Garner’s Quotations: A Modern Miscellany

“If you wear a short enough skirt, the party will come to you.” — Dorothy Parker

“If any two people could ever really get inside each other’s head, it would scare the pee out of both of them.” — John D. MacDonald, Dress Her in Indigo

“The best things in life are free. The second best are very, very expensive.” — Coco Chanel

I’m a sucker for books like Garner’s Quotations. As Dwight Garner points out in his Preface, people used to keep “commonplace” books where they would record bits of conversation, clever sayings from books, and snatches of dialogue from plays, TV, and movies. I found Garner’s Quotations a browser’s delight.

Garner’s Quotations includes a handy Index where you’ll find that there are six quotes from Henry James in this book…and 18 quotes of Clive James. If you’re looking for diversion and entertainment, Garner’s Quotations delivers both! GRADE: A

18 thoughts on “Garner’s Quotations: A Modern Miscellany

  1. patti abbott

    This is the kind of book I love taking out of the library. Although with no one to share the quotes with, perhaps not.

    Reply
  2. DiscoDollyDeb

    My go-to quote: “The world is made for people who are not cursed with self-awareness.” Spoken by Annie in “Bull Durham.”

    Reply
  3. Jeff Meyerson

    “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

    “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member.”

    Both Groucho Marx

    “Always go to other’s people’s funerals. Otherwise, they won’t come to yours.”

    “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

    “Nobody comes here any more, it’s too crowded.”

    All Yogi Berra (of course)

    FRankly, I was expecting playoff predictions today. I love books like this too.

    Reply
      1. Jeff Meyerson

        OK, found all the other posts (Jackie: “Now he doesn’;t have to post for the next 5 days.”) and I downloaded this from the library. Definitely my kind of book.

        When are you going to do a post about Wordle. We are both addicted to the word game after Jeff Smith wrote about it.

      2. george Post author

        Jeff, we just had a painter come in an paint two bedrooms and a hallway. As you know, the prep work to get the rooms ready for the painter took a few days and now we’re in the “settling” mode. Diane, however, has turned into Marie Kondo so before something can go back into one of the bedrooms, it has to be “vetted.” Diane already has three large boxes full of stuff for the Salvation Army Thrift store.

      3. Deb

        Agree about Wordle—it’s totally addictive, so in a way I’m glad it’s only one word a day or I’d spend all day playing it! We have a cut-throat—I mean, friendly—family rivalry to see who can solve the daily Wordle in the fewest tries. So far both John and Lilly have needed as few as three tries. I always need at least four. PROXY took me all six the other day—but I finally got it!

  4. Michael Padgett

    You can fool some of the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, and those are pretty good odds.–Bret Maverick

    Reply
  5. Jeff Meyerson

    Deb, I thought PROXY would be easy for Jackie but it took her 6 too. I’ve done it in 3 five times out of 13. I did have a couple of sixes, including my first try when I didn’t really know what I was doing. Apparently, Jeff Smith and his brother stay up so they can go on at midnight when the new word comes out and they can compete as to who does it fastest.

    Reply

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