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Leo Rosten
6 quotes
“The only thing I can say about W. C. Fields … is this: Any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad.”
Leo Rosten (1908–1997) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Although a very common misconception is to attribute the final part of this quote to W.C. Fields himself, it was actually first said about him by Rosten during a "roast" of Fields at the Masquer's Club in Hollywood in 1…
“I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.”
Leo Rosten (1908–1997) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Captain Newman, M. D (1962), p. 328; this is also sometimes attributed to Leo Buscaglia, who often quoted it in his addresses and in his book Living, Loving and Learning (1982).
“The purpose of life is not to be happy at all. It is to be useful, to be honorable. It is to be compassionate. It is to matter, to have it make some difference that you lived.”
Leo Rosten (1908–1997) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Myths by Which We Live", in The Rotarian, Vol. 107, No. 3 (September 1965), p. 55
“Conservative: One who admires radicals a century after they're dead.”
Leo Rosten (1908–1997) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Modern Handbook of Humor (1967) by Ralph Louis Woods
“What's green, hangs on a wall and whistles?”
Leo Rosten (1908–1997) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Riddle presented in The Joys of Yiddish (1968) The answer: "A Herring" — because you can paint it green, nail it to the wall — and the whistling part is added just to make the riddle hard." Rosten did not claim to be th…
“Extremists think "communication" means agreeing with them.”
Leo Rosten (1908–1997) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1979) compiled by Laurence J. Peter, p. 100