There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about them.

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

There are some things so serious that you have to laugh at them.

Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious

Anyone who is considered funny will tell you, sometimes without even your asking, that deep inside they are very serious, neurotic, introspective people.

I always believe that funny is serious and serious is funny. You don’t really need a distinction between them. If I’m doing something on stage and it evokes an emotion, then I might show that emotion, but I also don’t believe in being a preacher. If you have a point, that’s a bonus. But the funny has to come first, otherwise you shouldn’t call yourself a comedian.

Those who are serious in ridiculous matters will be ridiculous in serious matters.

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

Basically I'm a very serious person, but I think the form it takes with me is comedy. I see the amusing side of all potentially pompous situations.

I have noticed that when I am most serious people are apt to laugh at me, and indeed when after a lapse of time I have read passages that I wrote from the fullness of my heart I have been tempted to laugh at myself. It must be that there is something naturally absurd in a sincere emotion, though why there should be I cannot imagine, unless it is that man, the ephemeral inhabitant of an insignificant planet, with all his pain and all his striving is but a jest in an eternal mind.

People often confuse jokes with humor, but my humor is very serious. I not only make people laugh, but also make people reflect and analyze.

When you know to laugh and when to look upon things as too absurd to take seriously, the other person is ashamed to carry through even if he was serious about it.

Only the insane take themselves quite seriously.

A joke's a very serious thing.