Quotes about comedy
1,001 quotes from 337 people
It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding.
Sydney Smith1771–1845Lady Holland’s Memoir (1855), Vol. I, ch. 2, pp. 31–32The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.
Lily Tomlinborn 1939Contributions of Jane Wagner- Lily Tomlinborn 1939The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1985), As “Chrissy”
Mae West1893–1980Response to an exclamation, “Goodness! What beautiful diamonds!” in Night After Night (1932)
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.1809–1894The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858), Ch. 6Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Nobody said when.
Margaret Atwoodborn 1939The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Chapter 15 (p. 89)
Lord Byron1788–1824The Deformed Transformed, Act III, sc. i (1824).
Milan Kundera1929–2023The Joke (1967), Pt. 3, ch. 3
L. K. Advaniborn 1927To the Indian press as Information and Broadcasting Minister (1977), on its conduct during the EmergencySocial science means inventing a certain brand of human we can understand.
Nassim Nicholas Talebborn 1960The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 95Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation. … The other eight are unimportant.
Henry Miller1891–1980The Rosy Crucifixion I: Sexus (1949), Ch. 21, p. 465
Bertrand Russell1872–1970The Conquest of Happiness (1930)- Bertrand Russell1872–1970Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits (1948), part II, chapter 1, p. 74
Pierre Trudeau1919–2000When told that President Richard Nixon had called him an “asshole” (1971), as quoted in Absurdities, Scandals & Stupidities in Politics (2006)He is not only dull himself, but the cause of dullness in others.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Johnson (Boswell) (1784)