“Nothing annoys people so much as not receiving invitations.”

“There is nothing so annoying as having two people talking when you're busy interrupting.”

“There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice.”

“We communicate with each other to inform, to instruct, to persuade, to amuse, to annoy. Informing and instructing aim to alter the receiver's concepts, whereas persuading, amusing or annoying aim to change his preferences or feelings. In a work situation people do make jokes and enemies, and use the arts of persuasion, but much of their communication has an informal or instructional aspect.”

“There is nothing that helps the Socialist Party so much as receiving an occasional deathblow. The oftener it is killed the more active, the more energetic, the more powerful it becomes.”

“Maybe that's what real friendship is -- getting so used to people that you need to be annoyed by them.”

“I often said that never in the history of the world did one man receive so much faith and trust as Hitler. Similary, no one has ever betrayed so many people and abused so much good faith as he did.”

“Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment.”

“So much paperwork to read! So much paperwork to push away! So much paperwork to pretend he hadn't received and that might have been eaten by gargoyles.”

“It's unfair how the kids who are starving for attention tended to be so annoying that people had no inclination to give it to them.”