S. J. Perelman
S. J. Perelman
Sidney Joseph Perelman, known as S. J. Perelman, was an American humorist, author, and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for The New Yorker. He also wrote for several other magazines, including Judge, as well as books, scripts, and screenplays. Perelman received an Academy Award for screenwriting in 1956...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScreenwriter
Date of Birth1 February 1904
CountryUnited States of America
forgiveness forgiving humans
To err is human, to forgive supine.
doors secret may
You'll have to leave my meals on a tray outside the door because I'll be working pretty late on the secret of making myself invisible, which may take me almost until eleven o'clock.
evening feels ifs
If, at the close of business each evening, I myself can understand what I've written, I feel the day hasn't been totally wasted.
airplane glasses santa-barbara
Santa Barbara people are conservative-not like in L.A., where everybody wears rhinestones on their glasses to show that they own an airplane factory.
pale-yellow oil house
A basic ingredient in the manufacture of perfume, the attar-a heavy, pale-yellow oil stored in small metal drums-had been put up as collateral by Bulgaria, in lieu of gold, at the Moscow Narodny Bank, a Communist finance house for East-West trade.
knows ifs
I don't know where we're going or how we'll get there, but when we get there we'll be there - and that's something, even if it's nothing.
travel adventure may
If travel has taught me nothing more, and it certainly has, it's this: you never know when some trifling incident, utterly without significance, may pitchfork you into adventure or, by the same token, may not.
trying criticism fiction
I cannot recall a more engaging passage in fiction, and I've been trying for almost eighteen seconds.
age trying roosters
We old roosters must be cautious. Don't try to outwit your arteries.
fate deck bottom
Fate was dealing from the bottom of the deck.
maturity squash tomatoes
Tomatoes and squash never fail to reach maturity. You can spray them with acid, beat them with sticks and burn them; they love it.
sympathy lips bits
He bit his lip in a manner which immediately awakened my maternal sympathy, and I helped him bite it.
personality facts
The fact is that all of us have only one personality, and we wring it out like a dishtowel. You are what you are.
opposites two ponies
Only the scenario writers are exempt. These are tied between the tails of two spirited Caucasian ponies, which are then driven off in opposite directions. This custom is called a conference.