Who is Lin Yutang?

The following Lin Yutang quote which I have seen at Seablogger and Duff and Nonsense has been used, accurately in my opinion, to describe the Obama adminstration:.

When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means
that the sun is about to set.

The quote makes me ask the question: Who is Lin Yutang? He was famous Chinese writer and translator who died in Taiwan in 1976 (having been born in 1895, he was a contemporary of Mao. Being so wise, it is hard to conceive of him having stayed on the mainland during those times).

Looking for other quotes of his, I found this:

It is not when he is working in his office but when he
is lying idly on the sand that his soul utters, "Life is
beautiful."

I felt this way when I was lying idly with Tony last week in Beixing.