He who laugheth too much, hath the nature of a fool; he that laugheth not at all, hath the nature of an old cat.

A joke is at most a temporary rebellion against virtue, and its aim is not to degrade the human being but to remind him that he is already degraded.

Wit enables us to act rudely with impunity.

Laughter always arises from a gaiety of disposition, absolutely incompatible with contempt and indignation.

There is nothing sillier than a silly laugh.

No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at.

Laughter almost ever cometh of things most disproportioned to ourselves and nature. Laughter hath only a scornful tickling.

Jests and scoffs do lessen majesty and greatness and should be far from great personages and men of wisdom.

A jest breaks no bones.

I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

It is easy to distinguish between the joking that reflects good breeding and that which is coarse—the one, if aired at an apposite moment of mental relaxation, is becoming in the most serious of men, whereas the other is unworthy of any free person, if the content is indecent or the expression obscene.

Jesters do oft prove prophets.

A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.