“To be able to laugh and to be merciful are the only things that make man better than the beast”
Ruskin Bond (1934) British Indian writer
“It's a good thing to be laughed at. It's better than to be ignored.”
In a handwritten note to the Postmaster General, who wanted to take action against "That Was The Week That Was", a satirical program. <br class="br">Taken from letters-of-note.com http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/06/it-is-good-thing-to-be-laughed-at.html <br class="br">1980s
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Harold Macmillan26
British politician 1894–1986Related quotes
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Variant translation: Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.
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“It's better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.”
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H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer
"What I Believe" in The Forum 84 (September 1930), p. 139; some of these expressions were also used separately in other Mencken essays.
1930s
Context: I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind — that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty and the democratic form is as bad as any of the other forms.
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech — alike for the humblest man and the mightiest, and in the utmost freedom of conduct that is consistent with living in organized society.
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I —But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.