The Art of Insults

There's so much more to the art of insults than using profanities or the 'F' word. As a writer, I'm always on the look out for good examples of great insults. After all, it's more interesting and challenging to insult someone well than to praise them, don't you agree. Praise is easy and a little dull but cutting into somebody with the perfect quip- ah, that's something else. The masters, who've gone before us, have shown us the way. Here are some great examples of memorable insults!

'If your brains were dynamite, there wouldn't be enough to blow your hat off.'
                        Kurt Vonnegut in Timequake

'I never saw anybody take so long to dress, and with such little result.'
                                  Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

'I'm not saying he's stupid, but his autobiography won't be called: The Man Who Knew Too Much!'
                         Jerry Dennis, English Comedian

'I never forget a face, but in your case I'd be glad to make an exception.'
                             Groucho Marx

The Bard was a great one for killing it with his incredible vocabulary. The following are some of Shakespeare's best insults.

And here are some more!

'Stop worrying about growing old. And think about growing up.'
                                         Philip Roth, The Dying Animal

'I misjudged you...You're not a moron. You're only a case of arrested development'.
                                   Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

'The more I read Socrates, the less I wonder why they poisoned him.'
                                   Thomas Macaulay

'He had a mind so fine that no idea could violate it.'
                                   T. S. Eliot on Henry James

And here's the trailor of the movie, The Importance of Being Earnest. Lots of fun, wit, and...insults!