Quote #35

Every time is a time for comedy in a world of tension that would languish without it. But I cannot confine myself to lightness in a period of human life that demands light ... We all know that, as the old adage has it, 'It is later than you think.' ..., but I also say occasionally: 'It is lighter than you think.' In this light let's not look back in anger, or forward in fear, but around in awareness.

More from James Thurber

  1. I do not have a psychiatrist and I do not want one, for the simple reason that if he listened to me long enough, he might become disturbed.
  2. The dog has got more fun out of Man than Man has got out of the dog, for the clearly demonstrable reason that Man is the more laughable of …
  3. In order to be eligible to play it was necessary for him to keep up in his studies, a very difficult matter, for while he was not dumber th…
  4. The dog has seldom been successful in pulling Man up to its level of sagacity, but Man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.
  5. Her own mother lived the latter years of her life in the horrible suspicion that electricity was dripping invisibly all over the house.
  6. I am not a dog lover. A dog lover to me means a dog that is in love with another dog.
  7. If I have sometimes seemed to make fun of Woman, I assure you it has only been for the purpose of egging her on.
  8. He picked out this sentence in a New Yorker casual of mine: 'After dinner, the men moved into the living room,' and he wanted to know why I…

All James Thurber quotes