The difference between tragedy and comedy: Tragedy is something awful happening to somebody else, while comedy is something awful happening to somebody else.
Comedy comes from tragedy, and being Iranian in America from 1979 on had been quite tragic. In stand-up comedy, I was able to take the reality and exaggerate it.
I feel bad for people who die on Valentine's Day. How much would flowers cost then, ten grand?
Poor decisions and bad luck are contingencies of most horror films.
I invested in the 'Globe' because it is one of the best and most important news organizations in the world. We saw this vividly in the days and weeks after the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, and we also see it in many other ways every day.
He who is still laughing is he who hasn't heard the terrible news.
No movie has ever been able to provide a catharsis for the Holocaust, and I suspect none will ever be able to provide one for 9/11. Such subjects overwhelm art.
I love the flamboyance, the melodrama, the bloody theatre of Russian history.
The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history.
I come from a family that has been here for almost 200 years. My ancestors started a very dangerous gunpowder business in 1802, and my great- grandfather and his father were both killed in gunpowder explosions.
Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.
I'm fascinated by the period that goes from the Industrial Revolution to right after World War II. There's something about that period that's epic and tragic.
I decided that it might be interesting to have terrible things happen to orphans over and over again.
History is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes
The causes of illusions are not pretty to discover. They're either vicious or tragic.
As a society, we must not allow human rights abuses to go unnoticed and undocumented; it is a vital mission to fight ignorance of these tragic events.
Disastrous would have been the result if a fire or a death had suddenly demanded something heroic of human nature, but tragedies come in the hungry hours.
My life has been tragic and disastrous since birth.
'Tragedy' and 'Loud City Song' are both inspired by stories from the past.
I want my work to become part of our visual history, to enter our collective memory and our collective conscience. I hope it will serve to remind us that history's deepest tragedies concern not the great protagonists who set events in motion but the countless ordinary people who are caught up in those events and torn apart by their remorseless fury. I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated.
History is a tragedy, not a morality tale.
There is always something infinitely mean about other people's tragedies.
I never cared about whatever tragic event happened in China. It's faraway decoration, even if in blood and plague.
I didn't wish those tragedies upon the people who played them out. It was certainly tragic for them, but not for me. All of those things brought me to where I am. Without those things, I couldn't be who I am, I wouldn't be here.
There are moments in history when brooding tragedy and its dark shadows can be lightened by recalling great moments of the past.
