Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

James Thurber Writer

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Dec 8, 1894
  • Died: Nov 2, 1961

James Grover Thurber was an American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright, and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker magazine and collected in his numerous books. One of the most popular humorists of his time, Thurber celebrated the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people. In collaboration with his college friend, Elliott Nugent, he wrote the Broadway comedy, The Male Animal, later adapted into a film, which starred Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland.

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

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

Love is what you've been through with somebody. love

All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why. men

The past is an old armchair in the attic, the present an ominous ticking sound, and the future is anybody's guess. future

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

Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man. age

Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more. women

Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility. humor

Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest earliest natural resources, which must be preserved at all cost. humor

Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone? funny

The most dangerous food is wedding cake. food & wedding

Progress was all right. Only it went on too long. funny

Man has gone long enough, or even too long, without being man enough to face the simple truth that the trouble with man is man. truth