WIST Quotations

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1943-06)

Dave — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 20:01:53 +0000

Eating without conversation is only stoking.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1943-06)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-06)

Dave — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 18:50:49 +0000

Narrow-mindedness: allowing one’s prejudices to become convictions.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-06)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-09)

Dave — Tue, 30 May 2023 16:56:50 +0000

Weather means more when you have a garden. There’s nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it’s soaking in around your green beans.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-09)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-10)

Dave — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 16:49:57 +0000

Housekeeping is like being caught in a revolving door.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-10)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-05)

Dave — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 16:23:23 +0000

Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of trees is lost when raking leaves.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-05)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-07)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:06:33 +0000

Life is like a camel: you can make it do anything except back up.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-07)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-11)

Dave — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:45:00 +0000

It is all right to say exactly what you think if you have learned to think exactly.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-11)

Cox provided a variant of this aphorism in the 1959-01 issue of LHJ: "Anyone has the right to say what he thinks, if he thinks."

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-11)

Dave — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 17:06:31 +0000

A sparkling house is a fine thing if the children aren’t robbed of their luster in keeping it that way.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-11)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-02)

Dave — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 21:28:57 +0000

Questions about the reproductive system should be answered as naturally as ones about the railroad system.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-02)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-03)

Dave — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 20:44:01 +0000

When one considers what adults in their relationships can do to each other, it is frightening to think of what an adult can do to a child.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-03)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-04)

Dave — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 16:17:59 +0000

The reason some parents really enjoy their children is that they take the time to live with them.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-04)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-01)

Dave — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 14:36:36 +0000

To give a little girl a doll that is not to be used any more than the old-fashioned parlor was used is to violate every principle of fair dealing in childhood.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-01)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-02)

Dave — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 14:44:03 +0000

No one is ever warmed by wool pulled over their eyes.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-02)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-02)

Dave — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 17:26:05 +0000

No one is ever warmed by wool pulled over their eyes.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-02)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-02)

Dave — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 20:02:28 +0000

One sure way to lose another woman’s friendship is to try to improve her flower arrangements.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-02)

This was a regularly revisited aphorism for Cox:

One sure way to lose another woman's friendship is to try to improve her husband.
(1955-12)

The quickest way to lose another woman's friendship is to endeavor to improve her husband, her children, or her flower arrangements.
(1959-05)

One sure way to lose another woman's friendship is to try to improve either her children or her flower arrangements.
(1961-07)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-09)

Dave — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 18:02:13 +0000

The illusions of childhood are necessary experience: a child should not be denied a balloon just because an adult knows that sooner or later it will burst.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-09)

See Pratchett.

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1949-02)

Dave — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 14:28:12 +0000

Efficiency is a thief of time when it leaves no leisure.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1949-02)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1949-05)

Dave — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 19:16:29 +0000

Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it will end.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1949-05)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1950-12)

Dave — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 17:20:17 +0000

Our children await Christmas presents like politicians getting in election returns: there’s the Uncle Fred precinct and the Aunt Ruth district still to come in.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1950-12)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1951-09)

Dave — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 20:53:43 +0000

The number of times the toast falls butter side down increases in direct proportion to the value of the rug or the price of the butter.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1951-09)

A variant on the Butter-Side-Down Law.

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1953-05)

Dave — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 17:53:10 +0000

Trouble, like the hill ahead, straightens out when you advance upon it.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1953-05)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1954-08)

Dave — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 15:59:25 +0000

The way to achieve happiness is to have a high standard for yourself and a medium one for everyone else.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1954-08)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1955-06)

Dave — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 15:55:55 +0000

No man knows his true character until he has run out of gas, purchased something on the installment plan, and raised an adolescent.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1955-06)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1955-06)

Dave — Tue, 09 May 2023 17:52:38 +0000

When a man boasts, it is an indication he holds his listener in higher esteem than he does himself.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1955-06)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1955-10)

Dave — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:25:26 +0000

Worry is like sand in an oyster: a little produces a pearl, too much kills the animal.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1955-10)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1956-09)

Dave — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 18:53:38 +0000

Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there’s always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1956-09)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1957-08)

Dave — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 16:14:49 +0000

Parents should work together as efficiently as two bookends.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1957-08)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1960-05)

Dave — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 18:43:26 +0000

Not anything is more responsible for the good old days than the fact that the grownups of one generation always remember the world as it looked to them in their young days, not as it looked to their elders.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1960-05)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1960-08)

Dave — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 14:35:24 +0000

Human beings, like birch trees, often seem more interesting when a little off center.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1960-08)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-01/02)

Dave — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 14:11:24 +0000

Probably no parent is truly born in the moment of birth; the miracle more likely happens in the moment the baby first curls its tiny hand around the parent’s large finger.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-01/02)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-03)

Dave — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 16:45:17 +0000

What moment of ecstasy equals that one in childhood when, after having just been given permission to “go play” with a chum, you are on your way!

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-03)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-03)

Dave — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 15:13:10 +0000

Two tests of integrity: finding money and losing money.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-03)