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Home
Authors
Mason Cooley
American
Writer
About the author
'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Liberal
Few artists can afford artistic temperament.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Artists
#Temperament
When a man bores a woman, she complains. When a woman bores a man, he ignores her.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Man
#Woman
Self-hatred and self-love are equally self-centered.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Self
Stated clearly enough, an idea may cancel itself out.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#May
#Idea
Staid middle age loves the hurricane passions of opera.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Age
#Middle age
#Opera
Some loves are like a vice that has ceased to give pleasure.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Vice
#Pleasure
Sloth, not ill-will, makes me unjust.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Self-reform is the only kind that works.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Self
Seeing my malevolent face in the mirror, my benevolent soul shrinks back.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Soul
Talk about yourself as much as you like, but do not expect others to listen.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Talk
The educated do not share a common body of information, but a common state of mind.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#State
#Information
#Mind
#Body
Sincerity: willingness to spend one's own money.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Money
Taste refers to the past, imagination to the future.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Past
#Imagination
#Future
#Taste
The aim of literary ambition is to demonstrate one's greatness of soul.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Soul
#Literary
#Greatness
#Ambition
The beginning of self-knowledge: recognizing that your motives are the same as other people's.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#Self
#Beginning
#Motives
The beloved is the ultimate fetish.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
The body has a mind of its own.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Mind
#Body
Romantics consider common sense vulgar.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Common sense
The doctrine of the immortality of the soul has more threat than comfort.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Comfort
#Soul
#Doctrine
#Immortality
Promiscuity is like never reading past the first page. Monogamy is like reading the same book over and over.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Past
#First
#Reading
The gods are watching, but idly, yawning.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Gods
The higher the moral tone, the more suspect the speaker.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
The discontented believe that their regrets are about the past.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Past
Poor but happy is not a phrase invented by a poor person.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Poor
Often, when I want to consult my impulses, I cannot find them.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Want
#Impulses
Old age: I fall asleep during the funerals of my friends.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Friends
#Old
#Funerals
Old and young disbelieve one another's truths.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Old
Only the broken-hearted know the truth about love.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
#Truth
Opportunity knocks, but doesn't always answer to its name.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Opportunity
#Name
Orgasm: the genitals sneezing.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Other people's beliefs may be myths, but not mine.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#May
#Beliefs
#Myths
Outside books, we avoid colorful characters.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Books
People believe that photographs are true and therefore cannot be art.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#Art
Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Philosophy likes to keen common sense on the run.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Philosophy
#Common sense
Romance is tempestuous. Love is calm.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
#Romance
Preserving tradition has become a nice hobby, like stamp collecting.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Tradition
Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Procrastination
The power of lying is much less than the power of what is not to be discussed.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Power
#Lying
Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#History
#Trying
#Nature
#Human nature
#Effort
#Psychology
The horse stares at its captor, barely remembering the free kicks of youth.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Youth
Reality is the name we give to our disappointments.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Name
#Reality
#Disappointments
Reason enables us to get around in the world of ideas, but cannot prescribe our thoughts.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#World
#Reason
#Ideas
#Thoughts
Reputation runs behind the current state of affairs.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#State
#Reputation
Rereading, we find a new book.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Rescue someone unwilling to look after himself, and he will cling to you like a dangerous illness.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Will
#Illness
People who abhor solitude may abhor company almost as much.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#May
#Company
#Solitude
Who would not give up wit for power and beauty?
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Power
#Beauty
#Wit
Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
We are more tied to our faults than to our virtues.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Faults
We are prepared for insults, but compliments leave us baffled.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Insults
#Compliments
Well-behaved: he always speaks as if his mother might be listening.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Mother
#Listening
What lies behind appearance is usually another appearance.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Lies
#Appearance
When I prayed for success, I forgot to ask for sound sleep and good digestion.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Success
#Sound
#Sleep
When sages commend excess, Desire is sick.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Desire
#Excess
The passion for money is never fickle.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Money
#Passion
While we are reading, we are all Don Quixote.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Reading
Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Paris
Why do we never expect dull people to be rascals?
