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Laughter
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“And thank you, also, for the joke.” “The joke?” “Why truly—the best joke is but a simple statement of truth.”… He mounted, flapped the reins, and, as the gray gelding broke into a trot he said to himself: “A joke indeed, but it is a pity that men do not laugh at it more often.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Happy in the time of Jesus were those who wept! Happy, now, are those who can laugh, because laughter is the attribute of man, as the great prophet of the Renaissance, Rabelais, said. Laughter is forbearance; laughter is philosophy. The heavens clear when they laugh, and the great secret of divine omnipotence resides in an eternal smile!”
Eliphas Levi (1810–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[I]t is always a genial laughter. Not at mere weakness, at misery or poverty; never. No man who can laugh, what we call laughing, will laugh at these things. It is some poor character only desiring to laugh, and have the credit of wit, that does so. Laughter means sympathy.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tragedy is all about losing. And humor is all about gaining perspective. Humour returns our gladness. And with gladness comes generosity. Humor returns us to the light and makes us light—it kills grudges, buries bodies–buries revenge—buries blame and guilt—fear and dread. Laughter, like hiccups and sneezes and farts and burps, relieves us of severity.”
Giannina Braschi (born 1953) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the power of humor. (Monkey Bicycle, August 23, 2013)
“Humour is important to me. One would say it enriches my work. I would say it defines me. Even when I write about death I could make my audience laugh. As to my real experiences yes, they made me smile a lot. Like when that goat urine sprayed my shirt. Question is which is easier: get angry and take all those responsible to task (including the goat) or laugh it off. I choose humour, any day.”
Kofi Akpabli (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The mirrors have seen much laughter and tears laughter and tears Reflected in the mirrors are our fragile lives our lives The mirrors have seen much laughter and tears laughter and tears.”
Irina Allegrova (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Humor: modesty, play of the spirit. It is the moral and daily hygiene of the soul. I have a high moral and literary idea of humour. Imagination makes you swerve. Sensitivity makes you bland. Humor is, in short, reason. The regularized man. No definition was enough for me. On the other hand, humor has it all. (February 23, C.E.1910; Vergani, p. 282)”
Jules Renard (1864–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our Judeo-Christian culture is far superior to the Islamic one. I can give you a million reasons. But here is an important one. We have got humor and they don't. There is no humor in Islam. ... Islam does not allow free speech, because free speech shows how evil and wrong Islam is. And Islam does not allow humor, because humor shows how foolish and ridiculous it is.”
Geert Wilders (born 1963) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Muhammad Cartoon Contest, Garland, Texas (3 May 2015)
“Wit penetrates; humor envelops. Wit is a function of verbal intelligence; humor is imagination operating on good nature. John Kennedy had wit, and so did Lincoln, who also had abundant humor; Reagan was mostly humor.”
Peggy Noonan (born 1950) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What I Saw at the Revolution : A Political Life in the Reagan Era (1990), p. 179
“Laughter is wine for the soul — laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness. Comedy and tragedy step through life together, arm in arm, all along, out along, down along lea. A laugh is a great natural stimulator, a pushful entry into life; and once we can laugh, we can live. It is the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living.”
Seán O'Casey (1880–1964) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Green Crow (1956) p. 226
“Maybe they [women who were executed by the Taliban] were guilty of the worst of all crimes: to laugh. Yes. Laughing. I said laughter. Didn't you know that with the Taliban in Afghanistan women can't laugh, that they are even forbidden to laugh?.”
Oriana Fallaci (1929–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is just common sense, dancing. Those who lack humour are without judgement and should be trusted with nothing.”
Clive James (1939–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“humour is like a push. When you want to sit down, humour stands you up and pushes you forward...You need that motivating force, which is a little bit a push every now and then. And that's [the role] humour serves in all of our stories.”
Lee Maracle (1950–2021) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview (2019)
“I think I'll be a clown when I get grown," said Dill. "Yes, sir, a clown.... There ain't one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I'm gonna join the circus and laugh my head off." "You got it backwards, Dill," said Jem. "Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them." "Well, I'm gonna be a new kind of clown. I'm gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks.”
Harper Lee (1926–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My sense of humour has always been quite in-your-face. I haven’t got that quintessential dry British humour, so my style fits in quite well...A lot of Americans have never been outside America. So if I’m doing something about Malaysia, say, I have to explain where Malaysia is and what the culture is before I go into the joke.”
Gina Yashere (born 1974) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her comedy style when performing for Americans in “The Daily Show’s Gina Yashere: ‘In England, I’d still be the token black face on Mock the Week’” in The Guardian (11 Jun 2017)
“Women actually have a fantastic sense of humour, better than men. Men tend to have crass and predictable humour. Women see human foibles and minute details, and they can laugh at eccentricities and peculiarities. They are also more understanding. Go ahead and quote me and let me make some enemies.”
