13 quotes
The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.
The Enchanted (1933)
Young girls are the chatelaines of truth; they must see that it is protected, that the guilty lead the life of the guilty, even if the world rocks on its foundations.
Electra (1937)
As soon as war is declared it will be impossible to hold the poets back. Rhyme is still the most effective drum.
Tiger at the Gates (1935)
You're an attorney! It's your duty to lie, conceal, and distort everything, and slander everybody.
A golf course is the epitome of all that is purely transitory in the universe; a space not to dwell in, but to get over as quickly as possible.
When you see a woman who can go nowhere without a staff of admirers, it is not so much because they think she is beautiful, it is because she has told them they are handsome.
Everyone always dies for his country. If you have lived in it, well and wisely and actively, you die for it too.
Tiger at the Gates (1935)
There is no better way of exercising the imagination than the study of law. No poet ever interpreted nature as freely as a lawyer interprets the truth.
Tiger at the Gates (1935)
To win a woman in the first place one must please her, then undress her, and then somehow get her clothes back on her. Finally, so she will allow you to leave her, you've got to annoy her.
Amphitryon 38 (1929)
In wartime a man is called a hero. It doesn't make him any braver, and he runs for his life. But at least it's a hero who is running away.
Tiger at the Gates (1935)
Born enemies don't fight. Nations you would say were designed to go to war against each other — by their skins, their language, their smell: always jealous of each other, always hating each other — they're not the ones who fight. You will find the real antagonists in nations fate has groomed and made ready for the same war.
Tiger at the Gates (1935)
Only the mediocre are always at their best.
Attributed The Beauty Principal (1984)
The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made.
Attributed Murphy's Law Book Two : More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong (1980)