Mignon McLaughlin

"When threatened, the first thing a democracy gives up is democracy."

"The poor have the same basic pleasures as the rich, and the rich will always resent it."

"Money is the best counterfeit money."

"Money is much more exciting than anything it buys."

"An artist is a socially unattractive person whom socially attractive people make money out of."

"There are a handful of people whom money won't spoil, and we all count ourselves among them."

"Cash is the one gift everyone despises and no one turns down."

"Injure a businessman and he'll try to make you sorry; injure an artist and he'll try to make you immortal."

"Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers."

"There's little enough to be said for nationalism, so let's say it and have done."

"The young are generally full of revolt, and are often pretty revolting about it."

"Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway."

"Even cowards can endure hardship; only the brave can endure suspense."

"We come late, if at all, to wine and philosophy; whiskey and action are easier."

"We work for praise, and dawdle once we have it."

"The fault we admit to is seldom the fault we have, but it has a certain relationship to it, a somewhat similar shape, like that of a sleeve to an arm."

"If you are brave too often, people will come to expect it of you."

"The proud man can learn humility, but he will be proud of it."

"There is always some specific moment when we become aware that our youth is gone; but, years after, we know it was much later."

"When suffering comes, we yearn for some sign from God, forgetting that we have just had one."

"If you can tell anyone about it, it's not the worst thing you ever did."

"Many things can make you miserable for weeks; few can bring you a whole day of happiness."

"The chief reason for drinking is the desire to behave in a certain way, and to be able to blame it on alcohol."

"Air that has been much quarreled in becomes very hard to breathe."

"The best work is done with the heart breaking, or overflowing."

"We waste a lot of time running after people we could have caught by just standing still."

"When a stranger identifies you from a friend's description, it's just as well you didn't hear the description."

"Charity is a good way of reminding God that if we can do it, He can."

"In church, sacred music would make believers of us all—but preachers can be counted on to restore the balance."

"Those who turn to God for comfort may find comfort but I do not think they will find God."

"We climb mountains because they are there, and worship God because He is not."

"My religious position: I think that God could do a lot better, and I'm willing to give Him the chance."

""Your money or your life." We know what to do when a burglar makes this demand of us, but not when God does."

"Whatever we worship, short of God, is sure to be our undoing."

"Whenever we safely land in a plane, we promise God a little something."

"How tired God must be of guilt and loneliness, for that is all we ever bring to Him."

"I often pray, though I’m not really sure Anyone’s listening; and I phrase it carefully, just in case He’s literary."

"Most sermons sound to me like commercials — but I can't make out whether God is the Sponsor or the Product."

"Everybody can write; writers can't do anything else."

"A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote."

"An old racetrack joke reminds you that your program contains all the winners' names. I stare at my typewriter keys with the same thought."

"There's only one person who needs a glass of water oftener than a small child tucked in for the night, and that's a writer sitting down to write."

"We sometimes feel that we have been really understood, but it was always long ago, by someone now dead."

"In every group of intimidated people, each thinks "I will rebel," but each waits for the others."

"Every group of six or more has its inner circle, its outer circle, and its hangers-on."

"Every group feels strong once it has found a scapegoat."

"Albert Einstein when asked what he considered to be the most powerful force in the universe answered: Compound interest!"

"What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want."

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to weave."

"If the pain wanders, do not waste your time with doctors."