Subject: Characteristics (Page 22)

We would all like a reputation for generosity and we'd all like to buy it cheap.

(1913 – 1983) journalist & author

If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.

(1879 – 1955) German-born physicist

You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.

(1879 – 1974) film producer

Show me a woman with both feet planted firmly on the ground – and I'll show you a girl who can't get her knickers off.

(1958 – ) Australian author

Aim high, and you won't shoot your foot off.

(1917 – 2012) comedian & actress

He is the kind of man who would cut down a redwood tree and then mount the stump to make a speech for conservation.

(1900 – 1965) diplomat & Democratic politician

In some situations I was difficult, in odd moments impossible, in rare moments loathsome, but at my best unapproachably great.

(1906 – 1972) pianist, composer, author, comedian & actor

If you live long enough, the venerability factor creeps in; first, you get accused of things you never did, and later, credited for virtues you never had.

(1907 – 1989) American writer

The secret of charm is bullshit.

(1914 – 1958) American actor

It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.

(1854 – 1900) Irish dramatist, novelist & poet

If only I had a little humility, I would be perfect.

(1938 – ) American businessman & baseball team owner

A conservative is a man who does not think that anything should be done for the first time.

(1864 – 1937) American banker, Assistant Secretary of Treasury

To find out a girl’s faults, praise her to her girl friends.

(1706 – 1790) American statesman, author, scientist & inventor

He lies so bad he hires somebody to call his dogs.

The two women exchanged the kind of glance women use when no knife is handy.

(1905 – 1982) American mystery writer (co-author of Ellery Queen stories

Life is strange; every so often a good man wins.

(1902 – 1963) Danish actor

Somewhere between the Angels and the French lies the rest of humanity.

Samuel Clemens (1835 – 1910) author & humorist

He who hesitates is a damn fool.

(1893 – 1980) actress, playwright, screenwriter & sex symbol

At their core, women fear that men will kill them; at their core, men fear that women will laugh at them.

(1954 – ) security specialist, advisor & author

Good behavior is the last refuge of mediocrity.

(1875 – 1957) stockbroker & man of letters

Every once in a while someone without a single bad habit gets caught.

(1868 – 1930) cartoonist, humorist & journalist