Marc Maron Quotes

Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.

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.

Satire is, by definition, offensive. It is meant to make us feel uncomfortable. It is meant to make us scratch our heads, think, do a double-take, and then think again.

I think comedians have a function in society, which is to make fun of our icons.

Rory Bremner I have no problem with; he is a satirist, and a very funny one, too.

Satire is a form of social control, it's what you do. It's not personal. It's a job.

The best cartoons work by making fun of sacred cows, in trying to inflict the uncomfortable.

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

Satire chooses and knows no objects. It arises by fleeing from them and their forcing themselves upon it.

But you do have to learn, if you want to be a satirist, you can't be part of the party. Meaning, you can't go horseback riding with Jackie O in Central Park if you're going to make a joke about her that night.

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.

Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.

All satire is blind to the forces liberated by decay. Which is why total decay has absorbed the forces of satire.

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

Comedy is inherently subversive because it turns the normal reality on its head. The art form is all about these questions and contradictions. In comedy, we're dealing with language that we all understand, but words can have a dozen other things around them that alter or affect meaning.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

Social satire has been around since people have been around.

Jokes are grievances.

It's all been satirized for your protection.

Comedy is a great weapon of attack. It's not a great weapon of support.

Being a comedy writer gives you permission to be an outsider and poke fun at what people think about other people.

I've spent my entire career being a satirist.

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

Marilyn Manson is a criticism of gimmickry, while being itself a gimmick.

Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.