Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Laughter
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“It was the most fun I ever had. I would just laugh between takes. It was fun to be so mean.”
Piper Laurie (1932–2023) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About acting in Carrie. Theodore P. Mahne, "Actress Piper Laurie charms audience, interviewer at Tennessee Williams Festival" (25 March 2012), Times-Picayune at nola.com (New OrleansNet)
“I arrived in France, and found myself up against the legend which was current in left-wing Parisian salons: the Jews had always lived in perfect harmony with the Arabs. I was almost congratulated for having been born in such a land where racial discrimination and xenophobia were unknown. It made me laugh.”
Albert Memmi (1920–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was angry, too, because it would soon be Christmas and he had nothing to give Leslie. It was not that she would expect something expensive; it was that he needed to give her something as much as he needed to eat when he was hungry. [...] She wouldn't laugh at him no matter what he gave her. But for his own sake he had to give her something he could be proud of.”
Katherine Paterson (born 1932) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I always say to young people, you can have the best script, be the funniest man, but if they don't laugh — you're not a comedian.”
Eric Sykes (1923–2012) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in BBC obituary (4 July 2012)
“You may laugh of the idea of the good will of others in Hollywood, but it's no laughing matter if you don't have it.”
Irene Dunne (1898–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How do you find what's going to make everybody have this strange reaction in their bodies, this response that's sort of chemical and physical all at once—this noise and emotion that changes how you sit? A laugh is a weird sound, and when you get a couple thousand people making it at once, it's really strange. But when I can feel proud of myself for causing it, it's great.”
Billy Crystal (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It always makes me laugh when people ask why anyone would want to do a sitcom in America. If it runs five years, you never have to work again.”
Twiggy (born 1949) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Independent, 4 October 1997
“Dick Morris: Look, I believe that -- and I've said this before and everybody either gives a sigh of a relief or a cynical laugh — there is no chance that Obama will get re-elected. Sean Hannity: I don't agree that's true. I think it's possible. Dick Morris: Zilch, none, zip, nada.”
Dick Morris (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think a comedian's job isn't just to make people laugh. I think it's to make people think.”
Ricky Gervais (born 1961) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At Piers Morgan Tonight, 2011
“You think this is what the gods want? What the gods won’t punish?” Great. One of those religious weirdos. “Gods this” and “punish that.” At least in my mum’s camp, I didn’t have to listen to that crap. She used to laugh at people like that. “What good are the gods?” she’d say. “Don’t be thanking them. I’m the one who got you this food.”
Malcolm Azania (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why do people laugh, dance in triumph, feel recklessly secure in positions of power? Why do they not remember the true place in the scheme of things and their inevitable end?”
Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She laughed out loud. It was a very nice laugh. No girl looks beautiful when she’s laughing hard, and girls who worry about looking beautiful don’t do it. Dorotha Keefer looked like a healthy, pretty girl having a good time, which when you come down to it is about the best way for a girl to look.”
Frederik Pohl (1919–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not the man to say that failure's sweet, Nor tell a chap to laugh when things go wrong; I know it hurts to have to take defeat An' no one likes to lose before a throng; It isn't very pleasant not to win When you have done the very best you could; But if you're down, get up an' buckle in— A lickin' often does a fellow good.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We laugh out loud when we think of all the novices who expiate their literal understanding of the remarks of a cubist and their faith in absolute truth by laboriously placing side by side the six faces of a cube and both ears of a model seen in profile.”
Albert Gleizes (1881–1953) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Gleizes, c. 1911; as cited by Anne Ganteführer-Trier, in Cubism, Taschen, 2004
“Somehow for me these common tunes Can never sound the same again: They've magic now to thrill my heart And bring before me, clear and plain, Man that is master of his flesh, And has the laugh of death and pain.”
Eva Dobell (1876–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To the World, the World we show We make the World to laugh And teach each Hemisphere to know How lives the Other Half.”
Lyman Hakes Howe (1856–1923) first seen 1909 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said in 1909, as quoted in Wondrous Difference: Cinema, Anthropology, and Turn-of-the-Century Visual Culture.
