W. C. Fields Quotes

Half of me is this wacked-out comedienne who will do anything for a buck and a laugh. Well, at least for a laugh. But the other half is a lot darker, sadder and more pensive. It's the dark side that feeds the outrageousness and allows it to surface. I think that's true for anyone with comic flair.

I think a good dollop of sadness is quite a useful thing in comedy sometimes. I think if everyone's happy all the time, it's a bit dull. It's like salt and caramel - you wouldn't imagine they would go well together, but they do.

That's what sort of fascinates me - what's funny as well as what's sad.

Look at Sam Beckett. Most depressed man who ever lived, but he sure was funny.

I was born serious and I have earned my bread making other people laugh.

You never have a comedian who hasn't got a very deep strain of sadness within him or her. Every great clown has been very near to tragedy.

You cannot have the drama without comedy.

Even the most tragic moments can have moments of comedy.

Generally speaking, cancer - not that funny of a thing. When you hear about it, you don't go, 'Oh, hilarious!'... But within that - comedy, tragedy, hand-in-hand.

I think that life is very dark at times and there are things that are very funny about that.

The only thing I can say about W. C. Fields ... is this: Any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad.

Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

Humor and seriousness are not in opposition to each other.

Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that. Yes, yes, it's the most comical thing in the world.

It's great extremes which leads to great drama and great comedy.

But as far as being popular, yeah, I think Dave Barry is really funny.

I write with humour about sadness, to introduce an element of sweet to the sour, a bit like Turkish food.

I have always felt comedy and tragedy are roommates. If you look up comedy and tragedy, you will find a very old picture of two masks. One mask is tragedy. It looks like it's crying. The other mask is comedy. It looks like it's laughing. Nowadays, we would say, 'How tasteless and insensitive. A comedy mask is laughing at a tragedy mask.'

We may smile at these matters, but they are melancholy illustrations.

There's a fine line between comedy and the darkest place ever.

There's obviously a lot of tragedy in comedy; I really enjoy the paradox of what a really good comedy is.

I think that there's a fine line between comedy and drama.

Life is dramatic and comedic at times. Sometimes in the most dramatic situations, there is comedy. And good comedy comes from a sense of reality.