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Humor is, I think, the subtlest and chanciest of literary forms. It is surely not accidental that there are a thousand novelists, essayists, poets or journalists for each humorist. It is a long, long time between James Thurbers.

Leo Rosten

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Leo Rosten
Age: 88 †
Born: 1908
Born: January 1
Died: 1997
Died: January 1
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Leo Calvin Rosten
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More quotes by Leo Rosten

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Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.
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Thinking is harder work than hard work.
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If you are going to do something wrong, at least enjoy it.
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The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make a difference that you lived at all-using the talents that God has given you for the betterment of others.
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The love of money is the source of an enormous amount of good the fact that the good is a by-product of the selfish pursuit of riches has nothing to do with its indisputable value.
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What's green, hangs on a wall and whistles? [A Herring]
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Where there is too much, something is missing.
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Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.
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Where was it ever promised us that life on this earth can ever be easy, free from conflict and uncertainty, devoid of anguish and wonder and pain? … The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make some difference that you lived at all.
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A writer writes not because he is educated but because he is driven by the need to communicate. Behind the need to communicate is the need to share. Behind the need to share is the need to be understood.
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Extremists think 'communication' means agreeing with them.
Leo Rosten
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O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales.
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The first printed mention of bagels... is to be found in the Community Regulations of Kracow, Poland, for the year 1610 which stated that bagels would be given as a gift to any woman in childbirth.
Leo Rosten
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Her cooking suggested she had attended the Cordon Noir.
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Satire is focused bitterness.
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Acting is a form of deception, and actors can mesmerize themselves almost as easily as an audience.
Leo Rosten
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Words must surely be counted among the most powerful drugs man ever invented.
Leo Rosten
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The writer wants to be understood much more than he wants to be respected or praised or even loved. And that, perhaps, is what makes him different from others.
Leo Rosten
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You understand people better if you look at them-no matter how old or impressive or important they may be-as if they were children. For most men never mature they simply grow taller.
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Money can't buy happiness, but neither can poverty.
Leo Rosten