People trying to be funny are never as funny as people trying to be serious and failing.

Humor could not flourish in a wholly serious and rational atmosphere.

Some people are only funny when they try to be serious.

There is no more terrible fate for a comedian than to be taken seriously.

I would hate to be taken seriously. Serious people are always so grim and uptight that they make me want to dance naked on the lawn playing a flute.

People used to laugh at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well they're not laughing now.

I would like to take you seriously but to do so would affront your intelligence.

They all laughed when I said I'd become a comedian. Well, they're not laughing now.

Peut-être vas-tu me trouver ridicule, mais je me mépriserais de n'oser l'être jamais.

If I didn't have a sense of humor, how could I stand this trial now?

Somebody was sayin' [somethin'] the other day about "You gotta be funny, or they'll turn on you!" [...] And I go "They should turn on you!" It's a very humbling life, at any level.

They said I wasn't being funny. And I said to them, "I know that, but tomorrow I will go back to being funny, and your show will still blow."

My sense of humor will always stand in the way of my seeing myself, my family, my race or my nation as the whole intent of the universe.

He said they that were serious in ridiculous matters would be ridiculous in serious affairs.