Leo Rosten

"The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it."

"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."

"Humor is the affectionate communication of insight."

"The purpose of life is not to be happy—but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all."

"The purpose of life is not to be happy—but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all."

"The purpose of life is not to be happy—but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all."