A couple of recent posts touched on the loss of civil discourse in our public square and reminded me of a Viewpoint post from long ago which catalogued a sampling of famous quotes that raise the act of insult to an artform. Some of them are funny and they're all clever. Enjoy:
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -- Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -- Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." -- Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -- Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill. "Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second, if there is one." -- Winston Churchill's response
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." -- Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." -- John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -- Irvin S. Cobb
"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." -- Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." -- Paul Keating
"He had delusions of adequacy." -- Walter Kerr
"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
"Winston, if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee!" -- Lady Astor to Winston Churchill at a dinner party. "Madam, if I were your husband, I would drink it!" -- Winston Churchill, in response
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -- Oscar Wilde