Dorothy Parker Quotes: 10 Witty Sayings From The Writer On Her 128th Birthday

Legendary author and poet Dorothy Parker would have turned 128 on Sunday if she was alive.

Parker, who was born Aug. 22, 1893, started her writing career as a teenager. She wrote for many publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and later the New Yorker, according to her biography on the Dorothy Parker Society Website.

She published nearly 300 poems and free verses in various publications, and in 1926, her first volume of poetry became a bestseller. In the 1930s, Parker became associated with the Communist Party and supported causes such as the fight for civil rights. Because of this, she was blacklisted from Hollywood.

She died in 1967 and left her entire estate to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation.

Here are some witty quotes from the legend, courtesy Good Reads and Bookriot:

1. "That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment."

2. "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone."

3. "It's not the tragedies that kill us; it's the messes."

4. "To me, the most beautiful word in the English language is cellar-door. Isn't it wonderful? The ones I like, though, are 'cheque' and 'enclosed.'"

5. "The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue."

6. "I'm not a writer with a drinking problem, I'm a drinker with a writing problem."

7. "And if my heart be scarred and burned, / The safer, I, for all I learned."

8. "Now I know the things I know, and I do the things I do; and if you do not like me so, to hell, my love, with you!"

9. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice."

10. "I hate writing, I love having written."