Leo Rosten Quotes (22 quotations)
1. A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead. - Leo Rosten
2. 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. - Leo Rosten
3. Acting is a form of deception, and actors can mesmerize themselves almost as easily as an audience. - Leo Rosten
4. An angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body for the service of Christendom and the church. - Leo Rosten
5. Conservative: One who admires radicals centuries after they're dead. - Leo Rosten
6. Extremists think communication means agreeing with them. - Leo Rosten
7. For some not to be martyrs is martyrdom indeed. - Leo Rosten
8. Happiness comes only when we push our brains and hearts to the farthest reaches of which we are capable. - Leo Rosten
9. Humor is the affectionate communication of insight. - Leo Rosten
10. 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. - Leo Rosten
11. I cannot believe that the purpose of life is (merely) to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. I think it is above all to matter, to count, to stand for something. To have it make some difference that you lived at all. - Leo Rosten
12. I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. - Leo Rosten
13. I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe. - Leo Rosten
14. I will never give in to old age until I become old. And I'm not old yet! - Leo Rosten
15. If at first you don't succeed, before you try again, stop to figure out what you did wrong. - Leo Rosten
16. If you are going to do something wrong at least enjoy it. - Leo Rosten
17. If you're going to do something wrong, at least enjoy it. - Leo Rosten
18. Most men do not mature, they simply grow taller. - Leo Rosten
19. 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. - Leo Rosten
20. Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them. - Leo Rosten
21. The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it. - Leo Rosten
22. There are no greater wretches in the world than many of those whom people in general take to be happy. - Leo Rosten
2. 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. - Leo Rosten
3. Acting is a form of deception, and actors can mesmerize themselves almost as easily as an audience. - Leo Rosten
4. An angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body for the service of Christendom and the church. - Leo Rosten
5. Conservative: One who admires radicals centuries after they're dead. - Leo Rosten
6. Extremists think communication means agreeing with them. - Leo Rosten
7. For some not to be martyrs is martyrdom indeed. - Leo Rosten
8. Happiness comes only when we push our brains and hearts to the farthest reaches of which we are capable. - Leo Rosten
9. Humor is the affectionate communication of insight. - Leo Rosten
10. 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. - Leo Rosten
11. I cannot believe that the purpose of life is (merely) to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. I think it is above all to matter, to count, to stand for something. To have it make some difference that you lived at all. - Leo Rosten
12. I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. - Leo Rosten
13. I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe. - Leo Rosten
14. I will never give in to old age until I become old. And I'm not old yet! - Leo Rosten
15. If at first you don't succeed, before you try again, stop to figure out what you did wrong. - Leo Rosten
16. If you are going to do something wrong at least enjoy it. - Leo Rosten
17. If you're going to do something wrong, at least enjoy it. - Leo Rosten
18. Most men do not mature, they simply grow taller. - Leo Rosten
19. 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. - Leo Rosten
20. Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them. - Leo Rosten
21. The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it. - Leo Rosten
22. There are no greater wretches in the world than many of those whom people in general take to be happy. - Leo Rosten
