Writer · American · 214 quotes
Why do we never expect dull people to be rascals?
Mason Cooley
Writer · American
Ideology has shaped the very sofa on which I sit.
Minds will wander even during the Last Judgment.
Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence.
For many, immaturity is an ideal, not a defect.
If modesty disappeared, so would exhibitionism.
Conscious thought is the tidying up at the end.
A blunt statement can be as false as any other.
Old and young disbelieve one another's truths.
Most reputations are not ruined but forgotten.
A great reader seldom recognizes his solitude.
Good parties create a temporary youthfulness.
Fastidious taste makes enjoyment a struggle.
Affection reproaches, but does not denounce.
Listening to people keeps them entertained.
Critic's delight: scolding the Mighty Dead.
Cynicism is full of naive disappointments.
The gods are watching, but idly, yawning.
The real secrets are not the ones I tell.
'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'
At sixty, I know little more about wisdom than I did at thirty, but I know a great deal more about folly.
While there's life, there's fear.
Money: power at its most liquid.
The body has a mind of its own.
The only peace is being out of earshot.
The passion for money is never fickle.
The wisdom of age: don't stop walking.
Cruelty is softened by fear, not pity.
Romance is tempestuous. Love is calm.
Even cats grow lonely and anxious.
Art seduces, but does not exploit.
Young men preen. Old men scheme.
Rereading, we find a new book.
Romantics consider common sense vulgar.
Fears and lies intensify consciousness.
Malice is always authentic and sincere.
Cure for an obsession: get another one.
Melancholy is as seductive as Ecstasy.
Eternity eludes us, even as a thought.
Sloth, not ill-will, makes me unjust.
Hypocrisy is the outside of cynicism.
Never try to leap from a standstill.
A blocked path also offers guidance.
The beloved is the ultimate fetish.
Many gloat over their own troubles.
Orgasm: the genitals sneezing.
Folly always knows the answer.
Even boredom has its crises.
