“Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog, you learn a lot in the process, but in the end you kill it.”

— Mark Twain

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog, you learn a lot in the process, but in the end you kill it." by Mark Twain?

Mark Twain 637

American author and humorist 1835–1910

Related quotes

“I read once that explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog," Mark said. "You find out how it works, but the frog dies in the process.”

Cassandra Clare book Lady Midnight

Source: Lady Midnight

“Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.”

E. B. White (1899–1985) American writer

"Some Remarks on Humor," preface to A Subtreasury of American Humor (1941)
A very similar remark is often attributed to White, but may actually be a paraphrased version of the above statement: "Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it."

“Once you've dissected a joke, you're about where you are when you've dissected a frog. It's dead.”

Isaac Asimov book Banquets of the Black Widowers

Banquets of the Black Widowers (1984), p. 49; comparable to "Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." — E. B. White, in "Some Remarks on Humor," preface to A Subtreasury of American Humor (1941)
General sources

“You don't always have to kiss a lot of frogs to recognize a prince when you find one

-Henrietta Barett”

Julia Quinn (1970) American novelist

Source: Minx

“A lot of people think packing a suitcase is something you learn through practice, like singing or praying.”

Herta Müller book The Hunger Angel

Source: The Hunger Angel (2012), p. 6

“Honestly, I've been making up everything as I go. When you're riding the ice pony, you see a lot of talking frogs.”

Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer

[The New York Times, October 24, 2015, Jim Henson, Puppeteer, Dies; The Muppets' Creator Was 53, Eleanor, Blau, May 17, 1990, http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/17/obituaries/jim-henson-puppeteer-dies-the-muppets-creator-was-53.html?pagewanted=all]