“Each of us, when our day’s work is done, must seek our ideal, whether it be love or pinochle or lobster à la Newburg, or the sweet silence of the musty bookshelves.”
― O. Henry
“No friendship is an accident. ”
― O. Henry
“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
― O. Henry
“All of us have to be prevaricators, hypocrites, and liars every day of our lives; otherwise the social structure would fall into pieces the first day. We must act in one another’s presence just as we must wear clothes. It is for the best”
― O. Henry
“We can’t buy one minute of time with cash; if we could, rich people would live longer.”
― O. Henry
“The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate. ”
― O. Henry
“I’ll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.”
― O. Henry
“I wanted to paint a picture some day that people would stand before and forget that it was made of paint. I wanted it to creep into them like a bar of music and mushroom there like a soft bullet.”
― O. Henry
“She had
become so thoroughly annealed into his life that she was like the
air he breathed–necessary but scarcely noticed.”
― O. Henry
“The magi, as you know, were wise men–wonderfully wise men–who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
― O. Henry
“It couldn’t have happened anywhere but in little old New York.”
― O. Henry
“Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence”
― O. Henry
“Write what you like; there is no other rule.”
― O. Henry
“He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.”
― O. Henry
“Pull up the shades so I can see New York. I don’t want to go home in the dark.”
― O. Henry
“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.”
― O. Henry
“Greenwich Village… the village of low rents and high arts.”
― O. Henry
“The most notable thing about Time is that it is so purely relative. A large amount of reminiscence is, by common consent, conceded to the drowning man; and it is not past belief that one may review an entire courtship while removing one’s gloves.”
― O. Henry
“It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.”
― O. Henry
“There are stories in everything. I’ve got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands.”
― O. Henry
“It’ll be a great place if they ever finish it.”
― O. Henry
“Life is full of sniffles sobs and smiles. With sniffles predominating.”
― O. Henry
“If a person has lived through war, poverty and love, he has lived a full life”
― O. Henry
“He studied cities as women study their reflections.”
― O. Henry
“[A]ll of life, as we know it, moves in little, unavailing circles. More justly than to anything else, it can be likened to the game of baseball. Crack! we hit the ball, and away we go. If we earn a run (in life we call it success) we get back to the home plate and sit upon a bench. If we are thrown out, we walk back to the home plate — and sit upon a bench.”
― O. Henry
“Turn up the lights —I don’t want to go home in the dark.”
― O. Henry
“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
― O. Henry
“Love and large-hearted giving, when added together, can leave deep marks.It is never easy to cover these marks, dear friends—never easy.”
― O. Henry
“But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
― O. Henry
“Of habit, the power that keeps the earth from flying to pieces; though there is some silly theory of gravitation.”
― O Henry
“But the best, in my opinion, was the home life in the little flat–the ardent, voluble chats after the day’s study; the cozy dinners and fresh, light breakfasts; the interchange of ambitions–ambitions interwoven each with the other’s or else inconsiderable–the mutual help and inspiration; and–overlook my artlessness–stuffed olives and cheese sandwiches at 11 p.m.”
― O. Henry
“If you live in an atmosphere of luxury, luxury is yours whether your money pays for it, or another’s.”
― O. Henry
“Maybe the hairs on my head were numbered” she went on with a sudden serious sweetness “but nobody could ever count my love for you”.”
― O. Henry
“It ain’t the roads we take; it’s what’s inside of us that makes us turn out the way we do.”
― O. Henry
“And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.”
― O. Henry
“Ransie was a narrow six feet of sallow brown skin and yellow hair. The imperturbability of the mountains hung upon him like a suit of armor. The woman was calicoed, angled, snuff-brushed, and weary with unknown desires. Through it all gleamed a faint protest of cheated youth unconscious of its loss.”
― O. Henry
“Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling—something”
― O. Henry
“It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.”
― O. Henry
“Will you buy my hair?”
― O. Henry
“I hate it as one hates sin or pestilence or–the color work in a ten-cent magazine.”
― O. Henry
“You sold a story last week,” said Pettit, “about a gun fight in an Arizona mining town in which the hero drew his Colt’s .45 and shot seven bandits as fast as they came in the door. Now, if a six-shooter could—”
“Oh, well,” said I, “that’s different. Arizona is a long way from New York. I could have a man stabbed with a lariat or chased by a pair of chaparreras if I wanted to, and it wouldn’t be noticed until the usual error-sharp from around McAdams Junction isolates the erratum and writes in to the papers about it.” (from “The Plutonian Fire”)”
― O. Henry
“Oh, come off your perch!” said the other man, who wore glasses. “Your premises won’t come out in the wash. You wind-jammers who apply bandy-legged theories to concrete categorical syllogisms send logical conclusions skallybootin’ into the infinitesimal ragbag. You can’t pull my leg with an old sophism with whiskers on it.”
― O. Henry
“Well, little old Noisyville-on-the Subway is good enough for me.”
― O. Henry
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents.”
― O. Henry
“Oh, I know what to do when I see victuals coming toward me in little old Bagdad-on-the-Subway. I strike the asphalt three times with my forehead and get ready to spiel yarns for my supper.”
― O. Henry
“Mr. Ramsay was the head clerk; and as far as I am concerned I am for him. He never pinched the girls’ arms when he passed them in dark corners of the store; and when he told them stories when business was dull and the girls giggled and said: “Oh, pshaw!” it wasn’t G. Bernard they meant at all.”
― O. Henry
“For, even the preachers have begun to tell us that God is radium, or ether or some scientific compound, and that the worst we wicked ones may expect is a chemical reaction.”
― O. Henry
“True adventurers have never been plentiful. They who are set down in print as such have been mostly business men with newly invented methods. They have been out after the things they wanted – golden fleeces, holy grails, lady loves, treasures, crowns, and fame. The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate. A fine example was the Prodigal Sob – when he started back home.”
― O. Henry
“The consul was interested in his report. He was only twenty-four; and he had not been in Coralio long enough for his enthusiasm to cool in the heat of the tropics — a paradox that may be allowed between Cancer and Capricorn.”
― O. Henry
“Pennies saved one and two at a time”
― O. Henry
“He had become enveloped in the Indian Summer of the Soul.”
― O. Henry