The only honest art form is laughter, comedy. You can't fake it... try to fake three laughs in an hour - ha ha ha ha ha - they'll take you away, man. You can't.
Lenny BruceRead
If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the absurdity of how symbols of faith or suffering can change based on cultural context.
Lenny Bruce uses this provocative statement to illustrate how society's perceptions of symbols evolve over time. He suggests that if a different method of execution had been more culturally significant, the spiritual icons we hold dear would similarly reflect that context, challenging us to think critically about the icons we venerate and the values they represent.
Themes
SymbolsFaithCultureContextIrony
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the evolution of religious iconography, this quote can emphasize how society shapes symbolism.
More from Lenny Bruce
All quotes βI'm not a comedian. I'm Lenny Bruce.
Lenny BruceRead
I'll die young, but it's like kissing God.
Lenny BruceRead
All my humor is based on destruction and despair. If the whole world were tranquil, without disease and violence, I'd be standing in the bread line - right in back of J. Edgar Hoover.
Lenny BruceRead
In the Halls of Justice the only justice is in the halls.
Lenny BruceRead
Marijuana is rejected all over the world. Damned. In England heroin is alright for out-patents, but marijuana? They'll put your ass in jail. I wonder why that is? The only reason could be: To Serve the Devil - Pleasure! Pleasure, which is a dirty word in Christian culture.
Lenny BruceRead
Similar quotes
Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.
Alain De BottonRead
All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.
James M. BarrieRead
When I reached adulthood, even now, I could afford to belong to a country club. But I could never belong to a private club because of my experience as a child, because it would isolate me from the whole of humanity.
Martin SheenRead
People should not be in a position where their children have access to weapons and ammunition.
Joe BidenRead
Every breath is a sacrament, an affirmation of our connection with all other living things, a renewal of our link with our ancestors and a contribution to generations yet to come. Our breath is a part of life's breath, the ocean of air that envelopes the earth.
David SuzukiRead
We tend to think of philosophies as produced by professional philosophers. Traditionally, this has meant people who have written dissertations on obscure subjects or who spend most of their day in libraries. But every human is, in an important sense, a carrier of an implicit philosophy - evident in their choices, pronouncements and commitments.
Alain De BottonRead