Quotes about comedy
1,001 quotes from 337 people
Sir, I have found you an argument; but I am not obliged to find you an understanding.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol IV (June 1784) p. 545Happiness, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)Decide, v.i. To succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another set.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)One of the brightest gems in the New England weather is the dazzling uncertainty of it.
Mark Twain1835–1910New England Weather, speech to the New England Society (December 22, 1876)Great families of yesterday we show,
And lords whose parents were the Lord knows who.
Daniel Defoe1660–1731The True-Born Englishman (1701), Pt. I, l. 374.You’ve got to be optimist to be a Democrat, and you’ve got to be a humorist to stay one.
Will Rogers1879–1935Good Gulf radio show (24 June 1934)Confidant, Confidante, n. One entrusted by A with the secrets of B, confided by him to C.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)The Smiths never had any arms, and have invariably sealed their letters with their thumbs.
Sydney Smith1771–1845Lady Holland’s Memoir (1855), Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 293Only one thing is impossible for God: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.
Mark Twain1835–1910Mark Twain’s Notebook (1935), p. 381Rational, adj. Devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience and reflection.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough.
Mark Twain1835–1910“A Mysterious Visit”, Buffalo Express, 19 March 1870. Anthologized in Mark Twain’s Sketches, New and Old (1875)If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.
Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849Marginalia (November 1844)The specialist is one who never makes small mistakes while moving towards the grand fallacy.
Marshall McLuhan1911–1980Understanding Media (1964) (p. 154)When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Caesar and Cleopatra (1898), Act IIIIF YOU ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let ‘em go, because man, they’re gone.
JHJack Handeyborn 1949Deeper Thoughts: All New, All Crispy (1993), Hachette Books