A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead.

— Leo Rosten

Anybody who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad.

— Leo Rosten

A writer writes not because he is educated but because he is driven by the need to communicate. Behind the need to communicate is the need to share. Behind the need to share is the need to be understood.

— Leo Rosten

Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.

— Leo Rosten

Extremists think 'communication' means agreeing with them.

— Leo Rosten

First-rate people hire first-rate people second-rate people hire third-rate people.

— Leo Rosten

Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.

— Leo Rosten

I have admired W.C. Fields since the day he advanced upon Baby Leroy with an ice pick. Any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad.

— Leo Rosten

I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.

— Leo Rosten

O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales.

— Leo Rosten