When insults had class!

These glorious insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to four-letter words.

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
- Winston Churchill

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it."
- Moses Hadas

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
- Oscar Wilde

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
- Clarence Darrow

"He had delusions of adequacy."
- Walter Kerr

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
- Mark Twain

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one."
- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second .... if there is one."
- Winston Churchill, in response.