American - Journalist | April 3, 1916 - February 1, 1997
A good column is one that sells paper. It doesn't matter how beautifully it is written and how much you admire the author... if it doesn't sell any papers, it's not a good column. It's a terrible yardstick to use, but in the newspaper business, that's the whole thing.
Herb Caen
GoodBusinessYouAdmireMatter
The world of Manhattan is small and tightly knit, and the man on top retains a certain humility. He knows how far and fast he can fall by looking at the guy across the street. The view from the $250,000 apartment covers a lot of ground, most of it condemned.
ManHumilityWorldLookingSmall
I hope I go to Heaven, and when I do, I'm going to do what every San Franciscan does when he gets there. He looks around and says, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco.'
HopeBadHeavenLooksGoGoing
Old San Francisco - the one so many nostalgics yearn for - had buildings that related well to each other.
BuildingsOldSan FranciscoWellHad
The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around.
TimePainTroubleBiggerEven
San Franciscans have a bond of self-satisfaction bordering on smugness.
BondSelf-SatisfactionSan
New Yorkers are stuck in a gloomy mucilage of mutual commiseration.
NewGloomyNew YorkersStuckMutual
When a place advertises itself as 'World Famous,' you may be sure it isn't.
WorldFamousYouPlaceMaySure
Satire of satire tends to be self-canceling, and deliberate shock tactics soon lose their ability to shock, especially when they're too deliberate.
LoseAbilitySatireSoonDeliberate
The only way to fight a thing like 50 is to stay au courant if it kills you.
FightYouWayStayOnlyLike
Philosophically, I don't like doing commercials.
DoingLikeCommercials
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