James Grover Thurber war ein US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller und Zeichner, der vor allem durch seine Kurzgeschichten und Fabeln bekannt wurde, die überwiegend in dem Magazin The New Yorker erstveröffentlicht wurden. Wikipedia
„Du kannst genauso auf die Nase fallen, wie du dich zuweit zurücklehnen kannst.“
"The Bear Who Let It Alone", The New Yorker (29. April 1939); Fables for Our Time & Famous Poems Illustrated (1940)
Original engl.: "You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward."
„Ein Martini ist genau richtig. Zwei sind zu viele. Drei sind nicht genug.“
zitiert im Time Magazine (New York, 15. August 1960) aus einem Interview mit Glenna Syse von der Chicago Sun-Times
Original engl.: "One (martini) is all right, two is too many, three is not enough."
“All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”
"The Shore and the Sea", Further Fables for Our Time (first publication, 1956)
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time
“Beautiful things don't ask for attention.”
Quelle: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
“Don't get it right, just get it written.”
"The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing", The New Yorker (29 April 1939); Fables for Our Time & Famous Poems Illustrated (1940). The moral is ironic with respect to the fable, in which sheep do insufficient research before writing about wolves, resulting in the sheep being easy prey.
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time
Variante: Don't get it right, just get it written.
The Thirteen Clocks (1951) page 32
From other fiction
“Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.”
Quoted in New York Post (29 February 1960)
Letters and interviews
“It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers.”
"The Scotty Who Knew Too Much", The New Yorker (18 February 1939)
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time
“There are two kinds of light — the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.”
Lanterns and Lances (1961), p. 146; also misquoted as "There are two kinds of light — the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures."
From Lanterns and Lances
"The Darlings at the Top of the Stairs", Lanterns & Lances (1961); previously appeared in The Queen and in Harper's Magazine.
From Lanterns and Lances
"An Introduction", The Fireside Book of Dog Stories (Simon and Schuster, 1943); reprinted in Thurber's Dogs (1955)
From other writings
"Carpe Noctem, If You Can", Credos and Curios (1962)
From other writings
“Remember laughter. You'll need it even in the blessed isles of Ever After.”
Quelle: The 13 Clocks
“Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?”
Cartoon caption, The New Yorker (5 June 1937); "Word Dance--Part One", A Thurber Carnival (1960)
Cartoon captions
Quelle: Collecting Himself: James Thurber On Writing And Writers, Humor And Himself
“One (martini) is all right, two is too many, three is not enough.”
Quoted in Time Magazine (New York, 15 August 1960) from an an interview with Glenna Syse of the Chicago Sun-Times
Letters and interviews
“Time is for dragonflies and angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.”
Quelle: The 13 Clocks
“You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.”
"The Owl who was God", The New Yorker (29 April 1939); Fables for Our Time & Famous Poems Illustrated (1940). Parody of "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time
"My Senegalese Birds and Siamese Cats", Holiday Magazine; reprinted in Lanterns & Lances (1961).
From Lanterns and Lances
