Quote

A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience.

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
Bills
Injects
Conscience
Stinging
Moral
Irritate
Story
Mosquito
Stories
Mosquitoes
Like
Bores
Drop
Bill

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When one loves one's Art no service seems too hard.
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Whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funeral procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines.
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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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By nature and doctrines I am addicted to the habit of discovering choice places wherein to feed.
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There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.
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In the Big City a man will disappear with the suddenness and completeness of the flame of a candle that is blown out.
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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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Hospitality in the prairie country is not limited. Even if your enemy passes your way, you must feed him before you shoot him.
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She plucked from my lapel the invisible strand of lint (the universal act of woman to proclaim ownership).
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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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We may achieve climate, but weather is thrust upon us.
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Except in streetcars one should never be unnecessarily rude to a lady.
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A burglar who respects his art always takes his time before taking anything else.
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Most wonderful of all are words, and how they make friends one with another.
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It'll be a great place if they ever finish it.
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A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows.
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A good story is like a bitter pill, with the sugar coating inside of it.
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History is bright and fiction dull with homely men who have charmed women.
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It's said that love makes the world go around. Let me tell you, the announcement lacks verification. It's the wind from the dinner horn that does it.
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Take of London fog 30 parts malaria 10 parts, gas leaks 20 parts, dewdrops gathered in a brickyard at sunrise 25 parts odor of honeysuckle 15 parts. Mix. The mixture will give you an approximate conception of a Nashville drizzle.
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