The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said (Paperback)

~ Robert Byrne (Author) "Why don't you get a haircut?..." (more)
Key Phrases: body ever said, standup comedian, cartoon caption, Robert Byrne, Woody Allen, Mark Twain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Drawing from diverse personages -- Goethe to Churchill to Woody Allen -- Robert Byrne has mined a collection of wit and wisdom that deserves a special place on every humor lover's bookshelf. These unique, witty, and outrageous quotations, previously published in four separate volumes, are now gathered together in a seemingly limitless trove of pithy and often irreverent one-liners, retorts, put-downs, jokes, and last words that cover every conceivable subject and will appeal to every taste. Highlights include:

"Start every day with a smile and get it over with." -- W. C. Fields

"Men read maps better than women because only men understand that an inch can equal a hundred miles." -- Roseanne Barr

"Happiness is having a large loving family in another city." -- George Burns

About the Author

Robert Byrne is the author of twenty-one books, including four The 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said collections; six on billiards; and seven novels, one of which, Thrill, was made into an NBC-TV Monday Night Movie in 1996. Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Billiards has sold more than 350,000 copies.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (December 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743235797
• ISBN-13: 978-0743235792
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #320,197 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2.548 best things anybody ever said, November 26, 1999

By	Sally Peterangelo (Virginia, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 2548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said (Hardcover)

This book is a must for anyone on your holiday list..........the book is hysterical. Some great quotes, tidbits, advice........both my husband and I fight over this book. It's a great coffee table book and conversation piece. You can't go wrong if you buy this book.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Byrne is a bit of a rogue, July 1, 2003

By A Customer

This is as fun as any number of similar books, perhaps even more so, but there are some er... surprising features:
- a fair number of the "best things anyone's ever said" were apparently said by Robert Byrne himself. Hmm...
- Where Byrne doesn't like the quote he just changes it, Oscar Wilde in particular gets mangled
- I can't prove it, but I'm sure some of these quotes are just made up: one from Andrew Mellon in particular rings false
- Sometimes he gives the source of the quote, sometimes he can't be bothered
- Michael Douglas is "Michael Douglas, actor and producer", all the other yahoos you've never heard of remain just a bunch of names

Anyway - there are 2 types of readers out there: those that find Byrne's roguishness charming, and those that don't. I'm sort of in the former group, as is Byrne himself.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable conversation piece type book, December 15, 2001

By	Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The 2548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said (Hardcover)

Maybe 2,548 quotes but not that many different quotes. The book is a combination of his previous four books. They are placed one after the other and bound together as one book. The problem is that the books have not been culled of repeats. So, many quotes show up in all four books and therefore show up four times in this book.
I will have to say that it contains lots of quotes that I have not seen anywhere else and it is an enjoyable read. Each of the four books is organized into logical sections and related quotes in each section.
When you have ten minutes of time to kill it is easy to pick up and read a few passages and then put it down. It is an interesting read and is well worth the price even with the repeats.