Christopher Morley Quotes

Powerful Christopher Morley for Daily Growth

About Christopher Morley

Christopher Morley (1890-1957) was an American writer, essayist, and editor whose wit, charm, and love for literature left a lasting impact on the literary world of his time. Born on October 15, 1890, in New York City to a well-educated family, Morley showed an early affinity for words, reading extensively from a young age. Influenced by authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain, Morley graduated from Yale University in 1913 with a degree in English literature. After college, he worked as a contributing editor for "Collier's Weekly" and later became the editor of "The Smart Set," a literary magazine known for its modernist leanings. Morley's major works span various genres, including fiction, essays, poetry, and plays. His first novel, "Where the Blue Begins" (1917), was met with critical acclaim, followed by other popular novels such as "Parnassus on Wheels" (1917), "Kubala Kahn" (1922), and "Thurmaston" (1945). His most enduring work, however, is the essay collection "The Haunts of the Host of Heaven," published in 1925. In addition to his literary achievements, Morley was a passionate advocate for literature and education. He established the American Academy of Letters and served as its first president from 1931 until his death in 1957. Morley's love for books and their power to enrich lives is beautifully encapsulated in one of his most famous quotes, "We live in books." Throughout his life, Christopher Morley maintained a unique blend of humor, intellect, and compassion that continues to resonate with readers today. His contributions to American literature and his championing of the written word ensure his place as a literary titan.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"One's journey is a self-discovery, and life is a process of writing your autobiography a page at a time."

This quote suggests that our lives are an ongoing adventure of self-exploration, with each moment contributing to the narrative of who we are and what we become. Life is not just about existing, but rather about actively shaping our unique story through experiences, choices, and personal growth. Each day adds a new page to our autobiography, and it's up to us to write it wisely and vividly.


"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend."

The quote implies that life is a journey (the wilderness) filled with uncertainties and challenges, much like travel. Every individual navigates through this journey alone but seeks companionship along the way. An "honest friend" in this context refers to someone who can be trusted, who shares our values, and provides truthful support during our journey. The quote emphasizes the importance of genuine relationships in our lives as we strive to make sense of and navigate through life's complexities together.


"There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get into your subject; second, to get your subject into yourself; and third, to get your subject out of yourself on to those who are listening to you."

This quote by Christopher Morley emphasizes the importance of a deep understanding and connection with one's topic when public speaking. 1) "To get into your subject" means developing a thorough knowledge and familiarity with the material at hand, ensuring a confident delivery. 2) "To get your subject into yourself" suggests that the speaker should internalize the topic so their passion and enthusiasm become part of the presentation. 3) "To get your subject out of yourself on to those who are listening to you" signifies the ability to effectively communicate and engage the audience with the knowledge and feelings about the subject that have been developed in the previous steps.


"Life is a lessening of tension between individuals and reality, and myth is a lessening of tension between individuals and the cosmos."

Christopher Morley's quote suggests that life and myth serve as means to alleviate our innate human tension, whether it be with other people (life) or the vast and often mysterious universe (myth). Life provides us with interactions, relationships, and social structures that help reduce our inherent anxieties within society. Myth, on the other hand, offers symbolic stories that lessen our cognitive dissonance in understanding the cosmos, giving us a sense of belonging and place within the grand scheme of things. In essence, life and myth are tools to navigate our complex human experience and find harmony amidst the chaos.


"The only way in which time-travel can be naturalized is by supposing that the world changes, not the traveler."

This quote by Christopher Morley suggests that for time travel to be a natural phenomenon, it's essential to consider that the world, not the traveler, undergoes change. In other words, it posits that it's more realistic to imagine a shifting universe rather than an individual moving through different points in time. This perspective implies that the changes we observe may not necessarily be due to our own actions or progress but could result from the inherent evolution of the world around us.


A man who has never made a woman angry is a failure in life.

- Christopher Morley

Anger, Woman, Never, Failure

All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim.

- Christopher Morley

Beautiful, Mad, Cities, Gallant

The trouble with wedlock is that there's not enough wed and too much lock.

- Christopher Morley

Wedding, Too, Wed, Wedlock

Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water.

- Christopher Morley

Sad, Sky, Like, Hearts

No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention.

- Christopher Morley

Man, Attention, Spaghetti, Much Attention

Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs.

- Christopher Morley

Humor, Sense, Some, Oddly

If we discovered that we only had five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that they loved them.

- Christopher Morley

Other, Minutes, Discovered, Stammer

No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does.

- Christopher Morley

Pet, Special, Appreciates, Conversation

New York, the nation's thyroid gland.

- Christopher Morley

New York, New, Thyroid, Gland

Why do they put the Gideon bibles only in the bedrooms, where it's usually too late?

- Christopher Morley

Late, Too Late, Too, Bedrooms

We call a child's mind 'small' simply by habit; perhaps it is larger than ours is, for it can take in almost anything without effort.

- Christopher Morley

Mind, Small, Larger, Almost Anything

My theology, briefly, is that the universe was dictated but not signed.

- Christopher Morley

Universe, Theology, Signed, Dictated

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.

- Christopher Morley

Mind, Think, Read, Unanimity

Lots of times you have to pretend to join a parade in which you're not really interested in order to get where you're going.

- Christopher Morley

Parade, Going, Which, Order

Words are a commodity in which there is never any slump.

- Christopher Morley

Never, Which, Commodity, Slump

Beauty is ever to the lonely mind a shadow fleeting; she is never plain. She is a visitor who leaves behind the gift of grief, the souvenir of pain.

- Christopher Morley

Beauty, Gift, Mind, Souvenir

There are three ingredients in the good life: learning, earning and yearning.

- Christopher Morley

Learning, Good, Yearning, Ingredients

High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead.

- Christopher Morley

Woman, High, Been, Invented

In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty.

- Christopher Morley

Beauty, Man, Answers, Nerve

Only the sinner has the right to preach.

- Christopher Morley

Right, Only, Preach, Sinner

A human being: an ingenious assembly of portable plumbing.

- Christopher Morley

Human Being, Ingenious, Plumbing

Man, an ingenious assembly of portable plumbing.

- Christopher Morley

Man, Ingenious, Assembly, Plumbing

It is unfair to blame man too fiercely for being pugnacious; he learned the habit from Nature.

- Christopher Morley

Habit, Too, Learned, Fiercely

The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets.

- Christopher Morley

Always, Surely, Novelists, Poets

The enemies of the future are always the very nicest people.

- Christopher Morley

Always, Very, Nicest, Enemies

I had a million questions to ask God: but when I met Him, they all fled my mind; and it didn't seem to matter.

- Christopher Morley

Mind, Questions, Had, Met

The misfortunes hardest to bear are these which never came.

- Christopher Morley

Never, Misfortunes, Which, Bear

There is only one rule for being a good talker - learn to listen.

- Christopher Morley

Communication, Learn, Only, Talker

The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking.

- Christopher Morley

Mind, Doing, Books, Trap

Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.

- Christopher Morley

Men, Language, Life Is A, Foreign

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