Leo Rosten
Overview
Leo Calvin Rosten was born in Łódź, Russian Empire (now Poland) and died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. He was a teacher and academic, but is best known as a humorist in the fields of scriptwriting, storywriting, journalism and Yiddish lexicography
Lexicography
Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....

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Rosten was born into a Yiddish-speaking family in what is now Poland, but emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1911 at age three. His parents were Samuel C. Rosten and Ida Freundlich Rosten, both trade unionists.
Quotations

The only thing I can say about W. C. Fields ... is this: Any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad.

Although a very common misconception is to attribute the final part of this quote to W.C. Fields himself, it was actually first said about him by Rosten during a "roast" of Fields at the Masquer's Club in Hollywood in 1939, as Rosten explains in his book, The Power of Positive Nonsense (1977).

I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.

Captain Newman, M. D (1962), p. 328; this is also sometimes attributed to Leo Buscaglia, who often quoted it in his addresses and in his book Living, Loving and Learning (1982).

What's green, hangs on a wall and whistles?

Riddle presented in The Joys of Yiddish (1968) The answer: "A Herring" — because you can paint it green, nail it to the wall — and the whistling part is added just to make the riddle hard. Rosten did not claim to be the author of this riddle, but he popularized it.

Extremists think "communication" means agreeing with them.

As quoted in Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1979) compiled by Laurence J. Peter, p. 100

 
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