More from P. J. O'Rourke
Let’s reintroduce corporal punishment in the schools – and use it on the teachers.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Supposedly, summer vacation happens because that’s when the kids are home from school, although having the kids home from school is no vacation. And supposedly the kids are home from school because of some vestigial throwback to our agricultural past.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The people who despise America are the editors of the ‘New Statesman.’ Their green-card applications must have been turned down.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Sometimes the right response to evil is an appeal to powerful and effective social organization – an appeal to civilization itself.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Some people think that welfare reform should have hurt Bill Clinton with black voters.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The 1960s was an era of big thoughts. And yet, amazingly, each of these thoughts could fit on a T-shirt.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Why do elites hate the poor? It’s xenophobia. They don’t know any poor people – except their off-the-books Brazilian nanny and illegal immigrant cleaning lady from Upper Revolta who don’t speak English.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Maybe climate change is a threat, and maybe climate change has been tarted up by climatologists trolling for research grant cash. It doesn’t matter.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The importance of local governance may not be obvious to an America accustomed to treating city and state downfalls with doses of federal comeuppance. Sometimes there’s a reason for that – the Civil War. More often, all reasoning seems absent – No Child Left Behind.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke I like to think of my behavior in the sixties as a ‘learning experience.’ Then again, I like to think of anything stupid I’ve done as a ‘learning experience.’ It makes me feel less stupid.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The world is being run by irresponsible spoiled brats.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke New Hampshire polling data are unreliable because, when you call the Granite State’s registered Republicans and independents in the middle of dinner and ask them who they’re going to vote for, they have a mouth full of mashed potatoes and you can’t understand what they say.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke
Original quotes
From our community writers
People who don’t know how to love you are always going to hurt your heart.
H. DcostaH. Dcosta I no longer seek the love I think I deserve but rather the love I’ve always deserved.
Ava NicoleAva Nicole There is no such thing as a good investment.
Manish KhuntetaManish Khunteta Without you, I’m lost.
Amanda KarchAmanda Karch I did everything I could to make it work I was casting nets into the ocean and all they were doing was returning back empty.
Carmen AmadosCarmen Amados We flew to heaven, and we touched the sun.
Jennifer JulietteJennifer Juliette You told me everything would be okay. I wish you had said – you’ll hurt but I’ll hold you.
Ullie KayeUllie Kaye Be brave, be bold, beware that you must believe before becoming.
OvyukiOvyuki
Meet the writers
More on box
A book is a box brimming with incendiary material. The reader strikes the match.
Erica JongErica Jong Never tell the box-office man that you can’t hear well or he will sell you a seat where you can’t see either.
Kin HubbardKin Hubbard A writer either speaks to adults and bores kids, or speaks to kids and upsets adults.
Ursula K. Le GuinUrsula K. Le Guin Everyone’s supposed to stay in their lines and be neat. ‘You’re a rapper. You’re supposed to rap, carry a boom box, wear chains, and go to the club – that’s all you do. What are you doing collecting art?
Jay-ZJay-Z Desjardins was literally fuming. His tattered robes still smoked from battle. (Carter says I shouldn’t mention that his pink boxer shorts were showing, but they were!)
Rick RiordanRick Riordan As soon as Oliver Twist is serialized, people who would never dream of reading [Charles] Dickens, if they hadn’t seen him on their box, buy the paperback.
William GoldingWilliam Golding I don’t watch a lot of other basketball away from the gym. But I do look at LeBron’s box score. I want to see how many points, rebounds and assists he had, and how he shot from the field.
Kevin DurantKevin Durant I saw the Count lying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from the cart had scattered over him. He was deathly pale, just like a waxen image, and the red eyes glared with the horrible vindictive look which I knew so well.
Bram StokerBram Stoker