WIST Quotations

De Vries, Peter -- Comfort Me With Apples (1956)

Dave — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 16:33:29 +0000

We pay for security with boredom, for adventure with bother.

Peter De Vries (1910–1993) American editor, novelist, satirist
Comfort Me With Apples (1956)

De Vries, Peter -- Let Me Count the Ways (1965)

Dave — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 21:20:56 +0000

We’re here to use our intelligence, yes, but that ain’t everything. It’s our duty to see through things, but also to see things through. Or I’ll put it another way. We’re not primarily put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.

Peter De Vries (1910–1993) American editor, novelist, satirist
Let Me Count the Ways (1965)

De Vries, Peter -- Mrs. Wallop (1970)

Dave — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 00:16:32 +0000

For the whole thing about matrimony is this: We fall in love with a personality, but we must live with a character. Behind the pretty wallpaper and the brightly painted plaster lurk the yards of tangled wire and twisted pipes, ready to run a short or spring a leak on us without a word of warning.

Peter De Vries (1910–1993) American editor, novelist, satirist
Mrs. Wallop (1970)

Often misquoted as "The difficulty with marriage is that ..."

De Vries, Peter -- The Mackerel Plaza, ch. 12 (1958)

Dave — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 05:00:44 +0000

One dreams of the goddess Fame and winds up with the bitch Publicity.

Peter De Vries (1910–1993) American editor, novelist, satirist
The Mackerel Plaza, ch. 12 (1958)

Spoken by the narrator, Rev. Andrew Mackerel, quoting his deceased wife, Ida May.

De Vries, Peter -- Interview (May 1964) in Roy Newquist, Counterpoint (1964)

Dave — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:01:13 +0000

The difference between a satirist and a humorist is that the satirist shoots to kill while the humorist brings his prey back alive.

Peter De Vries (1910–1993) American editor, novelist, satirist
Interview (May 1964) in Roy Newquist, Counterpoint (1964)