Oxymoron Quotes

• Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have.

  John C. Maxwell

  Leadership, Clock Is Ticking, Priorities

  66 Copy quote

• I find nothing more depressing than optimism.

  Paul Fussell

  Depression, Depressing, Optimistic

  17 Copy quote

• And I have a really great agent and I know it's almost an oxymoron to say you have a smart agent. But she is and she has a beautiful aesthetic and she has guided me.

  Patricia Clarkson

  Beautiful, Smart, Agents

  16 Copy quote

• You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!

  Dolly Parton

  Fashion, Funny Valentines Day, Funny Relationship

  Twitter post from Jan 30, 2015

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• Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use.

  Wendell Johnson

  Funny, Witty, Educational

  61 Copy quote

• I have a terrible memory; I never forget a thing.

  Edith Konecky

  Memories, Never Forget, Terrible

  Edith Konecky, Alix Kates Shulman, Tillie Olsen (2001). “Allegra Maud Goldman”, p.4, Feminist Press at CUNY

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• I always advise people never to give advice.

  P. G. Wodehouse

  Inspirational, Humorous, People

  P. G. Wodehouse, D. R. Bensen (1999). “Fore!: The Best of Wodehouse on Golf”, p.91, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  62 Copy quote

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• The first condition of immortality is death.

  Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

  Writing, Firsts, Immortality

  10 Copy quote

• I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Leadership, People, Vision

  8 Copy quote

• Do not put statements in the negative form. And don't start sentences with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

  William Safire

  Editing, Long, Sound

  55 Copy quote

• It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

  Mark Twain

  Business, Communication, Skills Training

  Mark Twain (2015). “Bite-Size Twain: Wit and Wisdom from the Literary Legend”, p.76, St. Martin's Press

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• Of course a politician's promise isn't worth the paper it's written on.

  Russell Pearce

  Silly, Agreement, Promise

  12 Copy quote

• I never put on a pair of shoes until I've worn them at least five years.

  Samuel Goldwyn

  Funny, Witty, Years

  8 Copy quote

• Don't worry about the war. It's all over but the shooting.

  Samuel Goldwyn

  Funny, Witty, War

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• A bachelor's life is no life for a single man.

  Samuel Goldwyn

  Funny, Witty, Stupid

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  9 Copy quote

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• A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.

  Samuel Goldwyn

  Funny, Movie, Silly

  34 Copy quote

• I personally think intellectual property is an oxymoron. Physical objects have a completely different natural economy than intellectual goods. It's a tricky thing to try to own something that remains in your possession even after you give it to many others.

  John Perry Barlow

  Thinking, Giving, Intellectual

  "John Perry Barlow 2.0". Interview with Brian Doherty, reason.com. August 1, 2004.

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• I am not going to say I told you so, but I did.

  Nouriel Roubini

  Told You So, Funny Oxymoron

  11 Copy quote

• Why don't they make the whole plane out of that black box stuff.

  Steven Wright

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

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• The child is father of the man.

  William Wordsworth

  Children, Father, Men

  "My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold" l. 1 (1807). Wordsworth also used the last three lines as the epigraph for his poem "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" (1807). See Milton 43

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• I hate people but I love gatherings.

  Edna St. Vincent Millay

  Hate, People, Gathering

  10 Copy quote

• You should always live within your income, even if you have to borrow to do so.

  Josh Billings

  Funny, Money, Income

  7 Copy quote

• The phrase 'domestic cat' is an oxymoron.

  George Will

  Funny, Humor, Cat

  As quoted in "The Cat Who Thought Too Much - An Essay Into Felinity" by Robin D. Gill, Paraverse Press, (p. 153), 2010.

  18 Copy quote

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• It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

  William Safire

  Writing, Long, Use

  7 Copy quote

• I don't think anyone should write their autobiography until after they're dead.

  Samuel Goldwyn

  Funny, Witty, Book

  22 Copy quote