“He who maligns an absent friend's fair fame, Who says no word for him when others blame, Who courts a reckless laugh by random hits, Just for the sake of ranking among wits, Who feigns what he ne'er saw, a secret blabs, Beware him, Roman! that man steals or stabs!”
John Conington (1825–1869) said by 1869 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you laugh at something, you don’t fear it anymore.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Popular men who laugh at your jokes pose a threat which blatant villains can never command.”
Lindsey Davis (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I told you not to bring these people no more. I told you Pete. I laugh all day and in a good frame of mind until I see them.”
John Gotti (1940–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them.”
Bowe Bergdahl (born 1986) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think people tend to forget that as celebrities we are still human. We have the same emotions - we cry, we have fun, we laugh, we get sad, and we get hurt. When something is written about you, which millions of people are reading, and it is not true, imagine how hurtful it can be.”
Sania Mirza (born 1986) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Leaves me with no choice but to laugh. I am pretty sure these are not the pre-wedding jitters or butterflies in the stomach my married cousins were talking about!”
Sania Mirza (born 1986) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is never entirely safe to laugh at the metaphysics of the 'man-in-the-street'. Basic ideas which have become enshrined in popular language cannot be wholly foolish or unwarranted. For that sort of canonization must mean, at least, that the notions in question have stood the test of numerous centuries and have been accorded unhesitating acceptance wherever speech has made its way.”
John William Dunne (1875–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mossadeq made the crowds laugh and cry. He confirmed their prejudices and superstitions and flattered their vanities - they were, in most cases, all they had left. They loved him, but did he love them? No one could know for sure.”
Amir Taheri (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They're a symbol of the whole town, pretending to fight, love, weep, and laugh all the time - and they're phonies, all of them. And I head the list...their phony hearts were dripping with the milk of human kindness.”
Ben Hecht (1894–1964) first seen 1937 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nothing Sacred (1937)
“The test of a real comedian is whether you laugh at him before he opens his mouth.”
George Jean Nathan (1882–1958) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Test of a Comedian", The American Mercury (September 1929)
“I see you laugh, and rightly so. What is this silly old fool rambling on about? Good for you. Never respect years, only deeds.”
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some god must be laughing somewhere.” “Some god is always laughing. That is, if you believe in them, which is surely enough to make them laugh.”
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy.”
Michael O'Donoghue (1940–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue (1998) by Dennis Perrin, p. 365
“Lazy technology: the electric toothbrush—that always made me laugh. The electric toothbrush—what, is brushing your teeth too strenuous an exercise? For some people? You got people goin' [imitates fast, strenuous brushing of teeth]. "Man, I am really feeling the burn here. Wish this thing had a motor on it." Why don't you just have electric deodorant? [imitates use of electric deodorant]”
Tim Hawkins (born 1968) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Available on YouTube as "Tim Hawkins on Products" (uploaded 27 August 2007).
“That was the universe: you could beat it once, you could float a message in a bottle across half of eternity, but the universe would always find a way to have the last laugh.”
Alastair Reynolds (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't know if there is a gene for comedy, but my dad was a very funny man. ... He just didn't know it. He was a naturally funny character, and when my brother and I would laugh at things he said and did, he would say, 'What do you think is so funny?'”
Jim Belushi (born 1954) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: Rick Kogan. "Belushis: Funny is in their bones: Jim, son Robert and stand-up Kyle Lane team up to create intimate Comedy Bar on Ontario Street," in: The Chicago Tribune, October 26, 2012.
“When you trick people into laughing at themselves, that's wit. If you don't laugh at yourself, everything becomes heavy.”
Jim Henson (1936–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His faith in humanity began from an acknowledgement of limitation, not an illusion about perfectibility. He knew that joy flowed from honesty, rather than around it—sound familiar? In a similar way, Christians, whose identity is found apart from our ever-changing and often hopeless abilities and attributes, are free to laugh at ourselves. This is part and parcel of Christian joy.”
Jim Henson (1936–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On ‘Shrek’ we didn't try to figure out how to make adolescents laugh. You have to use yourself as the best judge and use your own instincts. We figured if we laughed at it, chances are good someone else would too.”
