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BUSINESS HUMOUR
Accountants in Literature
Accounting...say the word and thousands will flock to their coffee cups for stimulation. The world yawns at the prospect of a career in the world of journals and ledgers, debits and credits, assets and liabilities, income and expenses. What could possibly motivate these sage people to a profession whose weapons are the pencil and the keyboard?... whose most feared adversaries are litigious investors and inquisitive auditors?... whose lives revolve around GAAP, GAAS and the Federal Budget? It is definitely not the topic of Spielberg celluloid or Grisham pen.
We have, in our travels, found several quotations, which reflect the perception of accountants as held by some notable literary figures. We're sure you'll find them amusing.
"Meek men, hunched over dusty ledgers, perched on high stools, peering beneath green eyeshades." Charles Dickens
"A man past middle age, spare, wrinkled, intelligent, cold, passive, non-committal, with eyes like a codfish. Polite in contact but at the same time unresponsive, calm and " .... " composed as a concrete post or a plaster of paris cast - a mere petrification with a heart of feldspar and without charm of the friendly germ, minus bowels, passion or sense of humour. Happily they never reproduce and all of them finally go to .... ." Elbert Hubbard
Grayson was a long, stooped yellow-faced man with high shoulders, bristly eyebrows and almost no chin. The upper part of his face meant business. The lower part was just saying goodbye...He was a CPA and looked it every inch. He had ink on his fingers and there were pencils in the pocket of his open vest." Raymond Chandler
"VGC: Well yes, Mr. Anchovy, but in your report here it says that you are an extremely dull person. Our experts describe you as an appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company, and irresponsibly drab and awful. And whereas in most professions these would be considerable drawbacks, in accounting they are a positive boon. ANCHOVY: But don't you see? I'm only as awful as this because accountancy does this to people..." Monty Python
You certainly don't see any of these people in our offices!
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