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.
—George Orwell, 1945Quotes
Wit enables us to act rudely with impunity.
—La Rochefoucauld, 1678Jokes are grievances.
—Marshall McLuhan, 1969No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at.
—Maria Edgeworth, 1809A jest breaks no bones.
—Samuel Johnson, 1781There is nothing sillier than a silly laugh.
—Catullus, c. 60 BCI used to think that everyone was just being funny. But now I don’t know. I mean, how can you tell?
—Andy Warhol, 1970Comedy, like sodomy, is an unnatural act.
—Marty Feldman, 1969I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
—Book of Ecclesiastes, 225 BCJesters do oft prove prophets.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1605It 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.
—Cicero, c. 44 BCBig head, little wit.
—French proverbJests and scoffs do lessen majesty and greatness and should be far from great personages and men of wisdom.
—Henry Peacham, 1622