James Thurber Quotes

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

  James Thurber

• Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies a native American urge.

  James Thurber

• 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

• There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else.

  James Thurber

  Tags in Safety

• It’s a naive domestic little Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you’ll be amused by its presumption.

  James Thurber

• We all know that the theater and every play that comes to Broadway have within themselves, like the human being, the seed of self-destruction and the certainty of death. The thing is to see how long the theater, the play, and the human being can last in spite of themselves.

  James Thurber

• My opposition to Interviews lies in the fact that offhand answers have little value or grace of expression, and that such oral give and take helps to perpetuate the decline of the English language.

  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.

  James Thurber

• The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.

  James Thurber

• It is better to have loafed and lost, than never to have loafed at all.

  James Thurber

• I’m 65 and I guess that puts me in with the geriatrics. But if there were fifteen months in every year, I’d only be 48. That’s the trouble with us. We number everything. Take women, for example. I think they deserve to have more than twelve years between the ages of 28 and 40.

  James Thurber

• I am not a cat man, but a dog man, and all felines can tell this at a glance – a sharp, vindictive glance.

  James Thurber

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

  James Thurber

• You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.

  James Thurber

  Topics in Politics

• Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires; I have lost friends, some by death… others through sheer inability to cross the street.

  James Thurber

• But what is all this fear of and opposition to Oblivion? What is the matter with the soft Darkness, the Dreamless Sleep?

  James Thurber

• If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.

  James Thurber

  Topics in Belief

• Love is the strange bewilderment that overtakes one person on account of another person.

  James Thurber

  Topics in Love

• Love is what you’ve been through with somebody.

  James Thurber

  Topics in Love

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

  James Thurber

James Thurber (141)

Birth:	8th December, 1894
Death:	2nd November, 1961
Nationality:	American
Profession:	Cartoonist, Journalist, Playwright, Writer

About

James Grover Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He was an American cartoonist, journalist, short story writer and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, such as "The Catbird Seat", published mainly in The New Yorker magazine and collected in his numerous books. He served as a reporter for the New York Evening Post. He joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1927 as an editor. He wrote several short stories include: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Unicorn in the Garden, The Moth and the Star, The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble, A Couple of Hamburgers, and The Princess and the Tin Box. He wrote several plays include: The Male Animal and A Thurber Carnival. He wrote several Children's books include: Many Moons, The White Deer, The 13 Clocks, and The Wonderful O. He wrote his autobiography, entitled My Life and Hard Times.

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Births

• 1901 - Marlene Dietrich
• 1976 - Aaron Stanford
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• 1930 - Meg Greenfield
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Deaths

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• 2003 - Alan Bates
• 1985 - Potter Stewart