portion of the English language was boiled down to four-letter words.
The exchange between Churchill and Lady Astor: She
said, ‘If you were my husband, I’d put poison in
your tea.’
And he said, ‘If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
Gladstone, a member of Parliament, to Benjamin
Disraeli: ‘Sir, you will either die on the gallows
or of some unspeakable disease.’
‘That depends, sir,’ said Disraeli… ‘On whether I
embrace your policies or your mistress’.
’He had delusions of adequacy.’
- Walter Kerr
‘He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the
vices I admire.’
- Winston Churchill
‘He is a modest little person, with much to be
modest about.’
- Winston Churchill ’
I have never killed a man, but I have read many
obituaries with great pleasure.’
- Clarence Darrow
‘He has never been known to use a word that might
send a reader to the dictionary.’
- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
‘Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions
come from big words?’
- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
‘Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll
waste no time reading it.’
- Moses Hadas
‘He can compress the most words into the smallest idea
of any man I know.’
- Abraham Lincoln
‘I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice
letter saying I approved of it.’
- Mark Twain
‘He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his
friends’
- Oscar Wilde
‘I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my
new play; bring a friend — if you have one.’
- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
‘Cannot possibly attend first night but I will be
able to attend the second night — if there is one.’
- Winston Churchill, in response
‘I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like
having you here.’
- Stephen Bishop
‘He is a self-made man and worships his creator.’
- John Bright
‘I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope
it’s nothing trivial.’
- Irvin S. Cobb
‘He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of
dullness in others.’
- Samuel Johnson
‘He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run
up.’
- Paul Keating
‘There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation
won’t cure.’
- Jack E.Leonard
‘He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.’
- Robert Redford
‘They never open their mouths without subtracting
from the sum of human knowledge.’
- Thomas Brackett Reed
’In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always
yielded easily.’ - Charles, Count Talleyrand
‘He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.’
- Forrest Tucker
‘Why do you sit there looking like an envelope
without any address on it?’- Mark Twain
‘His mother should have thrown him away and kept the
stork.
- Mae West
‘Some cause happiness wherever they go; others,
whenever they go.’
- Oscar Wilde
‘He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts
for support rather than illumination.’
- Andrew Lang
‘He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.’
- Billy Wilder
‘I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this
wasn’t it.’
- Groucho Marx
What are the most glorious words you’ve ever spoken?
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Karen - Midlife Coach
I love peanuts. Keep it up.
Oh yes, the beauty of a well crafted string of words– uttered or written! In the days of BBF, ROLF and TMI, and coarseness without poetry, prose or purpose– this was such fun to read.
Having found you online, I am enjoying reading your writings.
Kathie
very interesting.
i’m adding in RSS Reader
Welcome and glad you’re along for the “trip”.