What do you think?
Rate this book
The Quotable Intellectual: 1,417 Bon Mots, Ripostes, and Witticisms for Aspiring Academics, Armchair Philosophers…And Anyone Else Who Wants to Sound Really Smart
Have you ever wanted to be an intellectual, without all that tedious work of getting an advanced college degree? Here’s your shortcut to the world of the well read. Just open this collection of 1,417 quotations from the mouths of the wildly famous to the painfully obscure, and voila! --instant erudition.
It doesn’t take much to sound as if you know what you’re talking about. Just toss off some time-tested wisdom from Henry James or Plotinus . . . or, if you’re feeling daring, a line or two of poetry from Byron. In no time at all you’ll be sipping a glass of Madeira, sampling imported Gouda, and bragging about your collection of first edition Vonneguts.
Just like an intellectual.
It doesn’t take much to sound as if you know what you’re talking about. Just toss off some time-tested wisdom from Henry James or Plotinus . . . or, if you’re feeling daring, a line or two of poetry from Byron. In no time at all you’ll be sipping a glass of Madeira, sampling imported Gouda, and bragging about your collection of first edition Vonneguts.
Just like an intellectual.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 18, 2010
5 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 21, 2012
A worthwhile compendium, though odd. Each of the nine sections (Art, Literature, Music, etc.) has a few sub-categories ("Philosophy" has ten; most have two-to-four) so finding something relevant is a bit easier than in the most random volumes (Paper Lanterns: More Quotations from the Back Pages of The Sun). The quotes - all 1,417 - are usually accessible and worth cataloging. There's also an index of authors. Both of these features enhance the functionality of the device, as my friends in tech-design would say.
It also features some quirks I found annoying. Along with quotes, the author is described (i.e.: "Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian philosopher, is sometimes called the first modern political thinker because of his masterwork, 'The Prince'."). Only others aren't (quick: who's Norman Cousins? Max Beerbohm? On the same page as Machiabelli, with no info). No rhyme or reason that I could discern. And then every section has a few column inches of Archer's thoughts about the topic at hand, and his prose doesn't stand up so well against the more august quipsters.
And speaking of Intellectual quipsters, do Elton John, Lilly Tomlin and Elvis belong under this title? Perhaps, as they have each said some apt things. But this isn't all Schopenhauer and Balzac.
It also features some quirks I found annoying. Along with quotes, the author is described (i.e.: "Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian philosopher, is sometimes called the first modern political thinker because of his masterwork, 'The Prince'."). Only others aren't (quick: who's Norman Cousins? Max Beerbohm? On the same page as Machiabelli, with no info). No rhyme or reason that I could discern. And then every section has a few column inches of Archer's thoughts about the topic at hand, and his prose doesn't stand up so well against the more august quipsters.
And speaking of Intellectual quipsters, do Elton John, Lilly Tomlin and Elvis belong under this title? Perhaps, as they have each said some apt things. But this isn't all Schopenhauer and Balzac.
Displaying 1 of 1 review