James Thurber Quotes

There are two kinds of light -- the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.

By James Thurber

There are two kinds of light--the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.

By James Thurber

There are two kinds of light--the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.

By James Thurber

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.

By James Thurber

The wit makes fun of other persons the satirist makes fun of the world the humorist makes fun of himself.

By James Thurber

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.

By James Thurber

The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself.

By James Thurber

Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.

By James Thurber

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.

By James Thurber

Let us not look back in anger, or forward in fear, but around us in awareness.

By James Thurber

Its better to know some of the questions, than all of the answers.

By James Thurber

It had only one fault. It was kind of lousy.

By James Thurber

I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness.

By James Thurber

I think that maybe if women and children were in charge we would get somewhere.

By James Thurber

I loathe the expression 'What makes him tick.' It is the American mind, looking for simple and singular solution, that uses the foolish expression. A person not only ticks, he also chimes and strikes the hour, falls and breaks and has to be put together again, and sometimes stops like an electric clock in a thunderstorm.

By James Thurber

I loathe the expression What makes him tick. It is the American mind, looking for simple and singular solution, that uses the foolish expression. A person not only ticks, he also chimes and strikes the hour, falls and breaks and has to be put together again, and sometimes stops like an electric clock in a thunderstorm.

By James Thurber

I do not have a psychiatrist and I do not want one, for the simple reason that if he listened to me long enough, he might become disturbed.

By James Thurber

Human Dignity has gleamed only now and then and here and there, in lonely splendor, throughout the ages, a hope of the better men, never an achievement of the majority.

By James Thurber

Her own mother lived the latter years of her life in the horrible suspicion that electricity was dripping invisibly all over the house.

By James Thurber

He knows all about art, but he doesn't know what he likes.

By James Thurber

Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead.

By James Thurber

Early to rise and early to bed Makes a male healthy, wealthy and dead

By James Thurber

All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.

By James Thurber

A husband should not insult his wife publicly, at parties. He should insult her in the privacy of the home.

By James Thurber

He who hesitates is sometimes saved.

By James Thurber

I hate women because they always know where things are.

By James Thurber

Sixty minutes of thinking of any kind is bound to lead to confusion and unhappiness.

By James Thurber

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.

By James Thurber

Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.

By James Thurber

The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel.

By James Thurber