George Mikes |
"A coward is, as a rule, wiser than a reckless, undaunted hero."--George Mikes, Humour in Memoriam, p82
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"We all eschew certain subjects and leave certain things about which we feel strongly unsaid because we are afraid to say them."--George Mikes, How to be a Yank, p284
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"I love getting letters...because these letters remind me of the fact that I am alive."--George Mikes, How to be a Yank, p284
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"I, at least, am a coward posing as a coward."--George Mikes, How to be a Yank, p285
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"When in doubt, I take everything for a compliment and this rule does a great deal of good to my self-esteem."--George Mikes, How to be a Yank, p286
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"I am serious, but do not necessarily want to be taken seriously."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, pp1-2
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"Cowardice is one of the dominant forces and motives of human development and, on the whole, it is a beneficial and commendable influence."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p2
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"The form of expression has no more to do with the validity of the idea than the colour of food has with its taste or nutritional value."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p2
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"I am a sober observer, objective and matter-of-fact. It is the world that is crazy."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p11
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"[Hitler] meant to destroy the Jews and while he carried this intention hideously far, the fact remains that no single individual contributed more to the establishment and immediate recognition of Israel than Adolph Hitler."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p15
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"Moral indignation is the most suspect of all human emotions. Those who hate homosexuals with an uncontrollable fury are only too often suppressed homosexuals."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p14
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"The philosophers who dare to turn against the tide of accepted beliefs - men who dare to be alone - these are the real heroes."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p14
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"The man who is not afraid of danger is not a hero, but a psychopath."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p18
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"Rationalists, like Euclidean geometers, based their case on a few "self-evident truths." But Einstein convinced the world that there was no such thing as a self-evident truth. A few things were self-evident all right; but they were not true. The shortest way between two points is not the straight line; Time and Length are not absolute notions. This seemed to be the death-knell of Rationalist philosophy. If there is no self-evident truth, there is no Rationalism. But Rationalism refused to lie down and die. Luckily, Rationalism was not quite as rational as all that."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p29
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"Confusion and contradiction have always served humanity better than clear, cold logic."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p31
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"The more desperately you try to extricate your foot [from your mouth], the deeper it will sink into the morass."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p89
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"A man who lets his fear of death overshadow most of his life is a neurotic fool. A man who, after the age of about sixty-five, does not think of the fact that he will not live forever is another kind of fool."--George Mikes, How To Be A Guru, p105
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"Continental people have a sex life; the English have hot water bottles."--George Mikes, 1946, How To Be An Alien, p29
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