More from P. J. O'Rourke
Some people have facts; these can be proven. Some people have theories; these can be disproven. But people with opinions are mindless and have their minds made up about it.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The whole idea of our government is this: If enough people get together and act in concert, they can take something and not pay for it.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke People think the free market is a philosophy, they think that it is a creed. It is none of those things. Free market is a bathroom scale, it is a measuring tape, it’s simply a measurement.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Woodstock had a tremendous impact on American artistic life.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke People are not ants or bees. We do not reason or love or live or die collectively.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Think what evil creeps liberals would be if their plans to enfeeble the individual, exhaust the economy, impede the rule of law, and cripple national defense were guided by a coherent ideology instead of smug ignorance.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year’s Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you’re married to.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Russians not only vehemently despise blacks, they believe Africa begins at the Ukraine border.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke If we heard that somebody starved to death in Sweden or Switzerland, we would be shocked.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Computers seem a little too adaptively flexible, like the strange natives, odd societies, and head cases we study in the social sciences. There’s more opposable thumb in the digital world than I care for; it’s awfully close to human.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Explosion of positive rights started in 1932 with the election of Roosevelt.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke If you ask the government to solve all of your problems, it’s a bit like asking your wife to cook and clean, to raise the children, to hold down a second job to help with the family finances, to keep her parents happy and well and keep your parents happy and well, and to also – to do the lawn and clean the gutters.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke As a former writer for the ‘National Lampoon,’ I’ve probably contributed to the sea of sarcasm in which we live.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke Politics are for foreigners with their endless wrongs and paltry rights. Politics are a lousy way to get things done. Politics are, like God’s infinite mercy, a last resort.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke The idea of a stag hunt evokes chivalry – knights in jerkins and hose, ladies on sidesaddles with wimples and billowing dresses, a white stag symbolizing something-or-other, and Robin Hood getting in the way. An actual stag hunt is more like a horseback meeting of a county planning commission.
P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke
Original quotes
From our community writers
Sadness shoots a bullet straight at your heart and love buys you time.
Shelby CaudleShelby Caudle Do you think it possible that some people are born to give more love than they will ever get back in return?
Tyler Knott GregsonTyler Knott Gregson It’s been a long time since we said goodbye and yet the echoes of it are still ringing in our ears.
Ranata SuzukiRanata Suzuki In this wilderness, Mankind is the animal I fear.
Addison SchmittAddison Schmitt We can always walk with them in the rain instead of just lending an umbrella.
Leon MarshLeon Marsh Flowers only wither to bloom again. So shall you break, only to be whole again.
Fareena AliyaFareena Aliya What do you do when the passion burns out? Start another fire.
Jonny OxJonny Ox To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds.
Bell HooksBell Hooks
Meet the writers
More on irritate
Nothing is as irritating as the fellow who chats pleasantly while he’s overcharging you.
Kin HubbardKin Hubbard I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I’d like to be.
E. M. ForsterE. M. Forster Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort.
Fran LebowitzFran Lebowitz Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher.
Ajahn ChahAjahn Chah A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience.
O. HenryO. Henry I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don’t exist, not irritating me to death.
Stephenie MeyerStephenie Meyer If you try to serve people, it impresses them. If you try to impress people it irritates them.
Rick WarrenRick Warren