Wry Quotes

• Somebody says, 'Do a Tom Bodett, a folksy kind of thing,' and it sounds like something out of 'Hee Haw,' very insulting. They turn wry humor into disparaging sarcasm, and you get what amounts to insulting advertising.

  Tom Bodett

  Sarcasm, Insulting, Sound

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• Among other things I think humor is a shield, a weapon, a survival kit. So here we are several billion of us, crowded into our global concentration camp for the duration. How are we to survive? Solemnity is not the answer, any more than witless and irresponsible frivolity is. I think our best chance lies in humor, which in this case means a wry acceptance of our predicament. We don't have to like it but we can at least recognize its ridiculous aspects, one of which is ourselves.

  Ogden Nash

  Lying, Mean, Acceptance

  "A Gleeful Splash of Ogden Nash" by Jonathan Yardley, www.washingtonpost.com. May 08, 2005.

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• I think at its best the American sense of humor is the same as the British sense of humor at its best, which is to be wry and ironic and self deprecating.

  Simon Pegg

  Humor, Thinking, Self

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

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• My thoughts are crabbed and sallow,
  My tears like vinegar,
  Or the bitter blinking yellow
  Of an acetic star.
  Tonight the caustic wind, love,
  Gossips late and soon,
  And I wear the wry-faced pucker of
  The sour lemon moon.
  While like an early summer plum,
  Puny, green, and tart,
  Droops upon its wizened stem
  My lean, unripened heart.

  Sylvia Plath

  Broken Heart, Summer, Stars

  Sylvia Plath (2015). “Collected Poems”, p.266, Faber & Faber

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• No second chance?" A wry smile twisted Carrick's lips. "There might have been, had I not waited so long to take it.

  Nora Roberts

  Second Chance, Wry Smile, Long

  Nora Roberts (2000). “Heart of the Sea”, p.93, Penguin

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• Few take advice, or physic, without wry faces at it.

  Augustus William Hare

  Advice, Faces

  Augustus William Hare (1827). “Guesses at Truth”

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• To crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face

  J. R. R. Tolkien

  Eye, May, Faces

  J.R.R. Tolkien (2012). “The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings”, p.510, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• As he followed Bill back to the others a wry though came to him, born no doubt of the wine he had drunk. He seemed set on course to become just as reckless a godfather to Teddy Lupin as Sirius Black had been to him.

  J. K. Rowling

  Wine, Drunk, Black

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• James Bond is quite serious about his drinks and clothing and cigarettes and food and all that sort of thing. There is nothing wry or amused about James Bond.

  Ken Follett

  Ties, Serious, Drink

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• His wry sense of humour and his stalwart courage were an inspiring example to so many. His ability to laugh at Life's idiosyncrasies and himself in a self deprecating way taught that most valuable of lessons: 'to be of good cheer, no matter what Life threw at you, and ever to find the hope that dwells in every human heart'.

  John McLeod

  Cheer, Heart, Humor

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• If you're suicidal, and you don't actually kill yourself, you become known as 'wry.

  Lorrie Moore

  Suicidal, Killing Yourself, Known

  Lorrie Moore (2014). “Bark”, p.117, Faber & Faber

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• You don't have to echo my feelings, Mencheres, but you can't talk me out of them either. I love you" Her smile was wry. "Deal with it.

  Jeaniene Frost

  Love You, Echoes, Feelings

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• When you say ‘old friend,’ are we talking, like...since the Ice Age?” “No. Of course not.” “Oh.” “It’s only been about four hundred years.” “Ah. Yes. Only four hundred.” A wry expression spread over his face. “Being with you is a continual experiment in perspective. Among other things.

  Richelle Mead

  Expression, Talking, Years

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• I wonder what Proust would have made of our present-day locus of collective fantasy, the Internet. I’m guessing he would have seized on its wistful aspect, pointing out gently and with wry humor that much of what beguiles us is the act of reaching for what isn’t there.

