“Comedy is tragedy that happens to other people.”
Source: Wise Children (1991), ch. 5 (p.213).
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Angela Carter43
English novelist 1940–1992Related quotes
“Farce may often border on tragedy; indeed, farce is nearer tragedy in its essence than comedy is.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English poet, literary critic and philosopher
20 August 1833
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Mel Brooks (1926) American director, writer, actor, and producer
The 2,000 Year Old Man (and sequels)
Variant: Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.
“It's so laughable that it's somewhere beyond comedy and right into tragedy again.”
Libba Bray (1964) American teen writer
“Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.”
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“Life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.”
Horace Walpole (1717–1797) English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician
Letter to Anne, Countess of Ossory, (16 August 1776)
A favourite saying of Walpole's, it is repeated in other of his letters, and might be derived from a similar statement attributed to Jean de La Bruyère, though unsourced: "Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think". An earlier form occurs in another published letter:
I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel — a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept.
Letter to Sir Horace Mann (31 December 1769)
Variant: The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.
“Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”
Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) British comic actor and filmmaker
As quoted in his obituary in The Guardian (28 December 1977)
“Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.”
Margaret Cho (1968) American stand-up comedian
Source: I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight
“Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel.”
Jean Racine (1639–1699) French dramatist
“Life is a tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think.”
Molière (1622–1673) French playwright and actor