Malcolm Muggeridge

There's a large strain of irony in our human affairs... Interwoven with our affairs is this wonderful spirit of irony which prevents us from ever being utterly and irretrievably serious, from being unaware of the mysterious nature of our existence.

All new news is old news happening to new people

[Pascal] was the first and perhaps is still the most effective voice to be raised in warning of the consequences of the enthronement of the human ego in contradistinction to the cross, symbolizing the ego's immolation. How beautiful it all seemed at the time of the Enlightenment, that man triumphant would bring to pass that earthly paradise whose groves of academe would ensure the realization forever of peace, plenty, and beatitude in practice. But what a nightmare of wars, famines, and folly was to result therefrom.

Christianity . . . sees the necessity for man to have spiritual values and it shows him how to get at those through physical sacraments.

The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.

Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.

Travel, of course, narrows the mind.

One of the peculiar sins of the twentieth century which we've developed to a very high level is the sin of credulity. It has been said that when human beings stop believing in God they believe in nothing. The truth is much worse: they believe in anything.

The pursuit of happiness, which American citizens are obliged to undertake, tends to involve them in trying to perpetuate the moods, tastes and aptitudes of youth.

I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to Jesus.

One of the many pleasures of old age is giving things up.

There is no such thing as darkness only a failure to see.

Bad humor is an evasion of reality good humor is an acceptance of it.

Good taste and humour are a contradiction in terms like a chaste whore.

Few men of action have been able to make a graceful exit at the appropriate time.

St. Teresa of Avila described our life in this world as like a night in a second-class hotel.

St. Teresa of Avila described our life in this world as like a night at a second-class hotel.

When you reach your sixties you have to decide whether you're going to be a sot or an ascetic. In other words if you want to go on working after you're sixty some degree of asceticism is inevitable.