I know only two words of American slang, 'swell' and 'lousy'. I think 'swell' is lousy, but 'lousy' is swell.
- J. B. Priestley
Think, Only, I Think, Slang
We should like to have some towering geniuses, to reveal us to ourselves in colour and fire, but of course they would have to fit into the pattern of our society and be able to take orders from sound administrative types.
- J. B. Priestley
Some, Reveal, Types, Colour
I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.
- J. B. Priestley
Morning, Magic, Always, Prospect
Western man is schizophrenic.
- J. B. Priestley
Man, Western, Schizophrenic
Britain, which in the years immediately before this war was rapidly losing such democratic virtues as it possessed, is now being bombed and burned into democracy.
- J. B. Priestley
Before, Which, Britain, Bombed
A novelist who writes nothing for 10 years finds his reputation rising. Because I keep on producing books they say there must be something wrong with this fellow.
- J. B. Priestley
Reputation, Nothing, Rising, Novelist
In plain words: now that Britain has told the world that she has the H-Bomb she should announce as early as possible that she has done with it, that she proposes to reject in all circumstances nuclear warfare.
- J. B. Priestley
Circumstances, Britain, Proposes
Our trouble is that we drink too much tea. I see in this the slow revenge of the Orient, which has diverted the Yellow River down our throats.
- J. B. Priestley
Revenge, Which, Orient, Diverted
I never read the life of any important person without discovering that he knew more and could do more than I could ever hope to know or do in half a dozen lifetimes.
- J. B. Priestley
Discovering, Read, Half, Lifetimes
Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us every day, but it changes and withers at a touch.
- J. B. Priestley
Living, Perfect, Perpetually, Perfect Life
The greater part of critics are parasites, who, if nothing had been written, would find nothing to write.
- J. B. Priestley
Nothing, Been, Part, Parasites
There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age, I missed it coming and going.
- J. B. Priestley
Young, Old, Going, No Respect
If you are a genius, you'll make your own rules, but if not - and the odds are against it - go to your desk no matter what your mood, face the icy challenge of the paper - write.
- J. B. Priestley
Own, Mood, Against, Odds
Public opinion polls are rather like children in a garden, digging things up all the time to see how they're growing.
- J. B. Priestley
Like, Rather, Polls, Garden
There are plenty of clever young writers. But there is too much genius, not enough talent.
- J. B. Priestley
Genius, Young, Too, Young Writers
As we read the school reports on our children, we realize a sense of relief that can rise to delight that thank Heaven nobody is reporting in this fashion on us.
- J. B. Priestley
Sense, Reports, Read, Reporting
The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?
- J. B. Priestley
Kind, Bed, Another, Enchantment
Many a man is praised for his reserve and so-called shyness when he is simply too proud to risk making a fool of himself.
- J. B. Priestley
Proud, Making, Praised, So-Called
Accidents, try to change them - it's impossible. The accidental reveals man.
- J. B. Priestley
Change, Impossible, Reveals, Accidental
If we openly declare what is wrong with us, what is our deepest need, then perhaps the death and despair will by degrees disappear.
- J. B. Priestley
Death, Need, Declare, Despair
To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own - this is happiness.
- J. B. Priestley
Happiness, Once, Added, Delight
Marriage is like paying an endless visit in your worst clothes.
- J. B. Priestley
Marriage, Like, Paying, Visit
We pay when old for the excesses of youth.
- J. B. Priestley
Age, Old, Pay, Excess
To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.
- J. B. Priestley
World, Minds, Same, Heaven
Like its politicians and its war, society has the teenagers it deserves.
- J. B. Priestley
Society, Like, Deserves, Politicians
She was a handsome woman of forty-five and would remain so for many years.
- J. B. Priestley
Funny, Handsome, She, Forty-Five
The more we elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.
- J. B. Priestley
Communication, Elaborate, Less
The greatest writers of this age... are aware of the mystery of our existence.
- J. B. Priestley
Existence, Aware, Mystery
Be yourself is about the worst advice you can give to some people.
- J. B. Priestley
Give, Some, About, Advice
Comedy, we may say, is society protecting itself - with a smile.
- J. B. Priestley
Humor, Society, Itself, Protecting
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