187 Quotes by Malcolm Muggeridge

In the cycle of a great civilization, the artist begins as priest, and ends as a clown or buffoon.

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

I believe that the visit of the Queen to the United States is an admirable occasion to produce an historical, truthful, sincere, genuine analysis of how the British Monarchy evolved into its present situation.

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

People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to.

I wouldn't have said that Anthony Eden was equipped by nature to deal with the situation in the world today. I would have said that he was portentous, sincere, honest and rather stupid.

History will see advertising as one of the real evil things of our time. It is stimulating people constantly to want things, want this, want that.

It is only possible to succeed at second-rate pursuits - like becoming a millionaire or a prime minister, winning a war, seducing beautiful women, flying through the stratosphere, or landing on the moon. First-rate pursuits - involving, as they must, trying to understand what life is about and trying to convey that understanding - inevitably result in a sense of failure. A Napoleon, a Churchill, or a Roosevelt can feel himself to be successful, but never a Socrates, a Pascal, or a Blake. Understanding is forever unattainable.

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.