1940s American Quotes & Sayings

BORN: 1856 George Bernard Shaw (Man and Superman, Major Barbara), Dublin 1894 Aldous Huxley (Brave New World, Crome Yellow), Godalming, England DIED: 1934 Winsor McCay — Tom Nissley

As late as 1920, some 244,000 Civil War veterans were still living, several of whom were in Congress, while Union hero Oliver Wendell Holmes sat on the U.S. Supreme Court. As D. W. Brogan, an astute observer of national trends, would write: "The impact of the Civil War on American life and American memory can hardly be exaggerated. It is still 'the war.'" Brogan expressed this opinion in 1944 - during World War II. Not until the last Union and Confederate veterans died out in the 1940s would the national memory be truly rid of the Civil War. — Douglas Brinkley

Women tend to act heroically within their own moral universe, regardless of whether anyone else knows about it - donating more kidneys to nonrelatives than men do, for example. Men, on the other hand, are far more likely to risk their lives at a moment's notice, and that reaction is particularly strong when others are watching, or when they are part of a group. — Sebastian Junger

When you can't find a remedy for your pain, you look for someone to blame. — Yasmina Khadra

I would surmise that we must cherish the resources that God has given us to achieve a goal more than we cherish the goal itself. For if we fall victim to the pursuit of the goal alone, then the goal has suddenly become our god. — Craig D. Lounsbrough

Tipping as an American practice stretches back centuries. "There are records of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson giving tips to their slaves," said Michael Lynn, a professor of consumer behavior at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, who has studied changes in tipping habits. In the 1940s, he said, the average restaurant tip was about 10 percent. "It's very clear that tip sizes have increased over time," he said, adding that he could not predict how high they would go. — Anonymous

'The Green Turtle' was created in the 1940s by a cartoonist named Chu Hing, one of the first Asian Americans to work in the American comic book industry. — Gene Luen Yang

Life's just a bunch of accidents, connected by one perfect end. — Daniel C. Tomas

I don't have maids or servants, and my husband and I love waking up early and going to the 24-hour supermarket when there is nobody else there. — Dolly Parton

The world in many ways would be a much calmer and gentler place if women ruled. There would have been fewer children sacrificed to the gods of greed and power. — Wm. Paul Young

this IS the time when man must be Free. — Sushil Singh

I love you already, and if these things be done in the dry tree, what shall be done in the green? — Mary Webb

When you are studying jazz, the best thing to do is listen to records or listen to live music. It isn't as though you go to a teacher. You just listen as much as you can and absorb everything. — Carla Bley

In the 1940s a white American man wrote about the sacred myths of other cultures. He decided he knew what they meant better than those cultures themselves did. — Drew Jacob