It is easy to distinguish between the joking that reflects good breeding and that which is coarse—the one, if aired at an apposite moment of mental relaxation, is becoming in the most serious of men, whereas the other is unworthy of any free person, if the content is indecent or the expression obscene.

No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at.

I used to think that everyone was just being funny. But now I don’t know. I mean, how can you tell?

A joke is at most a temporary rebellion against virtue, and its aim is not to degrade the human being but to remind him that he is already degraded.

A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.