Mason Cooley Quotes

Victorian sorrow: the stars are winking in the sky, but not for us.

Bad faith likes discourse on friendship and loyalty.

Fears and lies intensify consciousness.

Transcendence is something between a metaphor and a miracle.

Imagination has rules, but we can only guess what they are.

Arrogance frowns; pride smiles.

Mistakes are the only universal form of originality.

Preserving tradition has become a nice hobby, like stamp collecting.

Deconstruction glorifies the critic, humiliates the author, and makes the reader wonder why he bothered.

In the theater of confusion, knowing the location of the exits is what counts.

The lion cares less about being king of the beasts than about finding his dinner.

The ravaged face in the mirror hides the enchanting youth that is the real me.

Without a little negligence, life would be intolerable.

For many, immaturity is an ideal, not a defect.

People who expect deference resent mere civility.

Mild brown eyes beckon me to the past, but memory provides no clue.

Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference.

Emblem: the carapace of the great crowned snail is painted with all the flags of the United Nations.

Three meals plus bedtime make four sure blessings a day.

When I prayed for success, I forgot to ask for sound sleep and good digestion.

Malice is always authentic and sincere.

Astrology: do we make a hullabaloo among the stars, or do they make a hullabaloo down here?

Beggars market their incapacity.

The narcissist enjoys being looked at and not looking back.

The lonely become either thoughtful or empty.

Romance is tempestuous. Love is calm.

Swindlers are notoriously gullible.

The beloved is the ultimate fetish.

Trust, but look for the exits.

Many have attempted unnatural acts, but Nature has always shown the way.

Vanity is easily duped. Ambition, not.

Fantasy mirrors desire. Imagination reshapes it.

Commerce is greedy. Ideology is blood-thirsty.

Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence.

Moo may represent an idea, but only the cow knows.

Fluency avoids hard thoughts.

Plato's Symposium shows that flirtation and philosophy can further one another.

Imprudence gets us into more trouble than actual misdeeds do.

To avoid taking responsibility, I become unresponsive but hang on until the other person leaves me.

The negative always wins at last, but I like it none the better for that.

Excuses change nothing, but make everyone feel better.

Cure for an obsession: get another one.

We are prepared for insults, but compliments leave us baffled.

Fear of trying causes paralysis. Trying causes only trembling and sweating.

Mistrust makes life difficult. Trust makes it risky.

The little suckings and smackings of the perversions are the sounds of joyous infancy.

Poor but happy is not a phrase invented by a poor person.

Unemployment diminishes people. Leisure enlarges them.

The telephone gives us the happiness of being together yet safely apart.

A quick smile is more seductive than a slinky dress.