Quotes from Mason Cooley

People who abhor solitude may abhor company almost as much.

A great reader seldom recognizes his solitude.

Living alone makes it harder to find someone to blame.

Melancholy is as seductive as Ecstasy.

Think carefully before asking for justice. Mercy might be safer.

Critic's delight: scolding the Mighty Dead.

Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you are praying.

Commerce is greedy. Ideology is blood-thirsty.

Dogs often remind us of the human, ail-too human. Cats, never.

An adolescent is both an impulsive child and a self-starting adult.

Great talkers are trying to fill the gap between themselves and others, but only widen it.

Old and young disbelieve one another's truths.

By the time I have clarified a thought, I no longer want to think it.

Yearning wants mostly to perpetuate itself.

The aphorism wants to be at the same time both main line and off beat.

The novelty we want is always close to the familiar.

It's no good being exclusive if nobody wants in.

Faith no doubt moves mountains, but not necessarily to where we want them.

Birth dates and bathroom scales tell more truth than I want to know.

Lovers never want to say "I love you" at the same moment. Hence all the love stories.

My parents wanted me to solace them for sorrows they denied having had.

Seeing my malevolent face in the mirror, my benevolent soul shrinks back.

If modesty disappeared, so would exhibitionism.

Magic lives in curves, not angles.