Leo Rosten Quotes

Satire is a weapon, and it can be quite cruel.

Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their earthly pedestals.

Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.

Everything can be satirized.

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.

It is difficult not to write satire.

Satire also allows you to make fun of every different aspect. It allows you to make fun of both sides. It allows you to make fun of everything, really, so you can do it in a harmless way.

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.

I like to write a lot of satire.

Bad times for the Republic are great times for satire.

Cartoons are ridicule and satire by definition. A negative attitude is the nature of the art.

Satire can always be found everywhere. A people without love for satire is a dead people.

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.

In a satire, you need foolishness.

It's rare in satirical comedy not just to be cynical.

I'm a satirist, so I've got boxing gloves on if the person is worthy of satire. But I'm not an assassin.

One parody is worth a thousand polemics.

Satirists gain the applause of others through fear, not through love.

Satire is what closes on Saturday night.

It's all been satirized for your protection.

The satirist shoots to kill while the humorist brings his prey back alive and eventually releases him again for another chance.

The key to humor is often self-loathing or sarcasm. In a sense, that's how self-loathing is made palatable.

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

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.