Top 140 O. Henry Quotes (2026 Update)
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51. “Humans were denied the speech of animals. The only common ground of communication upon which dogs and men can get together is in fiction.”

— O. Henry

52. “She had become so thoroughly annealed into his life that she was like the air he breathed – necessary but scarcely noticed.”

— O. Henry

53. “Broadway – the great sluice that washes out the dust of the gold-mines of Gotham.”

— O. Henry

54. “In the big city the twin spirits Romance and Adventure are always abroad seeking worthy wooers.”

— O. Henry

55. “A burglar who respects his art always takes his time before taking anything else.”

— O. Henry

56. “The most lonely thing in the world is a soul when it is preparing to go on its far journey.”

— O. Henry

57. “True adventurers have never been plentiful. They who are set down in print as such have been mostly business men with newly invented methods. They have been out after the things they wanted – golden fleeces, holy grails, lady loves, treasures, crowns, and fame. The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate. A fine example was the Prodigal Sob – when he started back home.”

— O. Henry

58. “A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows.”

— O. Henry

59. “Except in streetcars one should never be unnecessarily rude to a lady.”

— O. Henry

60. “We often hear “shop-girls” spoken of. No such persons exist. There are girls who work in shops. They make their living that way. But why turn their occupation into an adjective? Let us be fair. We do not refer to the girls who live on Fifth Avenue as “marriage-girls.”

— O. Henry

61. “He could talk through twenty cigarettes on any topic that you brought up. And he never sat up when he could lie down; and never stood when he could sit.”

— O. Henry

62. “When the hour comes it is to remind him of a story. Synopsis: A French girl says to her suitor: “Did you ask my father for my hand at nine o’clock this morning, as you said you would?” “I did not,” he. replies. “At nine o’clock I was fighting a duel with swords in the Bois de Boulogne.” “Coward!” she hisses.”

— O. Henry

63. “The expression on Dodson’s face changed in an instant to one of cold ferocity mingled with inexorable cupidity. The soul of the man showed itself for a moment like an evil face in the window of a reputable house.”

— O. Henry

64. “Aglaia looked up at him with a tender smile. “I want to ask him to wait,” she said. “I have just found my father, and I want it to be just we two for a while. I want to tell him he will have to wait.”

— O. Henry

65. “Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year – what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.”

— O. Henry

66. “When a man begins to be hilarious in a sorrowful way you can bet a million that he is dyeing his hair.”

— O. Henry

67. “The air was full of human essence, of artificial enticement, of coquetry, indolence, pleasure – the man-made sense of existence.”

— O. Henry

68. “Where the smoke cleared, the crystal air, with some of the efficacy of faith, seemed to remove the mountains almost to the sea, bringing them so near that one might count the scarred glades on their wooded sides.”

— O. Henry

69. “Give me,” says Pogue, “a big city for my vacation. Especially New York. I’m not much fond of New Yorkers, and Manhattan is about the only place on the globe where I don’t find any.”

— O. Henry

70. “There was a sylvan attitude of somnolent sleepiness pervading that section of the external outward surface of Alabama that lay exposed to my view.”

— O. Henry

71. “We would call no one a lobster without good and sufficient claws.”

— O. Henry

72. “But when a sick person begins to feel that he’s going to die, half my work is useless.”

— O. Henry

73. “You see this robe that I wear?” Bellchambers caressingly touched the straight-hanging garment: “At last I have found something that will not bag at the knees.”

— O. Henry

74. “The old couple were childless – they had only a married daughter living in Brooklyn.”

— O. Henry

75. “Love is a net that catches hearts like fish.”

— O. Henry

76. “To a woman nothing seems quite impossible to the powers of the man she worships.”

— O. Henry

77. “Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.”

— O. Henry

78. “She started to try to cover the sad marks of what she had done. Love and large-hearted giving, when added together, can leave deep marks. It is never easy to cover these marks, dear friends, never easy.”

— O. Henry

79. “The lonesomest thing in all the world is a soul when it is making ready to go on its mysterious, far journey.”

— O. Henry

80. “By nature and doctrines I am addicted to the habit of discovering choice places wherein to feed.”

— O. Henry

81. “We may achieve climate, but weather is thrust upon us.”

— O. Henry

82. “East is East, and West is San Francisco.”

— O. Henry

83. “If man knew how women pass the time when they are alone, they’d never marry.”

— O. Henry

84. “Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.”

— O. Henry

85. “There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.”

— O. Henry

86. “There are stories in everything. I’ve got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands.”

— O. Henry

87. “But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”

— O. Henry

88. “In the Big City a man will disappear with the suddenness and completeness of the flame of a candle that is blown out.”

— O. Henry

89. “Now, girls, if you want to observe a young man hustle out after a pick and shovel, just tell him that your heart is in some other fellow’s grave. Young men are grave-robbers by nature.”

— O. Henry

90. “A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience.”

— O. Henry

91. “Beauty is Nature in perfection; circularity is its chief attribute. Behold the full moon, the enchanting golf ball, the domes of splendid temples, the huckleberry pie, the wedding ring, the circus ring, the ring for the waiter, and the “round” of drinks.”

— O. Henry

92. “Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”

— O. Henry

93. “It is said that love makes the world go ’round – the announcement lacks verification. It’s wind from the dinner horn that does it.”

— O. Henry

94. “In front the sea was spread, a smiling jailer, but even more incorruptible than the frowning mountains.”

— O. Henry

95. “Maybe the hairs on my head were numbered” she went on with a sudden serious sweetness “but nobody could ever count my love for you”.”

— O. Henry

96. “There is this difference between the grief of youth and that of old age; youth’s burden is lightened by as much of it as another shares; old age may give and give, but the sorrow remains the same.”

— O. Henry

97. “He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.”

— O. Henry

98. “It couldn’t have happened anywhere but in little old New York.”

— O. Henry

99. “There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.”

— O. Henry

100. “Jeff is in the line of unillegal graft. He is not to be dreaded by widows and orphans; he is a reducer of surplusage. His favorite disguise is that of the target-bird at which the spendthrift or the reckless investor may shy a few inconsequential dollars. He is readily vocalized by tobacco; so, with the aid of two thick and easy-burning brevas, I got the story of his latest Autolycan adventure.”

— O. Henry