“‘Tis sometimes the height of wisdom to feign stupidity.”

Cato the Elder (quoted on www.quotationspage.com/quotes.php3?author=Cato+the+Elder)

“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.”

James Branch Cabell, The Silver Stallion (this quotation, verbatim or slightly modified, has been misattributed to others including Robert Oppenheimer)

“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.”

Franklin Roosevelt, quoted as “Thought du jour” in “Social Studies” in Globe & Mail October 3, 2008

“A man who does not lose his reason over certain things has none to lose.”

Gotthold Lessing (1729-81), quoted as “Thought du jour” in Globe & Mail August 22, 2000

“My house, my car, my family may be a lot of responsibility, but I would rather take that responsibility than have any of you dating my wife or backing my car into phone poles or leaving your dirty socks on my bedroom floor. (Although when it comes to the kids, if any of you want to baby-sit for free, I’m willing to share.)”

P.J. O’Rourke to the 25th anniversary of the Cato Institute, in Cato Policy Report July/August 2002

“A knowledgeable fool is a greater fool than an ignorant one.”

Molière [e-mailed by a friend without further citation]

“‘The optimist goes to the window and says, “Good morning, God.” The pessimist goes to the window and says, “Good God, morning.”‘

“T.J. Park, Oshawa, Ont.” quoted in “Smile” in Globe & Mail September 5, 2001

“doctors joke about a test for insanity: Put someone in a room with an overflowing sink and a mop. And then see if he tries to mop up the mess - or just turns off the tap.”

Peter Brimelow in National Review April 7, 1997