Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Crying all the way, that is


On this day in 1890, John Henry Cardinal Newman died. He wrote:

"...the mass of men are created for nothing, and are meant to leave life as they entered it."

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

He got it his whole career


Comedian Lenny Bruce died August 3, 1966 (we forgot to note yesterday), at the age of 41, of a heroin overdose. His supposed last words:

"Do you know where I can get any shit?"

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Well, that hurts our feelings


Polish-born novelist Joseph Conrad, a master of English prose, died on this day in 1924.

"About feelings people really know nothing," Conrad wrote. "We talk with indignation or enthusiasm, we talk about oppression, cruelty, crime, devotion, self-sacrifice, virtue, and we know nothing real beyond the words."