tinman948
09-02-2012, 01:18 PM
From the days when insults were an art form (not like today, when a four-letter word or a middle finger will do) come these gems…
Lady Astor to Winston Churchill: "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."
Churchill to Lady Astor: "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
"He had delusions of adequacy."
- Walter Kerr
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
- Winston Churchill
"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
"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
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."
- Stephen Bishop
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
- Oscar Wilde
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial."
- Irvin S. Cobb
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator."
- John Bright
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."
- Samuel Johnson
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure."
- Jack E. Leonard
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."
- Thomas Brackett Reed
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."
- Forrest Tucker
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily."
- Charles, Count Talleyrand
"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 (18 44-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
- Billy Wilder
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
- Groucho Marx
A member of Parliament to Prime Minister Disraeli: “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.”
“That depends, Sir”, said Disraeli, “whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”
“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”
– William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
And my favorite…
George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill:
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend...if you have one."
Churchill to Shaw: "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second...if there is one."
Lady Astor to Winston Churchill: "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."
Churchill to Lady Astor: "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
"He had delusions of adequacy."
- Walter Kerr
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
- Winston Churchill
"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
"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
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here."
- Stephen Bishop
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
- Oscar Wilde
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial."
- Irvin S. Cobb
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator."
- John Bright
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."
- Samuel Johnson
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure."
- Jack E. Leonard
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."
- Thomas Brackett Reed
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."
- Forrest Tucker
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily."
- Charles, Count Talleyrand
"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 (18 44-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
- Billy Wilder
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
- Groucho Marx
A member of Parliament to Prime Minister Disraeli: “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.”
“That depends, Sir”, said Disraeli, “whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”
“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”
– William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
And my favorite…
George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill:
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend...if you have one."
Churchill to Shaw: "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second...if there is one."