1880 – 1956. American philologist, writer, journalist. Known as the Sage of Baltimore, even as that might be an overstatement – for he was known to dabble in racism and anti-Semitism.
Quotes:
1. A friend is a person who shares your delusions, fears and superstitions.
2. It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake. Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.
3. Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
4. Samuel Johnson called patriotism scoundrel’s last refuge. It’s true, but there is something even worse: it is the first, last and middle range of fools.
5. Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing.
6. Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
7. A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
8. The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.
9. Gentleman is a man who speaks the truth in thirty cases out of hundred.
10. No show, however good, could conceivably be good forever.