Sai Paranjpye (born 1938) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Scroll.in article by Nandini Ramnath - Sai Paranjpye interview: ‘I guess I was born with a grin’ - 28 November 2020 - Archive
“Check this joke out: If you wanna talk to me after the show I'll be... Fuckin'... Surprised. I'm gonna have to have some liner notes for that joke, like "During that joke, he points to the back." So people get the full experience. I'm gonna do a bunch of jokes that require actually seeing me. Then the CD will piss people off.”
Mitch Hedberg (1968–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Please note: if you think the above is offensive, it is of course a joke and you did not get it. If you do not find it offensive, it is of course not a joke, and you did not get it. This is not a joke. Get it?”
Erik Naggum (1965–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the end, we should simply imagine a joke; a long joke that's being continually retold in an accent too thick and too strange to ever be completely understood. Life is that joke. The soul is its punchline.”
Tom Robbins (1932–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You've got to face facts and the fact is life is a joke, a fucking bad joke, or, no, a bad fucking joke.”
Jeet Thayil (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life's one hell of a joke. It dresses us up with insatiable yearnings and high-flying ambitions and then flings the fact of our insignificance in our faces. Half of us fall for the joke and start the mad rush after the big prizes. Some, like you and me can't fall for the joke. We've been hit too hard at too early an age.”
Bessie Head (1937–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[On lockdown and social distancing during the pandemic restrictions] It was fine. [...] I'm actually not that sociable, you know? I hate people. [...] That was a joke, for the record. [...] No. It's actually not a joke. It's not a joke.”
Camilla Long (born 1978) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From an interview, as cited in "Camilla Long on cancel culture, her Twitter suspension and the royal 'goatf**k'", Press Gazette (12 January 2023)
“Once a joke, twice a joke, but not a joke forever.”
Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don’t joke about Meredith’s death. I joke a lot about how I was vilified, but I don’t joke about her murder. That’s just a line for me. I set red lines for myself that other comedians don’t. I’ve had other comedians pitch me jokes that I just would not do.”
Amanda Knox (born 1987) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Amanda Knox on her Edinburgh comedy show: ‘Meredith would’ve found it funny’", Telegraph (01 August 2026).
“(My favorite artist that uses dark humor is) the French humorist Claude Serre, with a fine graphic style and a very hard black humor can be found in his series of cartoons, like “Humour Noir & Hommes en Blanc”. Another good example that can be easily found is the book “Idées Noires”, by Franquin. Very different from his usual style, but still a little gem that is not very known to the public.”
Marco De Angelis (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the beginning I was just going around saying I feel a bit like a fraud because I was not being exceptional, my late brother was one of the funniest people I knew, he could tell a story, and I came from a community of storytellers and joke tellers where laughter was an important part of the community. I’m lucky to come from that environment where laughter is power.”
Soli Philander (1961–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon—laughter. Power, Money, Persuasion, Supplication, Persecution—these can lift at a colossal humbug,—push it a little—crowd it a little—weaken it a little, century by century: but only Laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of Laughter nothing can stand.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) first seen 1897 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Chronicle of Young Satan" (ca. 1897–1900, unfinished), published posthumously in Mark Twain's Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts (1969), ed. William Merriam Gibson (pp. 165–166 in the 2005 paperback printing, )
“I'm struck by how laughter connects you with people. It's almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you're just howling with laughter. Laughter is a force for democracy.”
John Cleese (born 1939) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From The Human Face, BBC Television (2001)
“Malcolm listened to her laughter, and for the first time in his life he knew that everything was going to be all right. Niceness, he realized, it was not enough, and Love was only part of the rest. You had to have laughter, too. Laughter would make everything come out right in the end, or if it didn’t nobody would notice.”
“When reading the Renaissance authors who spread their religious ideas by laughter rather than by thumbscrew and stake, we find that they do not limit themselves to the few places in Scripture where laughter is presented as desirable and good. Both theology and their own sense of fun lead them to find laughter from one end of the Bible to the other.”
Michael Andrew Screech (1926–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mr. Justice Lopes: Why did you refuse information to the police? Butler: I always refuse information to the police. (Laughter) Lopes: That quite answers my question, I admit. (Laughter) I hope if you always refuse information to the police, you do not refuse it to the law. Butler: No, I do not. (Laughter)”
Josephine Butler (1828–1906) first seen 1885 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A back-and-forth with the judge during Butler's testimony in the Eliza Armstrong case, as quoted in The Birmingham Press (3 Nov 1885)
“They say it gives wrinkles but I am lucky no wrinkle…(laughter). Laughter Cheers you more when you are angry before you blow up. Smile more and laughter refreshes not just the soul but the way you look on the outside.”
Adetoun Ogunsheye (born 1926) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's mandatory in this day and age to be considered to have a sense of humor and to demonstrate it. You're not paying me for a joke, You're paying me for the right joke.”
Robert Orben (1928–2023) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gail Russell Chaddock (December 9, 2005) "Backstory: Serious business of jokes in politics", Christian Science Monitor, p. 20.
