A Quote by Henry David Thoreau

But the divinest poem, or the life of a great man, is the severest satire.... The greater the genius, the keener the edge of the satire.

Henry David Thoreau

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Edge Genius Great Great Man Greater Life Man Poem Satire

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Henry David Thoreau
American - Author
July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862

Satire is at once the most agreeable and most dangerous of mental qualities. It always pleases when it is refined, but we always fear those who use it too much; yet satire should be allowed when unmixed with spite, and when the person satirized can join in the satire.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

I love satire. Evelyn Waugh is one of my favorite writers of all time. He's hilarious. He's so wicked. He's so great. On the other hand, pure satire is an imitation. It doesn't really have any heart. It only holds things up to ridicule.

T.C. Boyle

It's a great time to be doing political satire when the world is on a knife edge.

John Oliver

There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs... begins.

Isaac Hayes

There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins.

Isaac Hayes

Through my satire I make little people so big that afterwards they are worthy objects of my satire and no one can reproach me any longer.

Karl Kraus

The critics try to intellectualize my material. There's no satire involved. Satire is a concept that can only be understood by adults. My stuff is straight, for people of all ages.

Andy Kaufman

Satire, whether it be satire or not, everything has to have boundaries.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

I tell the truth and I don't try to sugarcoat things. But I also decided that if you don't use humor or satire, then it's just too dark all the time. And one of my favorite literary works is A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. As you know, that was an enormously famous satire piece that was able to point out, you know, things to people in a different way. And I do believe that satire and humor can reveal truth in a way that sometimes doesn't get revealed through other means. And so I decided to, every now and then, use satire and humor as well.

Ted Lieu

Satire is fascinating stuff. It's deadly serious, and when politics begin to break down, there is a drift towards satire, because it's the only thing that makes any sense.

Ben Nicholson

For me, 'Gulabo Sitabo' is a satire... I wanted to do satire and I think it's turned out exactly how I wanted it to be.

Shoojit Sircar

I'm so glad that talented writers and everybody who produces shows are being meeting with such success - it gives me more hope for the future of satire. They're probably the most powerful form of satire out there today.

Mark Fiore

Really, what's not to love in John McCain, satire-wise? As if he had not already been good enough to us, then came his nomination of Sarah Palin. Here, truly, was a gift from the gods of satire.

Christopher Buckley

It's a challenge to do satire when the thing you're satirizing is almost beyond satire, but I think that's a challenge for everybody.

Larry Wilmore

Satire can always be found everywhere. A people without love for satire is a dead people.

Dario Fo

A jealous man is very quick in his application: he knows how to find a double edge in an invective, and to draw a satire on himself out of a panegyrick on another.

Joseph Addison

A Quote by Henry David Thoreau

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