The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Death isn't funny." "Then why are there so many jokes about death? Jill, with us — us humans — death is so sad that we must laugh at it.
Interpretation
Humans cope with the sadness of death by making jokes about it.
This quote highlights the paradox of human nature regarding death, suggesting that while death is a profoundly sorrowful experience, people often resort to humor as a coping mechanism. The interplay between laughter and sadness illustrates our struggle to make sense of mortality and the inevitability of loss, prompting us to find levity even in the darkest of circumstances.
In practice
A comedian referencing this quote at a stand-up show about dealing with loss.
The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
An armed society is a polite society.
Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.
Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings . . . but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.
There live not three good men unhanged in England; and one of them is fat and grows old.
I've always said people say on a dramatic show, 'I was crying. It was so emotional when he went and grabbed that little girl from a burning building and handed her over to her mother.' In comedy, the best thing you can say is, 'I think it's funny.'
People think I'm a very serious actor, which I am. But you know, if you don't have a sense of humor doing what I do, you perish.
I never turn on the crowd. Sometimes, you think it's a terrible show, and then afterward, sometimes people say they really liked it. So turning on the crowd is only going to alienate the few people who might like it. What do I do in that situation? Get through it.
The main difference between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.