Quote by James Thurber

The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people --that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature.

The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun o

Summary

This quote highlights the different approaches to humor. While wit involves mocking individuals, satire goes beyond that to critique society as a whole. On the other hand, humor revolves around self-deprecation, but not with the intent of belittling oneself or others. Instead, a humorist aims to showcase the universal elements of human nature, displaying a genuine understanding and connection with people everywhere. Ultimately, this form of humor seeks to reveal and celebrate the true essence of individuals rather than tearing them down.

Topics

By James Thurber

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. S

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

I wrote some bad poetry that I published in North African jo

I wrote some bad poetry that I published in North African journals, but even as I withdrew into this reading, I also led the life of a kind of young hooligan.

Jacques Derrida

Every time I've done comedy in, like, traditional comedy clu

Every time I've done comedy in, like, traditional comedy clubs, there's always these comedians that do really well with audiences but that the other comedians hate because they're just, you know, doing kind of cheap stuff like dancing around or doing, like, very kind of base sex humor a lot, and stuff like that.

Healthcare as a human right, it means that every child, no m

Healthcare as a human right, it means that every child, no matter where you are born, should have access to a college or trade-school education if they so choose it, and I think no person should be homeless if we can have public structures and public policy to allow for people to have homes and food and lead a dignified life in the United States.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Only you can hold yourself back, only you can stand in your

Only you can hold yourself back, only you can stand in your own way. Only you can help yourself.

Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have int

Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death.

Erik H. Erikson

Until politics are a branch of science we shall do well to r

Until politics are a branch of science we shall do well to regard political and social reforms as experiments rather than short-cuts to the millennium.

Reform Correction

In the school of political projectors, I was but ill enterta

In the school of political projectors, I was but ill entertained, the professors appearing, in my judgment, wholly out of their senses; which is a scene that never fails to make me melancholy. These unhappy people were proposing schemes for persuading monarchs to choose favorites upon the score of their wisdom, capacity, and virtue; of teaching ministers to consult the public good; of rewarding merit, great abilities, and eminent services, of instructing princes to know their true interest, by placing it on the same foundation with that of their people; of choosing for employment persons qualified to exercise them; with many other wild impossible chimeras, that never entered before into the heart of man to conceive; and confirmed in me the old observation, that there is nothing so extravagant and irrational which some philosophers have not maintained for truth.

Everything in this book may be wrong. The Savior's Manual

Everything in this book may be wrong. The Savior's Manual

The truth is, I could no more dictate her nature than she co

The truth is, I could no more dictate her nature than she could dictate mine. Kinsey's happy as she is and she doesn't need to be rescued, improved, or saved.

The wisdom and experience of older people is a resource of i

The wisdom and experience of older people is a resource of inestimable worth. Recognizing and treasuring the contributions of older people is essential to the long-term flourishing of any society.

I hope I'm wrong, but I am afraid that Iraq is going to turn

I hope I'm wrong, but I am afraid that Iraq is going to turn out to be the greatest disaster in American foreign policy - worse than Vietnam, not in the number who died, but in terms of its unintended consequences and its reverberation throughout the region.

Madeleine Albright