Quote

Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man's starving!

O. Henry

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O. Henry
Age: 47 †
Born: 1862
Born: September 11
Died: 1910
Died: June 5
Journalist
Writer
Greensboro
North Carolina
William Sydney Porter
Olivier Henry
Oliver Henry
Nothing
Poverty
Men
Food
Love
Poor
Religion
Family
Starving
Words
Shadows
Business
Patriotism
Art
Shadow

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The lonesomest thing in all the world is a soul when it is making ready to go on its mysterious, far journey.
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When I see a shipwreck, I like to know what caused the disaster...I learned nothing but the glow that wrapped her face when the soup came. That's the story.
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I'll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.
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If there ever was an aviary overstocked with jays it is that Yaptown-on-the-Hudson, call New York. Cosmopolitan they call it, you bet. So's a piece of fly-paper. You listen close when they're buzzing and trying to pull their feet out of the sticky stuff. Little old New York's good enough for us--that's what they sing.
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Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.
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The magi, as you know, were wise men wonderfully wise men who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents.
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Now, girls, if you want to observe a young man hustle out after a pick and shovel, just tell him that your heart is in some other fellow's grave. Young men are grave-robbers by nature.
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History is bright and fiction dull with homely men who have charmed women.
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Humans were denied the speech of animals. The only common ground of communication upon which dogs and men can get together is in fiction.
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Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
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Except in streetcars one should never be unnecessarily rude to a lady.
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All of us have to be prevaricators, hypocrites, and liars every day of our lives otherwise the social structure would fall into pieces the first day. We must act in one another's presence just as we must wear clothes. It is for the best
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Beauty is Nature in perfection circularity is its chief attribute. Behold the full moon, the enchanting golf ball, the domes of splendid temples, the huckleberry pie, the wedding ring, the circus ring, the ring for the waiter, and the round of drinks.
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It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
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It ain't the roads we take it's what's inside of us that makes us turn out the way we do.
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There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.
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A burglar who respects his art always takes his time before taking anything else.
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I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lamp posts and newspaper stands.
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If you can't write a story that pleases yourself, you will never please the public. But in writing the story forget the public.
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Of habit, the power that keeps the earth from flying to pieces though there is some silly theory of gravitation.
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