Barry Hughart Quotes

A fool will study for twenty or thirty years and learn how to do something, but a wise man will study for twenty or thirty minutes and become an expert. In this world, it isn’t ability that counts, but authority.

The supernatural can be very annoying until one finds the key that transforms it into science,” he observed mildly… “Come on, Ox, let’s go out and get killed.

Blessed are the idiots, for they are happiest people on earth.

Error can point the way to truth, while empty-headedness can only lead to more empty-headedness or to a career in politics.

Don’t be ashamed of reliving your childhood, Ox, because all of us must do it now and then to maintain our sanity.

I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.

Immortality is only for the gods,’ he whispered. ‘I wonder how they can stand it.’

The greatest act of faith we are capable of is that of loving another more than we love ourselves, and occasionally we can be quite good at it.

I have never been able to understand why perfectly sensible people waste time being wittily obscure instead of just saying what they want and going on about their business.

The emotional health of a village depended upon having a man whom everyone loved to hate, and Heaven had blessed us with two of them.