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.

Jokes are grievances.

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

A jest breaks no bones.

There is nothing sillier than a silly laugh.

I used to think that everyone was just being funny. But now I don’t know. I mean, how can you tell?

Comedy, like sodomy, is an unnatural act.

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

Jesters do oft prove prophets.

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.

Big head, little wit.

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