Parker, Dorothy quotes
1893-1967 American Humorous WriterBrevity is the soul of lingerie.
Parker, Dorothy
Dress
Where s the man could ease a heart, like a satin gown?
Parker, Dorothy
Dress
This book is not to be tossed lightly aside, but to be hurled with great force.
Parker, Dorothy
Books - Reading
This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
Parker, Dorothy
Critics and Criticism
Why is it no one ever sent me yet one perfect limousine, do you suppose? Ah no, it s always just my luck to get one perfect rose.
Parker, Dorothy
Giving
Gratitude -- the meanest and most sniveling attribute in the world.
Parker, Dorothy
Gratitude
Those who have mastered etiquette, who are entirely, impeccably right, would seem to arrive at a point of exquisite dullness.
Parker, Dorothy
Etiquette
Hollywood money isn t money. It s congealed snow, melts in your hand, and there you are.
Parker, Dorothy
Hollywood
I can t talk about Hollywood. It was a horror to me when I was there and it s a horror to look back on. I can t imagine how I did it. When I got away from it I couldn t even refer to the place by name. Out there, I called it.
Parker, Dorothy
Hollywood
Scratch a lover, and find a foe.
Parker, Dorothy
Lovers
Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch is, and it darts away.
Parker, Dorothy
Love
You can lead a horticulture but you can t make her think.
Parker, Dorothy
Leaders and Leadership
Enjoyed it! One more drink and I d have been under the host.
Parker, Dorothy
Parties
Drink, and dance and laugh and lie, love the reeling midnight through, for tomorrow we shall die! (But, alas, we never do.)
Parker, Dorothy
Parties
The two most beautiful words in the English language are: Check Enclosed.
Parker, Dorothy
Words
He [Robert Benchley] and I had an office so tiny that an inch smaller and it would have been adultery.
Parker, Dorothy
Office
I require three things in a man. He must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid.
Parker, Dorothy
Men
Good work, Mary. We all knew you had it in you.
Parker, Dorothy
Pregnancy
It s not the tragedies that kill us, it s the messes.
Parker, Dorothy
Tragedies
Razors pain you; rivers are damp; acids stain you; and drugs cause cramp. Guns aren t lawful; nooses give; gas smells awful; you might as well live.
Parker, Dorothy
Suicide
Sorrow is tranquility remembered in emotion.
Parker, Dorothy
Sorrow
I don t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn t true.
Parker, Dorothy
Gossip
She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.
Parker, Dorothy
Acting and Actors
The best way to keep children at home is to make the home a pleasant atmosphere and let the air out of the tires.
Parker, Dorothy
Children
Art is a form of catharsis.
Parker, Dorothy
Arts and Artists
They sicken at the calm that know the storm.
Parker, Dorothy
Adversity
All those writers who write about their childhood! Gentle God, if I wrote about mine you wouldn t sit in the same room with me.
Parker, Dorothy
Autobiography
I shall stay the way I am because I do not give a damn.
Parker, Dorothy
Apathy
Work is the province of cattle.
Parker, Dorothy
Work
Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.
Parker, Dorothy
Wit
There s a helluva distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.
Parker, Dorothy
Wit
If you re going to write, don t pretend to write down. It s going to be the best you can do, and it s the fact that it s the best you can do that kills you.
Parker, Dorothy
Writers and Writing