Charles Dickens Quotes

Many comedians have a dark side that lets them take a negative thing and turn it funny.

Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their earthly pedestals.

Disappointment is an endless wellspring of comedy inspiration.

Wyndham Lewis is basically a pessimist, thinking of human beings as doomed animals or determinist machines. His theory of satire is based on this view, and he finds plenty of evidence to support it in contemporary practice.

In looking for humor, keep in mind this guideline: Sometimes it takes a little time to see the humor in your upsets; you may not find something to laugh about immediately.

Bad times for the Republic are great times for satire.

Man learns more readily and remembers more willingly what excites his ridicule than what deserves his esteem and respect.

There is something very human in this apparent mirth and mockery of the squirrels. It seems to be a sort of ironical laughter, and implies self-conscious pride and exultation in the laughter.

Half-brights consider it comedy gold to congratulate anyone they dislike for 'winning the Kentucky Derby!' The only thing more bracingly original to not-smart people is: 'Stay classy!'

Comedy actually works best when you're living in an OK world, and you are pointing out the hypocrisy in apathy.

The minute you're laughing, some people will say you're laughing at people.

The common thread of my comedy shows is conflict and, I guess, the frustration of people who either argue with you or just say stuff which is blatantly incorrect, and nobody calls them out on it.

At the sight of what goes on in the world, the most misanthropic of men must end by being amused, and Heraclitus must die laughing.

Man is the only creature endowed with the power of laughter; is he not also the only one that deserves to be laughed at?

There can be a blurry line between laughing at the expense of a character and laughing at the recognition of something painful and true. But blurry as it may be, it is nevertheless unmistakable, and sometimes the laughter I hear makes me wince.

To take a gloomy view of life is not part of my philosophy; to laugh at the idiocies of my fellow creatures is. However, at this particular moment I cannot find so much to laugh at as I would like.

It is the business of a comic poet to paint the vices and follies of human kind.

I have some sarcastic sides of me.

I think that certain things are funny and certain things are okay to make fun of - including myself.

The English can be a very critical, unforgiving people, but criticism can be good. And this is a country that loves comedy.

There's no possibility of being witty without a little ill-nature.

Satire is focused bitterness.

Comedy is such a personal thing. Everybody can cry at the same thing, but it's a lot harder to get everyone to laugh at the same thing.

The more you find out about the world, the more opportunities there are to laugh at it.

All satire is blind to the forces liberated by decay. Which is why total decay has absorbed the forces of satire.