Frank Moore Colby (1865–1925) was an American encyclopedia editor and essayist. He also contributed to many magazines, including The Bookman, The New Republic, and Vanity Fair, and his witty essays were widely read.
Born in Washington, D. C., Colby graduated from Columbia University in 1888. He taught history at Amherst College in 1890–91 and Columbia and Barnard College 1891–95. He also taught economics at New York University 1895–1900.
Colby held a lifelong career writing for encyclopedias, serving as the editor of the International Year Book 1898–1925. He also edited New International Encyclopedia (1900–03) and led its second edition (1913–15.)
Clarence Day, Jr. edited the Colby Essays (1926.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Frank Moore Colby
Every man ought to be inquisitive through every hour of his great adventure down to the day when he shall no longer cast a shadow in the sun. For if he dies without a question in his heart, what excuse is there for his continuance?
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Curiosity
That is the consolation of a little mind; you have the fun of changing it without impeding the progress of mankind.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Humility, Modesty
The New York playgoer is a child of nature, and he has an honest and wholesome regard of whatever is atrocious in art.
—Frank Moore Colby
Many people lose their tempers merely from seeing you keep yours.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Temper, Anger
Minds do not act together in public; they simply stick together; and when their private activities are resumed, they fly apart again.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Agreement
If a large city can, after intense intellectual efforts, choose for its mayor a man who merely will not steal from it, we consider it a triumph of the suffrage.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Politics
Men will confess to treason, murder, arson, false teeth, or a wig. How many of them will own up to a lack of humor?
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Humor
We do not mind our not arriving anywhere nearly so much as our not having any company on the way.
—Frank Moore Colby
By rights, satire is a lonely and introspective occupation, for nobody can describe a fool to the life without much patient self-inspection.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Cynicism, Occupation
One learns little more about a man from his feats of literary memory than from the feats of his alimentary canal.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Literature, Books
Clever people seem not to feel the natural pleasure of bewilderment, and are always answering questions when the chief relish of a life is to go on asking them.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Intellectuals, Intelligence, Questions, Questioning
Politics is a place of humble hopes and strangely modest requirements, where all are good who are not criminal and all are wise who are not ridiculously otherwise.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Politics, Politicians
Averageness is a quality we must put up with. Men march toward civilization in column formation, and by the time the van has learned to admire the masters the rear is drawing reluctantly away from the totem pole.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Mediocrity
Persecution was at least a sign of personal interest. Tolerance is composed of nine parts of apathy to one of brotherly love.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Apathy, Tolerance
Talk ought always to run obliquely, not nose to nose with no chance of mental escape.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Conversation
I know of no more disagreeable situation than to be left feeling generally angry without anybody in particular to be angry at.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Anger
I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Imitation, Integrity
Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Communication
We always carry out by committee anything in which any one of us alone would be too reasonable to persist.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Committees
Sin in this country has been always said to be rather calculating than impulsive.
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Sin
Why need every honest poet be suspected of leading a quadruple life? Sometimes the second or third meaning is less interesting than the first, and the only really difficult thing about a poem is the critic’s explanation of it
—Frank Moore Colby
Topics: Explanation
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