Billy Collins Quotes

Even when I'm being funny, I'm deadly serious.

You can pretend to be serious; but you can't pretend to be witty.

I've always had a sick sense of humor, and I've always wanted that to permeate the music because I don't take myself seriously. I take the music seriously, but I know I'm not God's gift to anyone except my mom.

His whole personality was like an elaborate joke that he never stopped telling.

It is not necessary for the public to know whether I am joking or whether I am serious, just as it is not necessary for me to know it myself.

I've noticed that when people are joking they're usually dead serious, and when they're serious, they're usually pretty funny.

No one wants to be pretentious about what they do or take it seriously, because that is just weird.

I don't mind making jokes, but I don't want to look like one.

I don't just try to be funny.

If you have a sense of irony or humour, you're usually cut down, as you're usually distorted or misinterpreted. So it does lead to us being slightly more dour and staid and predictable than would otherwise be the case, which I personally find quite frustrating - because if you don't laugh occasionally in my job, you cry most of the time.

People often can't separate, or can't understand, that to be funny is to be serious; it's a way of pulling people in and not scaring them off. I think a lot of the funny stuff, underneath it, there's a deep anxiety going on.

I've heard too many times where people say that I'm this ultra-serious guy. In truth, I've got an extremely absurd sense of humor. I thrive on the absurd - I love it.

A lot of truth is said in jest.

Humorists can never start to take themselves seriously. It's literary suicide.

Be fond of the man who jests at his scars, if you like; but never believe he is being on the level with you.

I am trying to work out what my taste is, comedy-wise. I look up to stand up comedians who appear to be telling the truth, but I don't mind if they are lying.

I used to think that everything was just being funny but now I don't know. I mean, how can you tell?

There's something very authentic about humor, when you think about it. Anybody can pretend to be serious. But you can't pretend to be funny.

One thing I regret about American politics is that no one seems to have a sense of humor any more.

Comedy is very disarming. It's a way to talk about things and still be light-hearted. And when it's done really well, you never see the strings, whereas when you watch an infomercial or a politician speaking, a lot of times you can see the strings, you can see what agenda they're trying to push.

I'm too self-serious for a comedy.

People tend to think I'm a lot more earnest than I am.

Fake buckteeth make a joke that you don't have to make any effort on, even if you're not a funny person.

Mike and I like a balance of tones. We never set out to make an overtly silly show or an overly serious dramatic show.

A comedian can only last till he either takes himself serious or his audience takes him serious.