P. J. O'Rourke Quotes

Films can't change the society; they can simply open the space for the discussion which can lead to social change and can start new forms of social activism.

I feel like a lot of the guys who are trying to do political or socially relevant humor just haven't figured out who the enemy is.

Satire is not a social dynamite. But it is a social indicator: it shows that new men are knocking at the door.

The satirist isn't just looking at things ironically but militantly - he wants to change them, and intends to have an effect on the world.

I'm a sort of political person, and I feel that there's a kind of ineradicably political dimension to theater, to all theater, whether it's overtly political or not.

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

A lot of political music to me can be rather pedantic and corny, and when it's done right - like Bruce Springsteen or Jackson Browne or great satire from Randy Newman, there's nothing better.

When you do have songs where you're going to say something, some kind of statement about cultural or social stuff, that in general people love it. People love to be challenged in that way.

I think as the world changes, we have to keep up. We have to note what is happening, and I think writing has always had a powerful corrective influence and possibility. We have to write about what's good, and we also have to write about parts of our culture that are not good, that are not working out. I think it takes a new eye.

I've always been interested in socially political, or overtly political, comedy.

Is there a sharper commentary on American culture and the world than The Simpsons?

It's great to be in a film that's able to have people really want to become socially conscious, to walk out of the theatre and want to do something.

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

When I think about writers who use fiction as social commentary and to raise social awareness but who are also very popular, I think of Dickens.

At a time when India is going through great changes and, with China, is likely to inherit the world from the West, it is important that writers like me try to highlight the brutal injustices of Indian society. That's what I'm trying to do – it is not an attack on the country, it's about the greater process of self-examination.

The most brilliant satire of all time was 'A Modest Proposal' by Jonathan Swift. You'll notice how everything got straightened out in Ireland within days of that coming out.

We've always been interested in the commentary on politics and society and how comedy always sort of cuts that with a nice laugh, and the perspective it brings.

I think the best comedy enlightens, informs, and changes the way people look at the world.

Progressive art can assist people to learn what's at work in the society in which they live.

The best kind of art or writing holds up a mirror to society.

Was 'Crucify Your Mind' dedicated to anybody? No, it was a generalization. 'A Most Disgusting Song' is like that, too.

I'm not a political comic at all, so it would be weird if I just turned into a preachy, sort-of political commentator.

The Daily Show' was really a turning point, where people started to realize that comedy can have a true cultural impact and can have something to say that is serious.

I'm somewhat wary of being called 'woke' because it feels absolute in a way that I don't think is realistic.

All good art should be political, I think, and inevitably it all becomes political really, in one way or another.