“Never insult anyone by accident.”

“Insults should be written in sand, compliments should be carved in stone”

Just the omission of Jane Austen’s books alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn’t a book in it.

“The way to procure insults is to submit to them: a man meets with no more respect than he exacts.”

Coolidge was known for his terse speech and reticence. A woman bet her friend that she could get Coolidge to speak to her, which was something he was reluctant to do. She went up to him and said: “Hello, Mr. President, I bet my friend that I could get you to say three words to me.” “You lose,” Coolidge replied dryly, and walked away.

“When will the public cease to insult the teacher’s calling with empty flattery? When will men who would never for a moment encourage their own sons to enter the work of the public schools cease to tell us that education is the greatest and noblest of all human callings?”

I’ve had a wonderful evening – but this wasn’t it

“If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.”

A slander is like a hornet; if you can’t kill it dead the first time, better not strike at it.

The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can’t ignore it, top it; if you can’t top it, laugh at it; if you can’t laugh at it, it’s probably deserved.

“There are two insults no human being will endure: that he has no sense of humor, and that he has never known trouble”

“One insult pocketed soon produces another”