Children ask better questions than do adults. “May I have a cookie?” “Why is the sky blue?” and “What does a cow say?” are far more likely to elicit a cheerful response than “Where is your manuscript?” “Why haven’t you called?” and “Who’s your lawyer?”
Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist
“Children: Pro or Con,” Metropolitan Life (1978)
(Source)
Quotations about:
charm
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
In the theater, as in life, we prefer a villain with a sense of humor to a hero without one.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)
(Source)
Charming villains have always had a decided social advantage over well-meaning people who chew with their mouths open.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Common Courtesy, “In the Quest for Equality, Civilization Itself Is Maligned” (1985)
(Source)
Originally published in The New Republic in 1984.
Beauties in vain their pretty Eyes may roll;
Charms strike the Sight, but Merit wins the Soul.
Civility costs nothing, and buys everything.
Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) English aristocrat, letter writer, poet [née Pierrepont]
Letter to Mary, Countess of Bute (30 May 1756)
(Source)
To be agreeable while disagreeing — that’s an art.
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American billionaire
The Sayings of Chairman Malcolm, “Arrived” (1978)
It must be added, lest we be reproached for leaving out details important to our readers’ understanding of subsequent events, that the lady seemed to have all the attributes of beauty, grace and charm that make a young man’s heart beat faster and cause his eyes to widen, lest they miss the least nuance of expression or gesture. It need hardly be added that Khaavren was just of the type to appreciate all of these qualities; that is to say, he was young and a man, and had, moreover, a vivid imagination which allowed his thoughts to penetrate, if not the mind of the lady opposite him, at least the folds and angles of her gown.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
The Phoenix Guards (1991)
It’s innocence when it charms us, ignorance when it doesn’t.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 10 (1966)
(Source)
After sitting next to Mr. Gladstone I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (1872-1956) (Attributed)
Oozing charm from every pore,
He oiled his way around the floor.Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) American dramatist, lyricist, composer
“You Did It,” My Fair Lady (1956)
“Charm” — which means the power to effect work without employing brute force — is indispensable to women. Charm is a woman’s strength just as strength is a man’s charm.
Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) British sexologist, physician, social reformer [Henry Havelock Ellis]
The Task of Social Hygiene (1912)
When a rogue kisses you, count your teeth.
[Ven a ganef kusht, darf men zikh di tseyn ibertseyln.]
[װען אַ גנבֿ קושט, דאַרף מען זיך די צײן איבערצײלן.]
(Other Authors and Sources)
Yiddish proverb
(Source)
Alt. trans.: "When a thief kisses you, count your teeth."
The only wa tu pleze evra boddy, is tu make evry boddy think yu ar a bigger fule than tha ar.
[The only way to please everybody is to make everybody think you are a bigger fool than they are.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
His Sayings, ch. 45 (1867)
For if he wou’d try effectually to acquire the real Science or TASTE of Life; he wou’d certainly discover, “That a RIGHT MIND, and GENEROUS AFFECTION, had more Beauty and Charm, than all other Symmetrys in the World besides.”
Anthony Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713) English politician and philosopher
Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, Vol. 3, “Miscellany III,” ch. 3 (1711)
(Source)
Only actions give life strength; only moderation gives it a charm.
[Nur Taten geben dem Leben Stärke, nur Maß ihm Reiz.]
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825) German writer, art historian, philosopher, littérateur [Johann Paul Friedrich Richter; pseud. Jean Paul]
Titan, Jubilee 35, cycle 145 (1803) [tr. Brooks (1863)]
(Source)
Often only the first part is given as a quotation (or even just as a "German proverb").
(Source (German)). Alternate translations:Only deeds give strength to life, and only measure gives it charm.
[Source (1858)]Only deeds give strength to life, only moderation gives it charm.
[Source (1896)]
All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.
Cyril Connolly (1903-1974) English intellectual, literary critic and writer.
Enemies of Promise, ch. 16 (1938)
It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
Lady Windemere’s Fan, Act 1 [Lord Darlington] (1892)
(Source)
We are all born charming, frank, and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.