  Jennifer Egan

  Guessing, Fantasy, Proust

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• A little grit in the eye destroyeth the sight of the very heavens, and a little malice or envy a world of joys. One wry principle in the mind is of infinite consequence.

  Thomas Traherne

  Eye, Sight, Perspective

  Thomas Traherne (2007). “Centuries of Meditations”, p.241, Cosimo, Inc.

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• Speechless, castaway, and wry, a spellbound oddity am I.
  My feet are planted in the clay, my gaze is locked upon the sky.

  Cecilia Dart-Thornton

  Oddities, Sky, Feet

  Cecilia Dart-Thornton (2011). “Ill-Made Mute”, p.1, Pan Macmillan

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• What is it?" she asked. "I'm looking for your wings. You are my guardian angel, aren't you?" "I'm afraid not," she replied, her cheeks dimplingwith a wry smile. "There's too much of the devil in me for that." "Just how much devil," I grinned, "are we talking about here?

  Gregory David Roberts

  Angel, Wry Smile, Talking

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• A. E. Maxwell wrote one of the smartest, most consistent PI series in recent memory. Big plots, great villains, and a kickass private eye with plenty of humanity. The toughness of Robert B. Parker's early Spenser novels blended with the wry humor and scope of Ross Thomas. Wholly original, endlessly entertaining. The books of A. E. Maxwell are a forgotten treasure.

  Tim Maleeny

  Memories, Book, Eye

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• I'm easily persuaded that a really good novelist who gets inside somebody else's head could be serving a valuable purpose. I enjoy satirical novels that take a wry, humorous, ironic look at modern life.

  Richard Dawkins

  Humorous, Ironic, Novelists

  Source: newrepublic.com

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• I love the wry motto of the Paleontological Society, meant both literally and figuratively, for hammers are the main tool of our trade: Frango ut patefaciam - I break in order to reveal.

  Stephen Jay Gould

  Order, Hammers, Tools

  Stephen Jay Gould (1996). “Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin”, Harmony

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• I love Charlie, Billy Burke's character. Writing for him is so spectacular, he's so funny and wry and every scene he's in he just takes. There's a scene in 'Eclipse' where Bella tells him she's a virgin, and it's the funniest, most awkward scene I've ever seen on film.

  Melissa Rosenberg

  Writing, Character, Awkward

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• Maybe she should cut the guy a little slack, [...] Maybe Thorne had been a no-show because something bad happened to him on the job. What if he'd been injured in the line of duty and didn't come by as promised because he was incapacitated in some way? Maybe he hadn't called to apologize or to explain his absence because he physically couldn't. Right. And maybe she had checked her brain into her panties from the second she first laid eyes on the man.

  Tina St. John

  Jobs, Eye, Cutting

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• I see. So you playacted the role of a rake who was only pretending to be in earnest, knowing you would come across as though you had the lowest of motives, when in fact, you were sincere?” “Precisely.” She gave a short, wry laugh and shook her head at him. “Convoluted sir! You are a maze.” He shot her a sulky glance. “I thought you were going to say I was amazing.” “That, too,” she admitted with a rueful smile, capturing his square chin between her fingertips.

  Gaelen Foley

  Knowing, Wry Smile, Squares

  Gaelen Foley (2002). “Lord of Fire”, p.175, Ballantine Books

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• the last cigarettes are smoked, the loaves are sliced, and lest this be taken for wry sorrow, drown the spider in wine. you are much more than simply dead: I am a dish for your ashes, I am a fist for your vanished air. the most terrible thing about life is finding it gone.

  Charles Bukowski

  Taken, Wine, Air

  Charles Bukowski (2009). “sifting through the madness for the word, the line, the way: New Poems”, p.101, Zondervan

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• I will sit here but an hour or two, then leave." I yawn. "So very long as that?" When he answers, there is a wry note in his voice. "I do have my reputation to protect.

  R.L. LaFevers

  Two, Voice, Long

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