Parker was known for her sardonic sense of humor. Here's a short poem:

Resume

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses. Oh, yeah??

Brevity is the soul of lingerie.

I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.

I've never been a millionaire but I just know I'd be darling at it.

If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

Dido

A few of my favorites are:

*What fresh hell is this? (as a new parent of a colicky baby, I borrowed this one frequently)

* Tallulah Bankhead: "Why, it's as easy as ducking for apples."
Dorothy Parker: "Hah, change one letter in that sentence and you've got the story of my life."

*I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. (used this one regularly in college)

My favorite::

"You can lead a whore to culture ....

But you cannot make her think! ............

Here is a link that might be useful: Dorothy Parker quotes

Speaking of that last, there was a garden essay writed who used the nom de plume 'Dr Leda Horticulture'. I adored her writing. She became very sick a year or two ago and is no longer active, I'm sorry to say.

I am also fond of the witticisms of the actress Mae West, a much cleverer woman people remember. One of my favorites from her was "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted."

RF

from D. Parker:

"Lingerie is the soul of brevity."

"If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at who he gave it to."

I have a quote running through my mind which I always thought was Dorothy Parker, but I don't see it listed at any of the websites I have checked. So maybe it's Mae West? It goes something like this:

"Why must every man who falls in love with me express his affection by sending me a single red rose? Couldn't one of them send something more practical, like a single red convertible?"

thyrkas - that quote is from a great little Parker poem:

One Perfect Rose

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet -
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
'My fragile leaves,' it said, 'his heart enclose.'
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.

Oh dear! I just read my note and was reminded once again that proof reading matters. I see that by leaving out the word "than", I declared that Mae West was cleverer than Dorothy Parker. I have no idea if this is true or not, and did not mean to say so. My intention was to say that Mae West was also a very clever woman, and that people may not now remember that fact.

Rosefolly

Thank you, sarah canary - Don't know how you recognized the poem from the lines I wrote about it. Remarkable! RP folks are top shelf!

You're welcom thrkas. I actually have a wonderful book of poetry with CDs of the authors reading their poems -- a treasured Christmas gift I received a few years ago. I believe this is one that Parker reads on the CD.

My daughter's chorus did a set of 'bitter love' songs and 'One Perfect Rose' was one of the songs. I don't know what composer set it to music, but it was brilliant!

Certainly, "Resume," as that is one of my favorite poems and has been since I read it in middle school. But, as that one has already been mentioned, here is another that came to my head.

When she was working as a scriptwriter in Hollywood, she got a telegram from one of the studios, as to why a script she was working on, was late. She wired back: "Too f****** busy, and too busy f******!" That's our Dorothy!

Okay.....now here's a challenge for you:

Please suggest the best Dorothy Parker book for me to buy since I seem to have found too many choices and am not sure what my criteria should be!

Thank you all!
Yvonne

Yoyobon, that's an easy one - get the Complete Dorothy Parker.

Here's my favourite Parker piece, After Spanish Proverb:

Oh, mercifullest one of all,
Oh, generous as dear,
None lived so lowly, none so small,
Thou couldst withhold thy tear:

How swift, in pure compassion,
How meek in charity,
To offer friendship to the one
Who begged but love of thee!

Oh, gentle word, and sweetest said!
Oh, tender hand, and first
To hold the warm, delicious bread
To lips burned black of thirst.

Two of my favorites of her poems:

"I like to have a Martini,
Two, at the very most;
Three, I'm under the table,
Four, I'm under my host."

"Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Romania."

I just happened upon a volume called The Complete Dorothy Parker. I've never read any of her longer works, so this could be interesting. Could be coming up with some more quotes as well.

Strength is not absence of concern, but basically moving ahead now with pride despite the worry.

* Knowledge is certainly learning things each day. Intelligence is actually to let go of a thing each day

- Courage is definitely the capability to get rid of all the well known

Here is a link that might be useful: Inspirational Quotes