We say that we don’t understand, not humbly, but petulantly, to fault the speaker for pretension, or obscurity, or knowledge of the subject.
Self-Loving
We all come into this world with our little egos equipped with individual horns. If we don’t blow them, who will?
—DeWitt
Sometimes we laugh because it’s funny, sometimes to be polite or to be rude; but usually to show that we understand the joke.
To have taste is to have too much confidence in it.
Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, and Sanctimony.
Some are stingier with praise out of high principle than any are, out of avarice, with money.
Some accept praise reluctantly, as if not quite able to believe that others can discern their subtle yet profound merit.
It is only out of politeness that most writers cite someone else as their favorite author.
We reserve our warmest admiration, not for what is utterly beyond us, but for what we secretly believe we might have done ourselves on our very best day.
Being bad at math does not make you good at art.
An American has no betters, as far as he knows.