Gelett Burgess

Frank Gelett Burgess (January 30, 1866 – September 18, 1951) was an American artist, art critic, poet, author and humourist. He is credited with coining the word blurb, a short promotional statement about a piece of creative work, and bromide, a trite or unoriginal phrase intended to soothe or placate, or the boring person who utters those phrases.

Quotes

 * To appreciate nonsense requires a serious interest in life.
 * From the essay The Sense of Humor first published in The Romance of the Commonplace (1902).


 * there are no roads in all Bohemia !
 * From the essay Where is Bohemia? in The Romance of the Commonplace (1902).


 * A woman and a mouse, they carry a tale wherever they go.
 * Gelett Burgess, The Maxims of Methuselah (1907).



The Purple Cow (1895)

 * I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one; But I can tell you, anyhow, I'd rather see than be one!

Confession (1897)

 * Ah, yes, I wrote the "Purple Cow"— I'm Sorry, now, I wrote it; But I can tell you Anyhow I'll Kill you if you Quote it!
 * Poem Confession: and a Portrait Too, Upon a Background that I Rue (1897)
 * Reacting to the many parodies of his poem.

Are You A Bromide? (1906)

 * I don't know much about Art, but I know what I like. (p. 24)


 * She doesn't look a day over fifty. (p. 24)


 * You'll feel differently about these things when you're married. (p. 25)


 * It isn't so much the heat... as the humidity. (p. 28)


 * You're a sight for sore eyes. (p. 29)