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. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“If the gods have no sense of humour they must weep a great deal.”
John Oliver Hobbes (1867–1906) said by 1906 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In England it is a very dangerous handicap to have a sense of humour; and Whistler's levity had always stood in his way.”
E. V. Lucas (1868–1938) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Whistler", in The Ladies' Home Journal, vol. 43, no. 2 (February 1926), p. 114
“It seems to me however that its greatest contribution is in giving us art as another language to understand and express ourselves, especially during this time when the conventional political discourse is severely limited. And it’s not all serious, thank goodness. Humour, irony and sly jokes abound in many of the works that cast a jaundiced eye on our contemporary leaders and problems.”
Angela de Jesus (born 1982) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was trying to get people closer to our humour, which is cruel, but therapeutic, in a way.'”
Rungano Nyoni (born 1982) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People engage with the subject better through humour than through telling them, ‘This is bad.”
Rungano Nyoni (born 1982) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the positive side, our country is extremely rich in diversity, heritage, culture and history, and abundant in picturesque scenery. But my favourite thing about South Africa is our people and their steadfast spirit in the face of adversity. We also never fail to make humour the centre of any situation, good or bad and I love that!”
Lalela Mswane (born 1997) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: MISS SOUTH AFRICA 2021
“... Wells has many affinities with Dickens. He does not possess Dickens's glorious humour. He has never been able to realise that even in mean streets life may have its thrills, but he belongs essentially, as Dickens belonged, to the English lower middle class. Wells is an articulate man of the people. And this is the fact that gives him his peculiar importance in the modern world.”
Sidney Dark (1872–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But because I’m a goof and an avid reader, my humour and thirst for knowledge saved me from staying in character”
Nthati Moshesh (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Artists exist in order to propose, in total freedom, their vision, their interpretation of the world: through denunciation, lyricism, humour..”
Aïssa Maïga (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ericson was a big man, broad and tough: a man to depend on, a man to remember: about forty-two or -three, fair hair going grey, blue eyes as level as a foot rule, with wrinkles at the corners — the product of humour and of twenty years' staring at a thousand horizons.”
Nicholas Monsarrat (1910–1979) said by 1979 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You must know that love is a thing physical. It can be sweated out of a man by hard riding; it evaporates from the body like any humour.”
Stephen Phillips (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We think change can often happen through humour, so every year we try and do stuff on World Toilet Day.”
Barbara Frost (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are good at using humour to draw attention to a serious fact, that girls are dropping out of school because they have nowhere to wash and change when they are menstruating and it’s a really taboo subject.”
Barbara Frost (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We’ve all been stereotyped. But we face it with humour and a thick skin. You cannot let it affect your focus”
Vani Kola (born 1964) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I want to build a tribe of women,” said Vani Kola at SheSparks as she unveiled the State of Women Entrepreneurship Report 2023,4 March 2023
“How can one sleep with a sense of security when one has to deal with a man who desires to change the map of Europe from day to day, and who, when in a bad humour threatens one with revolution?”
Count Joseph Alexander Hübner (1811–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Politicians walk through mysterious paths, and the springs they move by are concealed from the eyes of the world. The interest of a nation depends upon the capricious humour of a statesman; and the happiness of a people is often sacrificed to private resentment.”
Hugh Tootell (1672–1743) first seen 1688 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dodd's Church history of England from the Commencement of the Sixteenth Century to the Revolution in 1688
“Inteviewer: You are always ironic... Vanoni: Humour alleviates fear. We need to play, because we are living in tragic times. I feel exhausted and saddened after reading the newspapers and listening to the news. It seems that human beings cannot help but wage war. This is the zeitgeist: the spirit of the times is war. Then we also have Donald Trump, so we're in a bad way...”
Ornella Vanoni (1934–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not diplomatic. For the sake of humour, I say anything. And then I regret it.”
Iva Zanicchi (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Alfredo started out as Gino Paoli's driver, then rose to the top of this record label. [...] Since Alfredo has a fantastic imagination, a really quirky sense of humour, and so on, I said to him, 'If you move to Rome, let me know and we'll do something together.' And so, we brought him into the Indietro Tutta clan.”
Renzo Arbore (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We pioneered a new kind of comedy, which wasn't cabaret and didn't follow in the footsteps of the masters we loved so much, like Totò or Walter Chiari. After 50 years, I can say with a bit of presumption that it is a form of humour that is timeless. We never talked about current affairs; we knew they were short-lived.”
Renzo Arbore (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I loved everything about these protests: the intelligence of these youths, their humour, their determination to remain peaceful.”
Idir (singer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I like to throw in a slice of humour knowing it might be a hard spill to swallow by my viewers.”
James Iroha Uchechukwu (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Del Piero is known for his sense of humour. He once joked that if Lippi does not convoke him to the World Cup in Germany, he would "run him over with his car and sink his damn boat".”
Alessandro Del Piero (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There 's the humour of it.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) said by 1616 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man from the career of his humour? No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) said by 1616 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“The whole [Scotch] nation hitherto has been void of wit and humour, and even incapable of relishing it.”
Horace Walpole (1717–1797) said by 1797 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“According as the man is, so must you humour him.”
