Leo Rosten Quotes (27 Quotes)


    An angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body for the service of Christendom and the church.

    In his authoritative book The Joys of Yiddish, ... an excellent and praiseworthy housewife.

    Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them.

    Any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad.

    Courage is the capacity to confirm what can be imagined.


    You can understand and relate to most people better if you look at them -- no matter how old or impressive they may be -- as if they are children. For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much -- we simply grow taller. O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales.

    A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead.

    Why did God give me two ears and one mouth? So that I will hear more and talk less.

    First-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire third-rate people.

    The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it.

    Extremists think "communication" means agreeing with them.

    Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense.

    I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.

    Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.

    Humor is, I think, the subtlest 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.

    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.

    Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.

    Happiness comes only when we push our brains and hearts to the farthest reaches of which we are capable.

    I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.

    If you are going to do something wrong at least enjoy it.

    I will never give in to old age until I become old. And I'm not old yet.

    We see things as we are, not as they are.

    Words must surely be counted among the most powerful drugs man ever invented.

    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.


    Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.

    Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.


    More Leo Rosten Quotations (Based on Topics)


    Courage - Sense & Perception - Jokes & Humor - Children - Truth - Babies - Religions & Spirituality - People - Life - Happiness - Christianity - Belief & Faith - Poets - Literature - Conservative - Body - Service - Angels - Proverbs - View All Leo Rosten Quotations

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