Some glorous insults to see in the New Year...

clownThese glorious insults are from an era before the English language became boiled down to 4-letter words.

A member of Parliament to Disraeli:

"Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."

"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

___

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

___

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

___

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow.

___

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

___

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." -Moses Hadas.

___

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain.

___

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.." - Oscar Wilde.

___

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill.

Winston Churchill replied "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second ... if there is one."

___

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop.

___

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright.

___

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -Irvin S. Cobb.

___

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." -Samuel Johnson.

___

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating.

___

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand.

___

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker.

___

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain.

___

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.." - Mae West.

___

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde.

___

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912).

___

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder.

___

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." – Groucho