Quoted on Twitter, which is only slightly less prestigious than Bartlett’s Book of Familiar Quotations

I was quoted twice this week on Twitter, which is a good sign considering one of my lifelong ambitions is to make it into Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. 

The first tweet reads:

From an article in Reader's Digest Aug '09: "The story already exists and you just need to find it." -Matthew Dicks

Oddly enough, I do not recall ever interviewing with Reader’s Digest and cannot recall seeing any article in the publication about me.  Still, this is a phrase that I use often, so wherever Reader’s Digest got their information, it was at least accurate.

The second tweet reads:

"Old age is the last dirty trick." -Matthew Dicks, Unexpectedly Milo

Though this line appears in the book, it was actually said by the mother of a  good friend during her last year of life.  I liked it so much that I stole it for the book. 

So technically this one is not mine. 

But add the first to my current list of hopefuls, both assembled by me and culled from this blog by a generous reader. 

1. Brevity is the sou

2. Lost potential is difficult to measure and convenient to ignore.

3. I wrote term papers as a means of flirting with girls.

4. In my most treasured friendships, there is little room for hurt feelings.

5. Ambiguity in the possible death of a character is an act of cowardice on the writer’s part.

6. I spend many of my evenings struggling to stay alive. 

7. Don’t let anyone fool you.  Death is hardest on the dead.

8. Passive-aggressive, indirect, and anonymous are three of my least favorite qualities in any form of communication.

9. Nothing convinces me about the stupidity of human beings more than driving in the vicinity of the mall on a Saturday.

10. I am more impressed with the quality of a person’s questions than with the quality of their answers.

11. It is all about me, but you’re welcome to occupy space.

12. Spock said that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, but what if the many are all incredibly stupid?

13. You can determine the effectiveness of a teacher by the frequency by which you can enter the classroom and speak to the teacher without grinding learning to a halt.

14. If you are not delegating enough, you are not lazy enough.