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
Without civilization, we would not turn into animals, but vegetables.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Civilization
#Animals
Women encourage men to be childish, then scold them.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Men
#Women
Worried about being a dull fellow? You might develop your talent for being irritating.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Being
#Talent
Writers mean more than they say and say more than they mean.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Writers
Young men preen. Old men scheme.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Old
#Men
Young poets bewail the passing of love; old poets, the passing of time. There is surprisingly little difference.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Love
#Old
#Difference
#Poets
Office politics are bloody-minded, but weak on content.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Politics
#Office
#Content
Many gloat over their own troubles.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
While there's life, there's fear.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Life
#Fear
The wisdom of age: don't stop walking.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Wisdom
#Walking
The lonely become either thoughtful or empty.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Lonely
#Thoughtful
The man in the street is always a stranger.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Man
The man of sensibility is too busy talking about his feelings to have time for good deeds.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Man
#Talking
#Feelings
#Deeds
#Sensibility
The novel avoids the sublime and seeks out the interesting.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
The only peace is being out of earshot.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Being
#Peace
The passions are the same in every conflict, large or small.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Conflict
The ravaged face in the mirror hides the enchanting youth that is the real me.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Youth
The real secrets are not the ones I tell.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Secrets
The sage belongs to the same obsolete repertory as the virtuous maiden and the enlightened monarch.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Ultimately, blind faith is the only kind.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Faith
#Blind
The time I kill is killing me.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Killing
Travelers never think that they are the foreigners.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Foreigners
There are different rules for reading, for thinking, and for talking. Writing blends all three of them.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Thinking
#Writing
#Reading
#Talking
#Rules
Think carefully before asking for justice. Mercy might be safer.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Justice
#Mercy
Thinking about the universe has now been handed over to specialists. The rest of us merely read about it.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Now
#Thinking
#Universe
#Rest
Three meals plus bedtime make four sure blessings a day.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Day
#Blessings
To be successful be ahead of your time, but only a little.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Successful
To confer dignity, forgive. To express contempt, forget.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Forget
#Dignity
#Contempt
To understand a literary style, consider what it omits.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Style
#Literary
To understand someone, find out how he spends his money.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Money
The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant, but seldom carefree.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Laughter
The shades of respectability begin to close about the greying head.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Respectability
I love you is the inscription on Pandora's box.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
If we think about the obvious long enough, it dissolves.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Obvious
Fulfillment is often more trouble than it is worth.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Trouble
#Worth
#Fulfillment
General statements omit what we really want to know. Example: some horses run faster than others.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Want
#Horses
Good parties create a temporary youthfulness.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Hatred observes with more care than love does.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
#Care
#Hatred
Hatred of the mother is familiar, but the mother's hatred still comes as a surprise.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Mother
#Hatred
Human society sustains itself by transforming nature into garbage.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Society
#Nature
Hypocrisy is the outside of cynicism.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Hypocrisy
#Cynicism
Forgiveness is like faith. You have to keep reviving it.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Faith
#Forgiveness
I know that I am what I am. But I am not sure what I am.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
For many, immaturity is an ideal, not a defect.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
I read less and less. I have not forgiven books for their failure to tell me the truth and make me happy.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Failure
#Books
#Truth
I see what you mean, but I do not think what you think.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
I'm being treated like a sex object, cried the lady. No matter. I will take care of it, said Time soothingly.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Will
#Being
#Care
#Lady
#Sex
Ideology has shaped the very sofa on which I sit.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Ideology
If beggars do not hate the rest of us, they are even more abject than I had imagined.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Rest
#Hate
If I play hard to get, soon the phone stops ringing altogether.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Play
If modesty disappeared, so would exhibitionism.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Modesty
If success is a habit, it is a hard one to acquire.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Success
#Habit
If the world would apologize, I might consider a reconciliation.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#World
I have learned to keep to myself how exceptional I am.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you are praying.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Mountains
#Faith
Observe decorum, and it will open a path to morality.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Will
#Open
#Morality
Even boredom has its crises.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Boredom
Even cats grow lonely and anxious.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Lonely
#Cats
Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Habits
Events are called inevitable only after they have occurred.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Events
Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Day
#Act
#Courage
#Bed
Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Will
#History
#Word
#Literary
Excuses change nothing, but make everyone feel better.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Nothing
#Change
#Excuses
Friends are sometimes boring, but enemies never.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Friends
#Enemies
Fail, and your friends feel superior. Succeed, and they feel resentful.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Friends
#Succeed
I did not know I was in my prime until afterwards.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Families in which nothing is ever discussed usually have a lot not to discuss.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Nothing
Fantasy mirrors desire. Imagination reshapes it.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Imagination
#Fantasy
#Desire
Fastidious taste makes enjoyment a struggle.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Struggle
#Taste
#Enjoyment
Few friendships could survive the moodiness of love affairs.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
First literature came to refer only to itself, the literary theory.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#First
#Literary
#Literature
#Theory
Flattery and insults raise the same question: What do you want?
