Stephen Vizinczey > Quotes

“Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and higher education positively fortifies it.”
― Stephen Vizinczey

“We think of ourselves as failures, rather than renounce our belief in the possibility of perfection. We hang on to the hope of eternal love by denying even its temporary validity. It´s less painful to think 'I'm shallow', 'She's self centred', 'We couldn't communicate', 'It was all just physical', than to accept the simple fact that love is a passing sensation, for reasons beyond our control and even beyond our personalities. But who can reassure himself with his own rationalizations? No argument can fill the void of a dead feeling -- that reminder of the ultimate void, our final inconstancy. We're untrue even to life.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, In Praise of Older Women: The Amorous Recollections of András Vajda

“I wonder, what kind of life would I have had if it hadn’t been for my mother’s tea-and-cookie parties? Perhaps it’s because of them that I’ve never thought of women as my enemies, as territories I have to conquer, but always as allies and friends - which I believe is the reason why they were friendly to me in turn. I’ve never met those she-devils you hear about: they must be too busy with those men who look upon women as a fortress they have to attack, lay waste and left in ruins.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, In Praise of Older Women: The Amorous Recollections of András Vajda

“I had affairs with a few girls of my own age, and they taught me that no girl, however intelligent and war-hearted, can possibly know or feel half as much at twenty as she will at thirty-five.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, In Praise of Older Women: The Amorous Recollections of András Vajda

“Consistency is a virtue for trains: what we want from a philosopher is insights, whether he comes by them consistently or not.”
― Stephen Vizinczey

“Great writers are not those who tell us we shouldn’t play with fire, but those who make our fingers burn.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, Truth and Lies in Literature: Essays and Reviews

“You tell me your favorite novelists and I'll tell you whom you vote for, or whether you vote at all.”
― Stephen Vizinczey

“I made a resolution I would throw myself into the Danube if I didn't ask you to make love with me today.”
― Stephen Vizinczey

“I suppose it's more unnerving to be a boy than a girl,' she conceded.'It's the boys who have to make fools of themselves.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, In Praise of Older Women: The Amorous Recollections of András Vajda

“Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education positively fortifies it.”
― Stephen Vizinczey

“Ori de câte ori văd un bărbat abordînd o femeie cu o dureroasă nesiguranță,ca și cum și-ar cere scuze pentru ceva,ca și cum s-ar aștepta ca ea să-i suporte dorința,în loc s-o împărtășească- mă întreb cîte fete l-or fi tratat cu indiferență.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, In Praise of Older Women: The Amorous Recollections of András Vajda

“Private Eye continued to report that the stench in the Houses of Parliament was just as strong as it had been on the day when the birds flew away and the rodents fled.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, If Only

“language becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, If Only

“Y, aunque espero que estas Memorias han de ser instructivas, no han de ayudarles a conseguir que las mujeres se sientan más atraídas por ustedes de lo que ustedes se sientan por ellas. Si, en el fondo, ustedes las odian, si sueñan con humillarlas, si gozan mostrándose autoritarios, es posible que ellas les paguen en la misma moneda. Ellas les querrán y les desearán tanto como ustedes las deseen y las quieran a ellas, bendita sea su generosidad.”
― Stephen Vizinczey, In Praise of Older Women