# When Insults had Class



## BLF (Feb 23, 2010)

These glorious insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.


The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."

He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."


A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." 

"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."



"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr



"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill



"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow



"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).



"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas



"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain



"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.." - Oscar Wilde


"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.



"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop



"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright


"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb



"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson



"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating


"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand


"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker


"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain



"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West



"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.." - Oscar Wilde



"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts.. . for support rather than illumination. " - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)



"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder



"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx


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## Richard_the_Rogue (Jun 11, 2009)

“You are drunk Sir Winston, you are disgustingly drunk."
"Yes, Mrs. Braddock, I am drunk. But you, Mrs. Braddock are ugly, and disgustingly fat. But, tomorrow morning, I, Winston Churchill will be sober.”


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## robflyer (Nov 17, 2006)

Groucho Marx - 'I never forget a face but in your case I'm prepared to make an exception!'


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## robflyer (Nov 17, 2006)

There is the apocryphal story about Winston returning home after a really stressful day in the Commons and retiring to the loo for his evening constitutional before dinner.

While he was in the loo the Lord Privy Seal arrived to tender his apologies for having been the cause of all Winstons grief in the Commons.

When the butler announced through the loo door that the Lord Privy Seal had arrived, Winston is said to have retorted,

'Tell the good Lord that I am sealed in my privy and I can only deal with one s**t at a time!!'.

Best regards

Robflyer


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

The Churchill ones are brilliant.

Peter


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