February 10

"Her feet beneath her petticoat
Like little mice stole in and out,
As if they feared the light;
But oh, she dances such a way!
No sun upon an Easter-day
Is half so fine a sight."

Sir John Suckling
(02/10/1609 – 05/01/1642)
English writer; also invented Cribbage ("Ballade upon a Wedding")

"Don't call the world dirty because you forgot to clean your glasses."

Aaron Hill
(02/10/1685 – 02/08/1750)
English writer ("Elfrid")
(died near his birthday)

Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu

"There is a very good saying that if triangles invented a god, they would make him three-sided."

Baron de Montesquieu
(01/18/1689 – 02/10/1755)
French writer ("Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline")

"Brandy and water spoils two good things."

Charles Lamb
(02/10/1775 – 12/27/1834)
English writer ("Essays of Elia")
(brother of Mary Lamb)

"Very sorry can't come. Lie follows by post." *

Lord Charles Beresford
(02/10/1846 – 09/06/1919)
English admiral , Telegram to the Prince of Wales, declining a summons to dine

"Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible."

Frank Moore Colby
(02/10/1865 – 03/03/1925)
US encyclopedia editor and essayist

"My advice to the women's clubs of America is to raise more hell and fewer dahlias."

William Allen White
(02/10/1868 – 01/29/1944)
US writer ("The Real Issue: A Book of Kansas Stories")
(same dates as Jimmy Durante)

"That's metaphysics, my dear fellow. It's forbidden me by my doctor, my stomach won't take it."

Boris Pasternak
(02/10/1890 – 05/30/1960)
Russian writer ("Doctor Zhivago")

"Politics is developing more comedians than radio ever did."

Jimmy Durante
(02/10/1893 – 01/29/1980)
US pianist, singer, actor ("Inka Dinka Doo")
(same dates as William Allen White)

"Perhaps we could have a translation, I could not quite follow."

Harold Macmillan
(02/10/1894 – 12/29/1986)
British Prime Minister (44) , when Khrushchev began banging his shoe on the desk at the UN

"Don't tell me peace has broken out, when I've just bought some new supplies."

Bertolt Brecht
(02/10/1898 – 08/14/1956)
German playwright ("The Threepenny Opera")

"Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as Chaos."

Joyce Grenfell
(02/10/1910 – 11/30/1979)
English comic, actor ("The Time of My Life: Entertaining the Troops")

"Vasectomy means never having to say you're sorry."

Larry Adler
(02/10/1914 – 08/06/2001)
US harmonica player ("Rhapsody in Blue")

"We may eventually come to realize that chastity is no more a virtue than malnutrition."

Dr. Alex Comfort
(02/10/1920 – 03/26/2000)
US pop psychologist, writer ("The Joy of Sex")

"I totally and completely admit, with no qualms at all, my egomania, my selfishness, coupled with a really magnificent voice."

Leontyne Price
(02/10/1927 – )
US singer ("Vissi D'Arte")

"Charlton Heston was a bit over the top by himself, and didn't need any score to accompany him."

Jerry Goldsmith
(02/10/1929 – 07/21/2004)
US composer ("The Omen") , on scoring the end of "Planet of the Apes"

"Often the search proves more profitable than the goal."

E. L. Konigsburg
(02/10/1930 – 04/19/2013)
US children's writer ("The View from Saturday")

"Dolly Parton reminds me of two big ice cream cones and a whole lot of cotton candy. I'll bet most of her fans are either hillbillies or diabetics."

Peter Allen
(02/10/1944 – 06/18/1992)
Australian songwriter ("Don't Cry Out Loud")
(was married to Liza Minnelli)

"If enough people think of a thing and work hard enough at it, I guess it's pretty nearly bound to happen, wind and weather permitting."

Laura Ingalls Wilder
(02/07/1867 – 02/10/1957)
US writer ("Little House on the Prairie")
(died near her birthday)

Convicted Criminal: "As God is my judge, I am innocent.
Lord Birkett: He isn't; I am, and you're not!"

Norman Birkett
(09/06/1883 – 02/10/1962)
English barrister

"It's hard for a fellow to keep a chip on his shoulder if you allow him to take a bow."

Billy Rose
(09/06/1899 – 02/10/1966)
US composer, producer, entrepreneur
(was married to Fanny Brice)

"I thank you for this award, though I think there may be a problem with a world in which making small, human, and humorous films is 'an achievement.' It should be the norm."

Alexander Payne
(02/10/1961 – )
US director ("Citizen Ruth") , on accepting Director of the Year award for "Sideways" at the Palm Springs film fest
(was married to Sandra Oh)

"It's really fun to act like a bimbo. But it's fun to act like a bimbo only when people know that you really aren't one."

Laura Dern
(02/10/1967 – )
US actor ("Enlightened")
(daughter of Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern)

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children."

Alex Haley
(08/11/1921 – 02/10/1992)
US writer ("Roots: The Saga of an American Family")

"Life's just a bus stop to somewhere infinitely better."

Jim Varney
(06/15/1949 – 02/10/2000)
US actor ("Ernest Goes to Camp")

"You can't teach without learning. The first thing you have to do when you start teaching is to organize what you know. In the course of organizing what you know into a coherent body, you discover that you know a lot more than you thought you thought you did."

Dave Van Ronk
(06/30/1936 – 02/10/2002)
US singer, songwriter ("Hang me, Oh Hang Me")

"If I see an ending, I can work backwards."

Arthur Miller
(10/17/1915 – 02/10/2005)
US playwright ("The Crucible")
(was married to Marilyn Monroe)

"Dr. Kissinger was surprised that I knew where Ghana was."

Shirley Temple Black
(04/23/1928 – 02/10/2014)
US actor, ambassador ("Bright Eyes")
(was married to John Agar)