Russell Hoban Quotes

It's easy being a humorist when you've got the whole government working for you.

Fools are my theme, let satire be my song.

Satire is fascinating stuff. It's deadly serious, and when politics begin to break down, there is a drift towards satire, because it's the only thing that makes any sense.

If you're going to get into social criticism with absurdity and satire, you can't be politically correct when you do that.

It is difficult not to write satire.

Satire is tragedy plus time. You give it enough time, the public, the reviewers will allow you to satirize it. Which is rather ridiculous, when you think about it.

Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own.

Mike Judge is my Jonathan Swift, and I say that because I don't know any other satirists. But the problem with satire is that it's so easily misinterpreted.

I see the absurdity in things, and I think it's my job to point it out.

Comedy actually works best when you're living in an OK world, and you are pointing out the hypocrisy in apathy.

If written with enough care and thoughtfulness, a joke can make you laugh at a belief you hold dear.

A lot of French comedy is satire.

In general satire, every man perceives A slight attack, yet neither fears nor grieves.

Comedy is brutal. It's powerful, though.

I write what I think is funny and I write from a sense of popping a balloon or a sense of injustice, whether it's about yourself, or whether it's about something else. It's my worldview; it doesn't mean that everybody has to agree with it.

I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.

The best way to make the most serious point in the world is to be as unserious as possible.

The English can be a very critical, unforgiving people, but criticism can be good. And this is a country that loves comedy.

I always believe that funny is serious and serious is funny. You don't really need a distinction between them.

There's always been this tradition of satirizing these rich groups of people.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

A sitcom isn't usually the right tool for satire.

Social satire has been around since people have been around.

Jokes are grievances.

Everything can be satirized.