Saul Gorn's Compendium of
Rarely Used Cliches
Table of Contents1. Judgments
2. Attitudes
3. Complaints
4. Decisions
5. Commands
8. Advice
7. Ethical Truths
8. The Way of the World
9. Descriptions
10. Definitions
11. Eternal Truths
Each set of quotes after the links below is just a
selection of the quotes that you will find on Saul Gorn's pages.
~~~~~~~
This book fills a much-needed gap.
People who like this sort of thing will fmd it just the sort of thing they like.
---Abraham Lincoln
Oh, the majesty of French Justice, which forbids rich and poor, alike, to sleep on park benches!
---Anatole France
I enjoy your company most when I am by myself.
This man's work cannot be underrated.
Way down deep he's shallow.
Before they made him they broke the mold.
Anyone who goes to a psychoanalyst should have his head examined.
---Samuel Goldwyn
People who like this sort of thing will fmd it just the sort of thing they like.
---Abraham Lincoln
Oh, the majesty of French Justice, which forbids rich and poor, alike, to sleep on park benches!
---Anatole France
I enjoy your company most when I am by myself.
This man's work cannot be underrated.
Way down deep he's shallow.
Before they made him they broke the mold.
Anyone who goes to a psychoanalyst should have his head examined.
---Samuel Goldwyn
2. Attitudes
Anyone who always tells the truth is a big liar.
The main trouble with impossibility is that it is never total.
If there's anything I can't stand, it's intolerance.
How can anyone show so little understanding as to be indignant?
I want to hear the voice of the great silent majority.
---Richard Nixon
There is no other language but French.
I am going to be healthy if it kills me.
My only reason for mentioning it is that it is irrelevant.
I didn't hear that.
The main trouble with impossibility is that it is never total.
If there's anything I can't stand, it's intolerance.
How can anyone show so little understanding as to be indignant?
I want to hear the voice of the great silent majority.
---Richard Nixon
There is no other language but French.
I am going to be healthy if it kills me.
My only reason for mentioning it is that it is irrelevant.
I didn't hear that.
3. Complaints
I am a firm believer in optimism; because if you don't have optimism, what else is there?
Public transportation is so shocking to the individual that it should only be done in private.
Why should I consider your questions, when you don't even know the answers?
The trouble with you is that there's nothing wrong with you.
The only subway car fit to travel is a private one.
Just because I have nothing to say is no reason why you shouldn't listen.
How do you expect me to do something original if you won't tell me what?
The last time I took advice, it only worked because I changed it.
How do you expect me to ignore you when you're never around?
Health foods make me sick.
I've told you a million times not to exaggerate.
Public transportation is so shocking to the individual that it should only be done in private.
Why should I consider your questions, when you don't even know the answers?
The trouble with you is that there's nothing wrong with you.
The only subway car fit to travel is a private one.
Just because I have nothing to say is no reason why you shouldn't listen.
How do you expect me to do something original if you won't tell me what?
The last time I took advice, it only worked because I changed it.
How do you expect me to ignore you when you're never around?
Health foods make me sick.
I've told you a million times not to exaggerate.
4. Decisions
Just tell me what you need, and I'll see to it that something ought to be done!
This subject is so important that I'd like to see it deserve considerable study.
This presents us with an insurmountable opportunity.
Let's decide right now whether you or I will be competitive.
I won't hesitate for a moment to avoid answering!
I am myself, and I'm going to continue to play that role!
---Richard Nixon
I have something to say, but I don't know what.
This subject is so important that I'd like to see it deserve considerable study.
This presents us with an insurmountable opportunity.
Let's decide right now whether you or I will be competitive.
I won't hesitate for a moment to avoid answering!
I am myself, and I'm going to continue to play that role!
---Richard Nixon
I have something to say, but I don't know what.
5. Commands
Hips on shoulders, place! -- As you were! Can't be done; hips down!
Do as much as you can! But you probably won't be able to.
Ignore this sign.
Be consistent, or be inconsistent; but don't vacillate.
We have a general rule that each case be handled differently.
We must be decisive, but on the other hand...
Your job is to discover independently and prove scientifically that my product is the best on the market.
You will do original basic research, and you'll do it in the area I tell you to, or I'll know the reason why!
Don't forget to return before you leave.
Do as much as you can! But you probably won't be able to.
Ignore this sign.
Be consistent, or be inconsistent; but don't vacillate.
We have a general rule that each case be handled differently.
We must be decisive, but on the other hand...
Your job is to discover independently and prove scientifically that my product is the best on the market.
You will do original basic research, and you'll do it in the area I tell you to, or I'll know the reason why!
Don't forget to return before you leave.
8. Advice
Whether you mean it or not, be sincere!
No one can complain who has not been lost and never heard of again.
It pays to buy things you dislike. They last much longer.
If you don't know, why ask?
