Clever jabs
277 quotes from 161 people
Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol I (31 July 1763) p. 132. [Several editions have the variant “hind legs”.]- Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol I (1754), p. 72 (n. 4)
That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol II (1770) p. 181
Samuel Taylor Coleridge1772–1834Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and Other English Poets (1811–1818), Part I: “Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton. 1811–1812”, Lecture I, p. 36In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism.
Spiro Agnew1918–1996Speech in San Diego (September 11, 1970)
Sydney Smith1771–1845Peter Plymley’s Letters (1808), Letter IVIt requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding.
Sydney Smith1771–1845Lady Holland’s Memoir (1855), Vol. I, ch. 2, pp. 31–32
L. K. Advaniborn 1927To the Indian press as Information and Broadcasting Minister (1977), on its conduct during the EmergencySocial science means inventing a certain brand of human we can understand.
Nassim Nicholas Talebborn 1960The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 95
Pierre Trudeau1919–2000When told that President Richard Nixon had called him an “asshole” (1971), as quoted in Absurdities, Scandals & Stupidities in Politics (2006)He is not only dull himself, but the cause of dullness in others.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Johnson (Boswell) (1784)Cynicism is cheap—you can buy it at any Monoprix store—it’s built into all poor-quality goods.
Graham Greene1904–1991The Comedians (1966), Pt. 1, ch. 1, sct. 3
Stephen Colbertborn 1964“A Mock Columnist, Amok”, in The New York Times (14 October 2007)
Jean Cocteau1889–1963Opium (1929)
Horace Walpole1717–1797Letter to Sir Horace Mann (7 September 1743)