Terence (185–159 BC) said by 159 BC at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Let's give up 'sacrifice' next Lent" Eh, that joke's long since been spent!”
Aaron Weiss wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is natural that people do not want to be involved with us too much. There is no problem down to the smallest egotistical longing which the Gestapo cannot solve. Regarded in this way we are, if a joke is permitted, looked upon as a cross between a general maid and the dustbin of the Reich.”
Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To his officers on German Police Day (February, 1941), as quoted in Gestapo : Instrument of Tyranny (1956) by Edward Crankshaw, p. 103
“A joke's a very serious thing.”
Charles Churchill (satirist) first seen 1386 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book IV, line 1386
“The words, the style always reflects a habit of mind. And the habit of mind comes in from a different angle. The habit of mind uses the colloquial here and uses the joke there. And then creates some discordant music and then something strange and wonderful happens. And you see things differently. You see a different light is shed on it.”
John Leonard (critic) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Bill Moyers, Now, PBS (28 November 2003)
“[The robot] Sophia has been granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. And Homer Simpson has been given citizenship in Winnipeg, Ontario. Both decisions are silly. The difference is that the city of Winnipeg acknowledged that their action was a joke.”
Robert J. Marks II (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He'll never fall in love He swears, as he runs his fingers through his hair. I'm laughing 'cause I hope he's wrong. And I don't think it ever crossed his mind. He tells a joke, I fake a smile That I know all his favorite songs.”
Taylor Swift (born 1989) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I'd Lie (2007).
“I was sixteen when suddenly I wasn't that little girl you used to see. But your eyes still shined like pretty lights, And our daddies used to joke about the two of us. They never believed we'd really fall in love. And our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes And said oh my my my...”
Taylor Swift (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ignorant are not blissful; they are the butt of a joke they're not even aware of.”
Neil Strauss (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My dad knew I was going to be a comedian. When I was a baby, he said, 'Is this a joke?”
Ken Dodd (1927–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Norbit operates on the principle that vulgarity is automatically funny. Crassness doesn't need a joke attached because it is (in and of itself) the height of hilarity.”
James Berardinelli (born 1967) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Review of Norbit (2007).
“When you see the name 'River Phoenix' everywhere; you gotta, like, joke about it.”
River Phoenix (1970–1993) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rolling Stone (1993)
“Saying that something is too terrible to joke about is like saying that a disease is too terrible to try to cure it.”
Louis C.K. (born 1967) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charlie Rose interview, 2016
“It's all been a bad joke that just ran out of control. I got into food for fun but the business got a mind of its own. Now — my good Lord — look where it has gotten me. My products are on supermarket shelves, in cinemas, in the theater. And they say show business is odd.”
Paul Newman (1925–2008) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Saint Paul," interview with John Aldridge, The Guardian (10 April 2005)
“If somebody accuses you in a story of being a crook, you can demand that they prove it. But if a comic says it and you protest, people say, 'What's the matter, you can't take a joke?'”
Robert Orben (1928–2023) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thomas J. Brazaitis (March 14, 1992) "Comics' Barbs Keep White House Hopefuls On The Run", The Plain Dealer, p. 4A.
“I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing's a joke to me. I don't feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face.”
Hank Aaron (1934–2021) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in the July 31, 1956 issue of The Milwaukee Journal; reproduced in Baseball's Greatest Quotations : An Illustrated Treasury of Baseball Quotations and Historical Lore (2009) by Paul Dickson, p. 2
“Taxes are a joke. Regardless of what a political candidate 'promises', they will increase. More taxes are always the answer to government mismanagement. They mess up. We suffer. Taxes are reaching cataclysmic levels, with no slowdown in sight.”
Timothy McVeigh (1968–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it had always seemed to her something of a joke that a person’s tribe could determine who he married.”
Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes. They are most unhappy if the engagement is not arranged by them. In our case it’s worse—you are not even an Ibo.This was said so seriously and so bluntly that Nene could not find speech immediately. In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it had always seemed to her something of a joke that a person’s tribe could determine whom he married.”
Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I made a joke about just dropping in, would you write me off as a cliche?”
Cassandra Clare (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sexual harassment legislation feels unfair to men because if they sued over an ethnic joke, or over a woman discussing pornography or asking them out, they’d be laughed out of the company.”
Warren Farrell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was brought up as a Christian,” Cissy said. “Spelt K-I-L-L-J-O-Y. My mam still is one. When I said I was going to quit the church because of what I’d learned from Val about the history of slavery, I thought she was going to kill me!” She laughed nervously. But obviously that was not a joke.”
John Brunner (1934–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you have to do something, write me a funny AIDS play. Sure you can. It's the biggest joke played on us since sex itself - and with the longest punch line.”
Robert Patrick (playwright) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You have Mel Brooks and your Marx Brothers and your Larry David. So it's affected it enormously and really not at all. I don't think I've ever done anything comedically where the joke of it had to do with Judaism and Jewishness, but there's definitely a proud tradition of comedy in the Jews.”
Andy Samberg (born 1978) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Monica Kim, "Andy Samberg on SNL, his hair and other things not in a box," NorthbyNorthwestern.com (April 16, 2008).