Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Classic Insults

A list of real insults, insults that had meaning instead of four letters or finger gestures.


The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison," and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator."- John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." Jack E. Leonard

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford (one flash & it's gone. ha)

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

8 comments:

Creepy Query Girl said...

pure awesome right there. These were hilarious! Who knew so many historical figures could weild insults to perfection?

Angela said...

Yeah, Winston Churchill has some good ones, and some down right mean ones too. Like the lady who said, "Mr. Churchill, you are drunk."

And the way he said, "Yeah, but you're ugly, and you'll still be ugly tomorrow."

Poor woman.

Sophia said...

I've heard of most of these (though they are still excellent the second or third time round) but that second one was truly brilliant.
- Sophia.

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

Thanks for posting those!

Demitria said...

Love the Hemingway/Faulkner exchange. Great qoutes!

demitrialunetta.blogspot.com

Carol Riggs said...

Haha, how lovely and rude. LOL Thanks for sharing these. :)

Jessica Bell said...

love these! so brilliant. gosh the churchill ones are fab. laughed out loud!

dolorah said...

I think you've made my night - possibly the rest of my week. I've had an aweful day, and couldn't lavish the insults on my clients that they deserve.

this makes my day Nicole.

.......dhole