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Mason Cooley

63 quotes

Mason Cooley (1927–2002) was an American aphorist known for his witty, compact observations about modern urban life, relationships, and human nature. A professor of English and French at the College of Staten Island, Cooley published several collections of aphorisms that are admired for their precision and sardonic humor.

“Staid middle age loves the hurricane passions of opera.”

— Mason Cooley

Age

All Quotes by Mason Cooley

“Humor does not rescue us from unhappiness, but enables us to move back from it a little.”

— Mason Cooley

Humor

“People believe that photographs are true and therefore cannot be art.”

— Mason Cooley

Art

“Romance is tempestuous. Love is calm.”

— Mason Cooley

Love

“Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort.”

— Mason Cooley

History

“When I prayed for success, I forgot to ask for sound sleep and good digestion.”

— Mason Cooley

Success

“Human society sustains itself by transforming nature into garbage.”

— Mason Cooley

Nature

“The time I kill is killing me.”

— Mason Cooley

Time

“Consciousness is our only reprieve from Time.”

— Mason Cooley

Time

“Amazing that the human race has taken enough time out from thinking about food or sex to create the arts and sciences.”

— Mason Cooley

Amazing

“At sixty, I know little more about wisdom than I did at thirty, but I know a great deal more about folly.”

— Mason Cooley

Wisdom

“Imagination has rules, but we can only guess what they are.”

— Mason Cooley

Imagination

“Dancing and running shake up the chemistry of happiness.”

— Mason Cooley

Happiness

“Taste refers to the past, imagination to the future.”

— Mason Cooley

Future

“As equality increases, so does the number of people struggling for predominance.”

— Mason Cooley

Equality

“Irony regards every simple truth as a challenge.”

— Mason Cooley

Truth

“I'm being treated like a sex object, cried the lady. No matter. I will take care of it, said Time soothingly.”

— Mason Cooley

Time

“Office politics are bloody-minded, but weak on content.”

— Mason Cooley

Politics

“Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.”

— Mason Cooley

Courage

“Travelers never think that they are the foreigners.”

— Mason Cooley

Travel

“Young poets bewail the passing of love old poets, the passing of time. There is surprisingly little difference.”

— Mason Cooley

Time