Brooks Atkinson

People everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves read more

People everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for what they know.

The most fatal illusion is the narrow point of view. Since life is growth and motion, a fixed point of read more

The most fatal illusion is the narrow point of view. Since life is growth and motion, a fixed point of view kills anybody who has one.

The cocktail party... is a device either for getting rid of social obligations hurriedly en masse or for making overtures read more

The cocktail party... is a device either for getting rid of social obligations hurriedly en masse or for making overtures toward more serious social relationships, as in the etiquette of whoring.

It takes most men five years to recover from a college education, and to learn that poetry is as vital read more

It takes most men five years to recover from a college education, and to learn that poetry is as vital to thinking as knowledge.

In every age 'the good old days' were a myth. No one ever thought they were good at the time. read more

In every age 'the good old days' were a myth. No one ever thought they were good at the time. For every age has consisted of crises that seemed intolerable to the people who lived through them.