Cole Porter > Quotes

“I get no kick from champagne. Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all. So, tell me why should it be true, that I get a kick out of you?”
― Cole Porter, The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter

“Good authors, too, who once knew better words now only use four-letter words writing prose... anything goes.”
― Cole Porter

“I love Paris in the summer, when it sizzles.”
― Cole Porter

“Every time I look down on this timeless town
Whether blue or gray be her skies.
Whether loud be her cheers or soft be her tears,
More and more do I realize:

I love Paris in the springtime.
I love Paris in the fall.
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles,
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles.

I love Paris every moment,
Every moment of the year.
I love Paris, why, oh why do I love Paris?
Because my love is near.”
― cole porter

“In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking. Now, Heaven knows, anything goes. The world has gone mad today, and good's bad today, and black's white today, and day's night today....”
― Cole Porter

“a college education I would never propose - a bachelor's degree won't even keep you in clothes”
― Cole Porter

“He may have hair upon his chest but, sister, so has Lassie.”
― Cole Porter

“Be a clown, be a clown
All the world loves a clown
Show ‘em tricks, tell ‘em jokes
And you’ll only stop with top folks.”
― Cole Porter, The Cole Porter Song Book: The Complete Words and Music of Forty of Cole Porter's Best-Loved Songs

“The Shortest Night of the Year"

It rained the day before we met
Then came 3 days that I forget
And then my love we met again
And I remember things from then
I measure time by what we do
And so my calendar is you
The shortest day of the year
Has the longest night of the year
And the longest night is the shortest night with you.
The Smallest Smile on your face
Is the greatest kind of embrace
And a single kiss is a thousand dreams come true
The softest sigh, that is my strongest tie
There’s you, there’s I, what can time do?
The shortest day of the year
Has the longest night of the year
And the longest night is the shortest night with you.
your softest sigh, that is my strongest tie
There’s you, there’s I, what can time do?
The shortest day of the year
Has the longest night of the year
And the longest night is the shortest night with you.”
― Cole Porter

“I start with the title first. From this title I work out the psychology of the tune. Next I write the lyric backward, and in this way build it up to a climax. In the lyric I work first for the climax, and if I can’t find a good climactic line I throw out the tune . . . I consult rhyme dictionaries. I swear by them. For long, easy rhymes I use Andrew Loring’s Lexicon. Other books I have in constant use are Roget’s ‘Thesaurus,’ and atlas, Fowler’s ‘Modern English Usage’ and a dictionary”
― Cole Porter, The Letters of Cole Porter

“PARODY OF "YOU'RE THE TOP" BY COLE PORTER
You're the pop
You're the baby's father
You're the pop
But you needn't bother
I will make no claim to your ancient name at all
When I let you make me
You promised you'd take me to the city hall
My mistake wasn't getting plastered,
What a break for the little b***stard
I was bad when I let you get on top
But if baby I'm the momma,
You're the pop!
[Sung by Elaine Stritch when interviewed by Michael Parkinson on YouTube.”
― Cole Porter

“You've got that thing, you've got that thing
That thing that makes birds forget to sing
Yes, you've got that thing, that certain thing

You've got that charm, that subtle charm
That makes young farmers desert the farm
'Cause you've got that thing, that certain thing

You've got what Adam craved when he
With love for Eve was tortured
She only had an apple tree
But you, you've got an orchard

You've got those ways, those taking ways
That make me rush off to Cartier's
For a wedding ring, you've got that thing”
― Cole Porter, The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter

“I start with the title first. From this title I work out the psychology of the tune. Next I write the lyric backward, and in this way build it up to a climax. In the lyric I work first for the climax, and if I can’t find a good climactic line I throw out the tune . . . I consult rhyme dictionaries. I swear by them. For long, easy rhymes I use Andrew Loring’s Lexicon. Other books I have in constant use are Roget’s ‘Thesaurus,’ and atlas, Fowler’s ‘Modern English Usage’ and a dictionary.”
― Cole Porter