Sarcasm I now see to be, in general, the
language of the devil; for which reason I have
long since as good as renounced it.
-- Thomas Carlyle
1795-1881,
Scottish Philosopher, Author
What arouses the indignation of the honest
satirist is not, unless the man is a prig, the
fact that people in positions of power or
influence behave idiotically, or even that they
behave wickedly. It is that they conspire
successfully to impose upon the public a picture
of themselves as so very sagacious, honest and
well-intentioned.
-- Claud Cockburn
1904-1981,
British Author, Journalist
By
rights, satire is a lonely and introspective
occupation, for nobody can describe a fool to
the life without much patient self-inspection.
-- Frank Moore
Colby
1865-1925,
American Editor, Essayist
I
believe no satirist could breathe this air. If
another Juvenal or Swift could rise up among us
tomorrow, he would be hunted down. If you have
any knowledge of our literature, and can give me
the name of any man, American born and bred, who
has anatomized our follies as a people, and not
as this or that party; and who has escaped the
foulest and most brutal slander, the most
inveterate hatred and intolerant pursuit; it
will be a strange name in my ears, believe me.
-- Charles
Dickens
1812-1870,
British Novelist