Be realistic! Ask the impossible!
Research administrators should support artificial intelligence. After all, what have they to lose?
Food ration cards must be tasteful.
Don't give up hope. There's a chance the inevitable won't happen.
If you want to be certain about the unpredictable, use statistics.
The probability is one, but don't count on it.
No one can complain who has not been lost and never heard of again.
It pays to buy things you dislike. They last much longer.
If you don't know, why ask?
Be realistic! Ask the impossible!
Research administrators should support artificial intelligence. After all, what have they to lose?
Food ration cards must be tasteful.
Don't give up hope. There's a chance the inevitable won't happen.
If you want to be certain about the unpredictable, use statistics.
The probability is one, but don't count on it.
7. Ethical Truths
If you don't say no, it doesn't matter to whom.
Every man has the right to quote himself - provided he gives himself due credit.
If you're going to be idealistic, it might as well be about something that's practical.
You're confused? What presumption! Only important people have the right to be confused.
One shouldn't be naive without a good reason.
An insane asylum cannot be a success if it is run by sane people.
If you are not prejudiced, you just don't understand.
Only crooks deceive themselves into thinking they are a tiny minority.
Superstition brings bad luck.
Every man has the right to quote himself - provided he gives himself due credit.
If you're going to be idealistic, it might as well be about something that's practical.
You're confused? What presumption! Only important people have the right to be confused.
One shouldn't be naive without a good reason.
An insane asylum cannot be a success if it is run by sane people.
If you are not prejudiced, you just don't understand.
Only crooks deceive themselves into thinking they are a tiny minority.
Superstition brings bad luck.
8. The Way of the World
If people could be paid to die for us, they'd get rich.
All men are brothers; like Cain and Abel.
Graduate work is not so important as it used to be, and never was.
A good set of vital statistics can affect one's whole past.
A good system can transform complexity into chaos.
Like everybody else, I'm different.
If you knew what was going on, you'd be very confused.
Some of my best friends are prejudiced.
All men are brothers; like Cain and Abel.
Graduate work is not so important as it used to be, and never was.
A good set of vital statistics can affect one's whole past.
A good system can transform complexity into chaos.
Like everybody else, I'm different.
If you knew what was going on, you'd be very confused.
Some of my best friends are prejudiced.
9. Descriptions
This fact is clear to those who know it.
The pirate skeletons at Disneyland are very life-like.
He's a real patriot. He fearlessly enters any patriotic competition that offers a prize.
Not having to get there is as good as a day in the country.
He's better in general, but not particularly.
Half the lies they tell about me are true.
I used to be conceited, but now I'm perfect.
It's the sort of place you wouldn't think twice about passing without a second glance.
As long as I live I'll never forget what's-her-name.
The pirate skeletons at Disneyland are very life-like.
He's a real patriot. He fearlessly enters any patriotic competition that offers a prize.
Not having to get there is as good as a day in the country.
He's better in general, but not particularly.
Half the lies they tell about me are true.
I used to be conceited, but now I'm perfect.
It's the sort of place you wouldn't think twice about passing without a second glance.
As long as I live I'll never forget what's-her-name.
10. Definitions
A formalist is a man who can't understand a theory unless it is meaningless.
Monism is the theory that anything less than everything is nothing.
A reactionary is a man who wants to face the past with confidence.
That is that word which should be used instead of which.
Inflation is an economic device by which each man can make more than the next.
Monism is the theory that anything less than everything is nothing.
A reactionary is a man who wants to face the past with confidence.
That is that word which should be used instead of which.
Inflation is an economic device by which each man can make more than the next.
11. Eternal Truths
No man can die properly without experience.
No matter where you go, there you are.
No two things are the same, no matter how you look at them.
Show me an honest man and I'll show you a man who tells the truth.
An artist without paints can't paint unless he has a canvas.
Everything that exists has a good reason for existence - which has long since disappeared.
All simplifying assumptions are too complicated.No man can die properly without experience.
No matter where you go, there you are.
No two things are the same, no matter how you look at them.
Show me an honest man and I'll show you a man who tells the truth.
An artist without paints can't paint unless he has a canvas.
Everything that exists has a good reason for existence - which has long since disappeared.
All simplifying assumptions are too complicated.
No matter where you go, there you are.
No two things are the same, no matter how you look at them.
Show me an honest man and I'll show you a man who tells the truth.
An artist without paints can't paint unless he has a canvas.
Everything that exists has a good reason for existence - which has long since disappeared.
All simplifying assumptions are too complicated.No man can die properly without experience.
No matter where you go, there you are.
No two things are the same, no matter how you look at them.
Show me an honest man and I'll show you a man who tells the truth.
An artist without paints can't paint unless he has a canvas.
Everything that exists has a good reason for existence - which has long since disappeared.
All simplifying assumptions are too complicated.