Wyndham Lewis Quotes

If everything was good, maybe I wouldn't have a career. I wouldn't have anything to make fun of.

Everything needs to be lampooned. I believe that there's not any sacred ground.

I've spent my entire career being a satirist.

Satire is a form of social control, it's what you do. It's not personal. It's a job.

If nothing is serious anymore, then there's nothing to satirize.

Caricature is rough truth.

I am a writer—a comic and satirical writer. I am much better at poking fun at politicians who screw up than I am of telling them what to do.

As satirists, we get to stand on the sidelines of life and comment on what's happening.

If you're satirizing something, you're hitting at something that's real and true, and putting it on its head, and we did that with 'Tropic Thunder.'

Comedians are obsessed with justice and the truth.

I've never been much drawn towards satire of any kind.

Editorial pages all say, 'Well, the other guy has a point, too. It remains to be seen how this will come out. We certainly hope it comes out fine; blah, blah.' Cartoonists don't go that way. Our job is to stick out our tongues, to show a big raspberry to whatever pompous jerk happens to be mouthing off.

satire is a wrapping of exaggeration around a core of reality.

Satire does not look pretty upon a tombstone.

But you do have to learn, if you want to be a satirist, you can't be part of the party. Meaning, you can't go horseback riding with Jackie O in Central Park if you're going to make a joke about her that night.

One parody is worth a thousand polemics.

As a comedian, I think we all look for those areas where the truth diverts from what people are saying. That's why politics is such a rich area for us, because politicians make promises, and they don't keep them, and when we point out the difference, we get the laugh.

It's a dangerous game that comedy plays. Sometimes it tells you the truth; sometimes it delays it.

The only good imitations are those that poke fun at bad originals.

It's always harder satirize what you like rather than what you dislike.

You can't be satirical and not be offensive to somebody.

If you stop and think about it, nearly all great humor is at the expense of someone or something.

I like to write a lot of satire.

A lot of people tend to glorify the role of satire and comedians. They put them up as role models, as fighters for the truth and against tyranny, and I think that's overrated.

If you're going to tell people the truth, be funny or they'll kill you.