Quotes from Mason Cooley

Three people marooned on a desert island would soon reinvent politics.

The beloved is the ultimate fetish.

You know you're in love when you stop comparing.

The Ancient Mariner seizes the guest at the wedding feast and will not let go until he has told all his story: the prototype of the bore.

Wisdom is founded on memory; happiness on forgetfulness.

Wisdom cannot prevent a fall, but may cushion it.

Wisdom remembers. Happiness forgets.

Thinking about the universe has now been handed over to specialists. The rest of us merely read about it.

After my spectacular failures, I could not be satisfied with an ordinary success.

Imprudence relies on luck, prudence on method. That gives prudence less edge than it expects.

The powerless worship Luck and Fate.

My aspiration now is to get by luck what I could not get by merit.

Antagonistic cooperation is the principle of all markets and many marriages.

Some marriages depend on domestic arguments the way the courts depend on litigation.

Other people's beliefs may be myths, but not mine.

Cynicism is full of naive disappointments.

Proverbial wisdom counsels against risk and change. But sitting ducks fare worst of all.

Wisdom knows when to return death's embrace.

Wisdom is dead. Long live information.

Never try to leap from a standstill.

The Insignificance of Man is a congenial theme; my own insignificance is a sore point.

Rereading, we find a new book.

Humor does not rescue us from unhappiness, but enables us to move back from it a little.

Mistakes are the only universal form of originality.