Political correctness is driving machismo underground and recalling effeminacy from exile. Mason Cooley
Posterity – the forlorn child of nineteenth century optimism – grows ever harder to conceive. Mason Cooley
The best propaganda omits rather than invents. Mason Cooley
I am easy-going right up to the borders of my self-interest. Mason Cooley
Self-pity makes people callous. Mason Cooley
Sloth, not ill-will, makes me unjust. Mason Cooley
Thinking about the universe has now been handed over to specialists. The rest of us merely read about it. Mason Cooley
Suspicion is the beginning of wisdom, and of madness. Mason Cooley
Logic teaches rules for presentation, not thinking. Mason Cooley
The routines of tourism are even more monotonous than those of daily life. Mason Cooley
The same old thing – even if it’s champagne – is still the same old thing. Mason Cooley
Violence stops thought. Hence its popularity as a pain-killer. Mason Cooley
Theory can leave questions unanswered, but practice has to come up with something. Mason Cooley
Self-sacrifice usually contains an unspoken demand for payment. Mason Cooley
Sacred or not, sacrifice is an ugly business. Mason Cooley
Life is struggle and sleep. Mason Cooley
Boast quietly, with decorum. Mason Cooley
Events are called inevitable only after they have occurred. Mason Cooley
Intuition is often mistaken, but not altogether. Mason Cooley
Readers transform a library from a mausoleum into many theaters. Mason Cooley
Love talks and talks. Lust is brief and to the point. Mason Cooley
Magic trick: to make people disappear, ask them to fulfill their promises. Mason Cooley
If we think about the obvious long enough, it dissolves. Mason Cooley
Self-blame usually has an undertone of self-congratulation. Mason Cooley
Many think that assigning blame settles matters. Mason Cooley
A crisis unmasks everyone. Mason Cooley
Denial of one appetite sharpens the others. Mason Cooley
I cling to depression, thinking it a form of truth. Mason Cooley
Reading about ethics is about as likely to improve one’s behavior as reading about sports is to make one into an athlete. Mason Cooley
For many, immaturity is an ideal, not a defect. Mason Cooley
Old age likes indecency. It’s a sign of life. Mason Cooley
Innovation violates tradition – attacks it in public and steals from it in private. Mason Cooley
The Media: bold sex and violence, timid politics and morals. Mason Cooley
I keep renaming my motives, but continue doing the same things. Mason Cooley
The beginning of self-knowledge: recognizing that your motives are the same as other people’s. Mason Cooley
The self-righteous feel no need to be charming, and thus double their offensiveness. Mason Cooley
Courage, determination, and hard work are all very nice, but not so nice as an oil well in the back yard. Mason Cooley
When a paradox is widely believed, it is no longer recognized as a paradox. Mason Cooley
Pornography does not inspire violence, but you can break a leg trying to imitate it. Mason Cooley
In ethics, prudence is not an important virtue, but in the world it is almost everything. Mason Cooley
Sensuality takes planning and work. Mason Cooley
Fastidious taste makes enjoyment a struggle. Mason Cooley
We worship the aesthetic, but we do not have faith in it. Mason Cooley
Affection reproaches, but does not denounce. Mason Cooley
Alcohol postpones anxiety, then multiplies it. Mason Cooley
Avant-garde art jousts with propriety, but takes care never to unseat it. Mason Cooley
Arrogance frowns; pride smiles. Mason Cooley
Whether I give to a beggar or not, his existence puts me in the wrong. Mason Cooley
Beggars beg to get money, not to reproach the passer-by. Mason Cooley
A sense of blessedness comes from a change of heart, not from more blessings. Mason Cooley
Enough candor! Now some flattery, if you please. Mason Cooley
Without the blessing of cowardice, the world would long since have been torn to bits. Mason Cooley
Bravery despite defeat is praiseworthy. Victory despite cowardice is beyond praise. Mason Cooley
The etiquette of romantic love is as elaborate as that surrounding the Emperor of China. Mason Cooley
Existence is not a mystery unless you think it has a meaning. Mason Cooley
Futility has become a great subject, full of opportunities. Mason Cooley
Glamour looks eloquent but seldom talks. Mason Cooley
We take refuge in illness and then are trapped there. Mason Cooley
Wisdom is dead. Long live information. Mason Cooley
Ideology has shaped the very sofa on which I sit. Mason Cooley
The supposed unhappiness of the rich is always a cheerful topic of conversation. Mason Cooley
A sympathetic look always makes me feel sorry for myself. Mason Cooley
Symbolism erects a facade of respectability to hide the indecency of dreams. Mason Cooley
If suffering brought wisdom, the dentist’s office would be full of luminous ideas. Mason Cooley
A suburb is an attempt to get out of reach of the city without having the city be out of reach. Mason Cooley
The man in the street is always a stranger. Mason Cooley
Sophistication knows the score, but is powerless to change it. Mason Cooley
Sentimentality is the respect the cold-hearted pay to feeling. Mason Cooley
Romance is tempestuous. Love is calm. Mason Cooley
A restaurant with candles and flowers evokes more reveries than the Isle of Bali does. Mason Cooley
A successful restaurant makes everything in it, including the patrons, seem a little better than they are. Mason Cooley
The prison is the state writ small. Mason Cooley