I’m sure most of you have heard of an oxymoron. It’s a Greek word that means “pointedly foolish.” You make an oxymoron when you put two words together that are complete opposites. They contradict each other. Some of my favorite oxymorons are “clearly confused,” “act naturally,” “open secret,” and “jumbo shrimp.” (1)

What’s even better than an oxymoron phrase is an oxymoron statement. Artist Andy Warhol was famous for the statement, “I am a deeply superficial person.” Samuel Goldwyn, a famous movie producer from the early 20th century, was also famous for his totally contradictory statements. He said things like, “Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day” and “Gentlemen, I want you to know that I am not always right, but I am never wrong.” And one of my favorite oxymoron statemen…