James Thurber Art Quotations

Art – the one achievement of man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised

I can feel a thing I cannot touch and touch a thing I cannot feel. The first is sad and sorry, the second is your heart.

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

The whole of Paris is a vast university of Art, Literature and Music... it is worth anyone's while to dally here for years. Paris is a seminar, a post-graduate course in everything.

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

Let the meek inherit the earth -- they have it coming to them.

The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms -hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal.

(Cartoon caption:) I never really rallied after the birth of my first child.

Most of the faint intimations of immortality of which we are occasionally aware would seem to arise out of Art or the materials of Art.

Unless artists can remember what it was to be a little boy, they are only half complete as artist and as man.

The nation that complacently and fearfully allows its artists and writers to become suspected rather than respected is no longer regarded as a nation possessed with humor or depth.

Those rare souls whose spirit gets magically into the hearts of men leave behind them something real and warmly personal... the grace of a fine spirit pervades the places through which it has passed, like the haunting loveliness of mignonette.

I never quite know when I'm not writing. Sometimes my wife comes up to me at a party and says, "Dammit, Thurber, stop writing." She usually catches me in the middle of a paragraph.

Two is company, four is a party, three is a crowd. One is a wanderer.

While he was not as dumb as an ox, he was not any smarter either.

Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised.

As the Justice Department gets closer and closer to him through his aides, and if he is in more trouble, certainly the Democrats will use that.

He was quite confident. He's smart, articulate and polite.

These are rifle shots that certainly hurt the party but I don't think it's a wave that comes through and wipes out a lot of people.

One martini is alright, two is too many, three is not enough.

One martini is all right, two is two many, three is not enough

But those rare souls whose spirit gets magically into the hearts of men, leave behind them something more real and warmly personal than bodily presence, an ineffable and eternal thing. It is everlasting life touching us as something more than a vague, recondite concept. The sound of a great name dies like an echo; the splendor of fame fades into nothing; but the grace of a fine spirit pervades the places through which it has passed, like the haunting loveliness of mignonette.

Bush is trying to get more support generally from the American public by seeming more moderate and showing he's a strong leader at the same time he has a rebellion within his own party. The far right is starting to be very open about their claim that he's not a real conservative.

Politically, this is very serious for the president. If the base of his party has lost faith, that could spell trouble for his policy agenda and for the party generally.

He is perceived to be a liability at this point, and it's not just what comes from this particular court case.