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November 08, 2009
50 in 50. #3: “The worst thing about new books . . .”
“ . . . is that they keep us from reading the old ones.” That’s a quote from Joseph Joubert, and it’s just one of about 3,000 featured in the book, If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren’t There More Happy People?” (Subtitle: Smart Quotes For Dumb Times) by John Lloyd and John Michinson.
This is a very useful book for people who need to find clever quotes for writing, speaking or just amazing your friends. Quotes are organized alphabetically by subject, and the subjects range from the mundane to the profound: Under “E,” for example, you can find quotes about eggs, ego, electricity, encouragement, ends, enemies and England.
To test the usefulness of If Ignorance is Bliss, I decided to look for quotes to use in a book I’m writing about communication (which I should be working on right now instead of reading 50 books in 50 days). I found quite a few useful quotes; for instance:
“The truth is more important than the facts.” Frank Lloyd Wright
“Personally, I’m always ready to learn, but I do not always like to be taught.” Winston Churchill
“It is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated.” John Ruskin
“When I see a paragraph shrinking under my eyes like a strip of bacon in a skillet, I know I’m on the right track.” Peter de Vries.
Lest you think this book is all work and no play, be assured that the authors have a sense of humor. They love witticisms as well as funny dumb quotes. For instance: “You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” (Al Capone) “, especially when former President George Bush is concerned. “If you fall out of that window and break both legs, don’t come running to me.” (Groucho Marx)
Need a good quote? Buy this book.
Posted by Alison Davis at November 8, 2009 04:37 PM
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