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Want
#Insults
#Flattery
Folly always knows the answer.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Folly
Expensive advertising courts us with hints and images. The ordinary kind merely says, Buy.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Advertising
If you are going to break a Law of Art, make the crime interesting.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Art
#Crime
#Law
Lying just for the fun of it is either art or pathology.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Fun
#Art
#Lying
Magic trick: to make people disappear, ask them to fulfill their promises.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#Magic
#Promises
Malice is always authentic and sincere.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Malice
Middle age went by while I was mourning for my lost youth.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Youth
#Age
#Middle age
#Mourning
Melancholy is as seductive as Ecstasy.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Melancholy
#Ecstasy
Eternity eludes us, even as a thought.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Thought
#Eternity
Mind and body obstruct one another's pleasures.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Mind
#Body
Minds will wander even during the Last Judgment.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Will
#Judgment
Mistakes are the only universal form of originality.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Mistakes
#Originality
Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Innocence
#Greed
#Lust
Money: power at its most liquid.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Power
Moo may represent an idea, but only the cow knows.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#May
#Idea
Most people regard getting their way as a matter of simple justice.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#Justice
Humor does not rescue us from unhappiness, but enables us to move back from it a little.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Humor
#Unhappiness
My mind is led astray by every faint rustle.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Mind
My parents wanted me to solace them for sorrows they denied having had.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Parents
My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Fire
My thought has been shaped by books; my desires by pictures.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Thought
#Books
Never ask a bore a question.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Question
Never try to leap from a standstill.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
No chaos, no creation. Evidence: the kitchen at mealtime.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Creation
#Kitchen
#Chaos
Money is to my social existence what health is to my body.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Money
#Body
#Health
#Existence
In psychoanalysis, only the fee is exactly what it seems to be.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Psychoanalysis
Most reputations are not ruined but forgotten.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Love begins with an image; lust with a sensation.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
#Lust
If you call failures experiments, you can put them in your resume and claim them as achievements.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Imagination has rules, but we can only guess what they are.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Imagination
#Rules
In bridge clubs and in councils of state, the passions are the same.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#State
In love, we worry more about the meaning of silences than the meaning of words.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
#Words
#Worry
#Meaning
In the game of love, the losers are more celebrated than the winners.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Love
In the street, the gaze of desire is furtive or menacing.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Desire
Innocence is thought charming because it offers delightful possibilities for exploitation.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Possibilities
#Thought
#Innocence
#Exploitation
Innocence: I am only stepping on your face because it lies in my path.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Lies
Irony regards every simple truth as a challenge.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Challenge
#Truth
#Irony
Language is the friendliest of the things from which we cannot escape.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Language
Logic teaches rules for presentation, not thinking.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Thinking
#Logic
#Rules
In every death, a busy world comes to an end.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Death
#World
#End
It is possible to interpret without observing, but not to observe without interpreting.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Living alone makes it harder to find someone to blame.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Living
#Blame
Listening to people keeps them entertained.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#Listening
Logic and fact keep interfering with the easy flow of conversation.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Logic
#Fact
#Conversation
Kindness eases everything almost as much as money does.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Money
#Kindness
Kafka: cries of helplessness in twenty powerful volumes.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Journalism never admits that nothing much is happening.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Nothing
#Journalism
Don't stare into a mirror when you are trying to solve a problem.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Trying
Consciousness is our only reprieve from Time.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Consciousness
Creativity makes a leap, then looks to see where it is.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Creativity
Critic's delight: scolding the Mighty Dead.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Cruelty is softened by fear, not pity.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Fear
#Pity
#Cruelty
Cure for an obsession: get another one.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Cure
Cynicism is full of naive disappointments.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Disappointments
#Cynicism
Dancing and running shake up the chemistry of happiness.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Dancing
#Happiness
#Running
Fears and lies intensify consciousness.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Consciousness
#Lies
Conscious thought is the tidying up at the end.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#End
#Thought
A real idea keeps changing and appears in many places.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Idea
Death is frightening, and so is Eternal Life.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Life
#Death
An omnipotent God is the only being with no reason to lie.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#God
#Being
#Reason
#Lie
Affection reproaches, but does not denounce.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Affection
Complainers change their complaints, but they never reduce the amount of time spent in complaining.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Change
#Complaining
#Complaints
A blocked path also offers guidance.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Guidance
A blunt statement can be as false as any other.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
A great reader seldom recognizes his solitude.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Solitude
A happy arrangement: many people prefer cats to other people, and many cats prefer people to other cats.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#Cats
A sense of blessedness comes from a change of heart, not from more blessings.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Heart
#Sense
#Change
#Blessings
After an argument, silence may mean acceptance or the continuation of resistance by other means.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#May
#Argument
#Silence
#Acceptance
After my spectacular failures, I could not be satisfied with an ordinary success.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Success
An academic dialect is perfected when its terms are hard to understand and refer only to one another.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
Bad faith likes discourse on friendship and loyalty.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Faith
#Loyalty
#Friendship
Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Compassion
City people make most of the fuss about the charms of country life.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Life
#People
#Country
Children use all their wiles to get their way with adults. Adults do the same with children.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Children
Children now expect their parents to audition for approval.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Now
#Children
#Parents
#Approval
Cats are inquisitive, but hate to admit it.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Hate
#Cats
Amazing that the human race has taken enough time out from thinking about food or sex to create the arts and sciences.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Time
#Thinking
#Food
#Race
#Sex
Art begins in imitation and ends in innovation.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Art
#Imitation
#Innovation
At sixty, I know little more about wisdom than I did at thirty, but I know a great deal more about folly.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Wisdom
#Folly
As equality increases, so does the number of people struggling for predominance.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#People
#Equality
Art seduces, but does not exploit.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Art
Documents create a paper reality we call proof.
Mason Cooley,
American
Writer
#Reality
#Proof