When Insults had class
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: «Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.»
«That depends, Sir,» said Disraeli, «on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.»
«He had delusions of adequacy.» – Walter Kerr
«He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.» – Winston Churchill
«A modest little person, with much to be modest about.» – 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)
«Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?» – Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
«He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.» – Abraham Lincoln
«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, in 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
«There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won’t cure.» – Jack E. Leonard
«He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.» – Robert Redford
«They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.» – Thomas Brackett Reed
«In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.» – Charles, Count Talleyrand
«He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.» – Forrest Tucker
«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
«Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.» – Oscar Wilde
«He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts … for support rather than illumination.» – Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
«He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.» – Billy Wilder
«I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.» – Groucho Marx
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