Crankisms | Page 3

as the human voice--to the one who is doing the
talking!
60
Words may be mere wind, but then so is a tornado.
61
Laugh, and the world laughs with you; cry, and the world laughs at
you.
62
A proverbial expression is often a crystallized lie which we should like
to believe.
63
Because everything is for the best it does not follow that it is for our
best.

64
It is easier to moralize than to be moral.
65
The difference between an actress on the stage and a woman not on the
stage is a matter of here and there.
66
Ignorance is not so surprising, nor such a mark of inferiority, as
unwillingness to learn.
67
He who grows indignant when his veracity is questioned generally has
good and sufficient reason therefor.
68
Our joys are mainly those of prospect and retrospect.
69
It is not to be expected that the average man should know what a real
woman is like--he so rarely sees one.
70
The Chinese promise and never intend to perform; we promise and do
intend to perform.
The result is about the same.
71
Woman regards the criticizing of her sex as her own prerogative, and
criticizes more bitterly than any man would think of doing; but she

resents any criticism, no matter how just, from man.
72
Lambs, it is true, gambol, but in due time they all get fleeced.
73
What we need is some philosopher to tell us how to be happy when we
have every reason for being unhappy.
74
The most striking trait of the average man is unwillingness to be
convinced--that we are right and he is wrong.
75
If man were so constituted that he could pat himself on the back
gracefully, or kick himself effectively, he would spend most of his
spare time doing one or the other.
76
Most of us live as if we expected to be judged from our epitaph rather
than from our conduct.
77
The world is a paradise for fools, a purgatory or worse for others.
78
When we have the capacity of enjoying we have not the reason for
enjoyment; when we do have good and sufficient grounds we no longer
have the capacity.
79

To be happy, give; to be successful, take; to be happy and successful,
give and take.
80
What a woman admires in a man depends on whether she is married or
single.
81
Confidence given is usually confidence misplaced.
82
Women admire the gilded youth because he is a golden calf.
83
Even those who do not repeat scandal are generally willing to listen to
it. Talk of the virtues of another, and, as a rule, your hearers will get
bored; only hint that you could a tale unfold and you will secure perfect
attention.
84
We forget that once upon a time we were little children; but the
unpleasant fact that we are big children is being constantly forced upon
us, together with the moral certainty that we shall never be anything
else.
85
A man considers his little weaknesses amiable traits; a woman--a
woman will not admit that she has a weakness.
86
God's call, through the still small voice, to preach, is much more
irresistible when megaphoned by a wealthy church.

87
Many who sing loud praises to God, pay heavy tribute to the devil.
88
If the world is, as is so often whined, growing worse, it is partly
because of our presence in it.
89
The counsel of a good book is far superior to that of a man who says
one thing and does another.
90
If other people would only be as reasonable as we are, what a heaven
this earth would be.
91
The world has no sympathy for the gambler who loses.
92
Trust in God, but keep a sharp lookout on your friends.
93
Tell the truth and you will shame the devil; you will also surprise him
very often.
94
The knowledge that virtue is its own reward is what deters many from
well doing.
95

It requires no particular skill to win the game when Fortune has dealt
you all the trumps.
96
We give much more thought to what is due to us than to what is due
from us.
97
A camel may not be able to pass through the eye of a needle, but that
does not deter many a lobster from trying to do so.
98
The man who sees things as they are is regarded as a madman, just as
those were formerly looked upon who maintained that the earth was
round. The average man sees things as they seem to be.
99
We are all convinced of the righteousness and reasonableness of
majority rule--when we happen to belong to