Rosten, Leo quotes
1908-1997 Polish Born American Political ScientistExtremists think communication means agreeing with them.
Rosten, Leo
Communication
Courage is the capacity to confirm what can be imagined.
Rosten, Leo
Courage
In the dark colony of night, when I consider man s magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.
Rosten, Leo
Books - Reading
Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.
Rosten, Leo
Humor
Humor is, I think, the sublets 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
Rosten, Leo
Humor
Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense.
Rosten, Leo
Truth
Satire is focused bitterness.
Rosten, Leo
Sarcasm
If you are going to do something wrong, at least enjoy it.
Rosten, Leo
Enjoyment
We see things as we are, not as they are.
Rosten, Leo
Appearance
I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.
Rosten, Leo
Belief
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. 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.
Rosten, Leo
Writers and Writing
Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.
Rosten, Leo
Writers and Writing
The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can t help it.
Rosten, Leo
Writers and Writing