“Technological consciousness takes itself dead seriously; it has no sense of humor. The fool can play no role in it, for there is no other realm that is can see beyond itself to which the fool can point. Consciousness in the throes of desire cannot tolerate laughter any more than criticism of laughter can be tolerated in a moment of sexual lust.”
Donald Phillip Verene (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That was a joke, bridgeboy.” “My mistake. I was under the impression that jokes were supposed to be funny.” “Only to people with a sense of humor.” “Ah, of course,” Kaladin said. “I traded in my sense of humor long ago.” “And what did you get for it?” “Scars,” Kaladin said softly.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had to develop a sense of humor I'm sure it's a defense mechanism. It was, 'Before they make fun of me, I'll make a joke.' Being funny is just a point of view about life in general. Sometimes it's born out of difficult childhoods, where you have to develop a sense of humor. Ultimately, it's a gift.”
Nathan Lane (born 1956) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Marshall Fine (January 24, 2000) "Nathan the 'Great'", The Journal News, p. 1E.
“A good joke should make the comedian laugh first (internally) before telling it to the crowd. A joke might be derogatory or insulting, but a good comedian must know how to embellish his jokes.”
Gordons (comedian) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...humor is sacred. Laughing is sacred. The world would become sterile and cold and die if there wasn't the clowning and the joking and the laughter. And that in order to have a perfect balance or harmony you have to have humor.”
Leslie Marmon Silko (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hope humor is a part of your life, too. It takes a positive attitude and a strong desire to enjoy life to see the humor around us, but having a little laughter sprinkled throughout your day is a great way to live.”
Don Soderquist (1934–2016) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Don Soderquist “Live Learn Lead to Make a Difference, Thomas Nelson, April 2006 p. 44.
“The American public highly overrates its sense of humor. We're great belly laughers and prat fallers, but we never really did have a real sense of humor. Not satire anyway. We're a fatheaded, cotton-picking society. When we realize finally that we aren't God's given children, we'll understand satire. Humor is really laughing off a hurt, grinning at misery.”
Bill Mauldin (1921–2003) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Time magazine (21 July 1961)
“So the punchline for George Bush is this, you would have wanted him on your side. He never lost his sense of humor. Humor is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life. That’s what humor is. He never hated anyone — he knew what his mother and my mother always knew: hatred corrodes the container it’s carried in.”
Alan K. Simpson (1931–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was a master of humor. He believed that humor is the test of the natural, of the sensible, of the truth. To him most persons who have no sense of humor are generally absurd.”
Epifanio de los Santos (1871–1928) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Manila Tribune. April 19, 1928.
“Why, gentlemen, humor is one of the most valuable things in the human brain. It is the torch of the mind -- it sheds light. Humor is the readiest test of truth -- of the natural, of the sensible -- and when you take from a man all sense of humor, there will only be enough left to make a bigot.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In my own burnout and depression after this — because it was soul-crushing — Amit was showing me that there is power in humor, there is power in levity,” Aaker says. “I was seeing that if you don’t have enough humor and levity, you will burn out. That put me on a new research journey around understanding the behavioral science of humor — when and why it works.”
Jennifer Aaker (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Humor is a very, very important part of our life. It's not just laughing at a joke, it's an attitude toward life. And as the world gets crazier, it's more important to laugh at it. It's a survival technique.”
Bob Newhart (1929–2024) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Eric E. Harrison "Bob Newhart still standing up for comedy, laughing at life", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (October 13, 2016)
“People often confuse jokes with humor, but my humor is very serious. I not only make people laugh, but also make people reflect and analyze.”
ARES (artist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have a theory, that there is a terrific link between what is funny and what is scary. I think there is a very close connection between what frightens people and what makes them laugh. Laughter is a kind of nervousness. Animals don't laugh. Smiling is, anthropologists agree, directly linked to the baring of the teeth.”
Christopher Walken (born 1943) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jan Moir (March 11, 2002) "'You're not scared of me, are you?': Christopher Walken has cornered the market in movie menace. But, as Jan Moir discovers, he is just as unsettling in real life", The Daily Telegraph, p. 18.
“I have always been a laugher, disturbing people who are not laughers, upsetting whole audiences at theatres… I laugh, that's all. I love to laugh. Laughter to me is being alive. I have had rotten times, and I have laughed through them. Even in the midst of the very worst times I have laughed.”
William Saroyan (1908–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Such a proud moment of professionalism. You work for years crafting cogent satirical essays and the thing that everybody remembers is me making love to a Chiquita and bursting into laughter. What you can't see off camera is Jon started laughing first. And then I'm weak. As much as I want to make the audience laugh, I really want to make Jon laugh.”
Stephen Colbert (born 1964) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Entertainment Weekly interview, August 13, 2004, on his character break during the infamous Prince Charles sketch on The Daily Show.
“You need to laugh more. Life is filled with too many problems, to not laugh every day. ... We need to have a sense of humor going into this because it's too tough without it.”
Ysabella Brave (born 1979) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Everyday Bravery" (25 March 2007)