Wit & Wisdom

“Life is a tragedy full of joy.”

Bernard Malamud, quoted in the Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger

“The press, like fire, is an excellent servant, but a terrible master.”

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James Fenimore Cooper, quoted in the Associated Press

“The ordinary is the proper domain of the artist. The extraordinary can be safely left to journalists.”

James Joyce, quoted in the London Sunday Times

“If someone tells you he is going to make ‘a realistic decision,’ you immediately understand that he has resolved to do something bad.”

Mary McCarthy, quoted in Forbes.com

“The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do harm, but because of those who look at it without doing anything.”?

Albert Einstein, quoted in the Edmond, Okla., Sun

“Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.”

Voltaire, quoted in Time.com

“When a politician decides to make a living of politics, that’s the day he becomes corrupt.”

Jerry Springer, quoted in the London Daily Telegraph