They were upon their great theme: “When I get to be a man!” Being human, though boys, they considered their present estate too commonplace to be dwelt upon. So, when the old men gather, they say: “When I was a boy!” It really is the land of nowadays that we never discover.
BOOTH TARKINGTONBoyhood is the longest time in life for a boy. The last term of the school-year is made of decades, not of weeks, and living through them is like waiting for the millennium.
More Booth Tarkington Quotes
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I’m not sure he’s wrong about automobiles,” he said. “With all their speed forward they may be a step backward in civilization — that is, in spiritual civilization. It may be that they will not add to the beauty of the world, nor to the life of men’s souls.
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Gossip’s a nasty thing, but it’s sickly, and if people of good intentions will let it entirely alone, it will die, ninety-nine times out of a hundred.
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Mothers see the angel in us because the angel is there. If it’s shown to the mother, the son has got an angel to show, hasn’t he? When a son cuts somebody’s throat the mother only sees it’s possible for a misguided angel to act like a devil – and she’s entirely right about that!
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Whatever does not pretend at all has style enough.
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I’m not so sure he’s wrong about automobiles,” he said, “With all their speed forward they may be a step backward for civilization-that is, spiritual civilization … But automobiles have come, and they bring a greater change in our life than most of us expect.
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The only safe male rebuke to a scornful female is to stay away from her – especially if that is what she desires.
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Youth cannot imagine romance apart from youth.
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Men were just like sheep, and nothing was easier than for women to set up as shepherds and pen them up in a field.
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Gossip is never fatal until it is denied.
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Take your work seriously but never take yourself seriously and do not take what happens either to yourself or your work seriously.
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So long as we can lose any happiness, we possess some.
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Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions.
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The understanding smile of an old wife to her husband is one of the loveliest things in the world.
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Boyhood is the longest time in life for a boy. The last term of the school-year is made of decades, not of weeks, and living through them is like waiting for the millennium.
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Destiny has a constant passion for the incongruous.
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