Vicky Jenson (born 1960) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Hillary Atkin in "Vicky Jenson: Filmmaker", Variety (November 14, 2001).
“It [the first work in her show 'Wind'] is dedicated to Jasper Johns – I named it 'Homage à Jasper Johns'. As he basically did these 'flags', I mean he is so famous because of 'flags', and I was thinking of a flag too, and so I did this, so I was thinking of him because he's so incredibly famous and I'm not. [both laugh].”
Isa Genzken (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These were our bedtime stories. Tales that haunted our parents and made them laugh at the same time. We never understood them until we were fully grown and they became our sole inheritance. ("Caroline's Wedding")”
Edwidge Danticat (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am convinced that comics should not only make people laugh. For this in my stories found tears, anger, hatred, pain and end not always happy.”
Osamu Tezuka (1928–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Helen McCarthy, Osamu Tezuka: God of manga , translated by Fabio Deotto, Edizioni BD, 2010, back cover.
“I like wind," he said. "A day when there is no wind seems to me dead. A windy day wakes me up." He gave a conscious laugh. "On a calm day I fall into day dreams. No doubt you know my reputation, Miss West. If I cut you dead the next time we meet don't put it down to bad manners. Please understand that it is only abstraction and forgive me—and speak to me.”
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874–1942) said by 1942 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s easy to laugh at someone like celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay who swears and shouts in his kitchen, but to ensure a successful life you must avoid making others sad, unhappy or fearful. To do this, you have to learn to keep your emotions in check.”
Nigel Cumberland (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And this doth show how a man may act foolishly, even when he doth believe that he hath a great caution; and surely it is borne in upon me afresh that none should trust over freely unto unproven matters, the which shall you heartily agree with; but yet do as foolishly, according to your lights and characters. And so shall you laugh not over hardly upon me.”
William Hope Hodgson (1877–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[On Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory] I thought the script was very good, but something was missing. I wanted to come out with a cane, come down slowly, have it stick into one of the bricks, get up, fall over, roll around, and they all laugh and applaud. The director asked, ‘what do you want to do that for?’ I said from that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth.”
Gene Wilder (1933–2016) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gene Wilder Opens Up About Making of Willy Wonka and Young Frankenstein", IndieWire (July 5, 2016)
“As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn’t matter how, I’ll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won’t mind it too much if I remain outside their lives. The one thing I must avoid is becoming offensive in their eyes: I shall be nothing, the wind, the sky.”
Osamu Dazai (1909–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They say that love flies out the window when poverty comes in the door, but people generally get the sense backwards. It doesn’t mean that when a man’s money runs out he’s shaken off by women. When he runs out of money, he naturally is in the dumps. He’s no good for anything. The strength goes out of his laugh, he becomes strangely soured. Finally, in desperation, he shakes off the woman.”
Osamu Dazai (1909–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Young people never say anything straight. You can tell they're being honest if they hide behind a laugh.”
Osamu Dazai (1909–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How would you feel if you lived on an island populated, apart from yourself, exclusively by retarded, malicious chimpanzees? Well, that’s how I feel. Don’t laugh, because you’re one of those retarded, malicious chimpanzees.”
Arthur Jones (inventor) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In order for me to give respect to what they're saying, I have to respect them," Lahren said. "And when they're on the internet trolling me, saying nasty, disgusting, vile things - which by the way is really a true testament to the unloving and intolerant left - I laugh it off”
Tomi Lahren (born 1992) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tomi on the 'Intolerant Left': 'I'm Getting Under Their Skin & I Love It' (7 February 2017).
“They're taking shortcuts to get a big laugh instead of working for their audience. They can finish a show, hang up their tux and shirt, and put it up for next time. With mine, you have to wring out the sweat and send it to the cleaners. You gotta go out and work for your audience.”
Red Skelton (1913–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't like the new trends in horror. All this torture stuff seems really mean-spirited. People have forgotten how to laugh, and I don't see anybody who's using it as allegory. The guy I love right now is Guillermo del Toro. I'd love to make a film like Pan's Labyrinth.”
George A. Romero (1940–2017) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "10 Questions for George Romero", Time, (June 07, 2010)