Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

—Charlie Chaplin

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About Charlie Chaplin

Portrait of Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, singer, film editor and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the...

More quotations from Charlie Chaplin

In the end, everything is a gag.

—Charlie Chaplin

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world—not even our troubles.

—Charlie Chaplin

All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.

—Charlie Chaplin

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More quotations tagged with “comedy”

With a stop light, green means 'go' and yellow means 'slow down'. With a banana, however, it is quite the opposite. Yellow means 'go', green means 'whoa, slow down', and red means 'where the heck did you get that banana?

—Mitch Hedberg

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I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

—George Carlin

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All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.

—Charlie Chaplin

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The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel.

—James Thurber

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Because we are laughed at, I don’t think people really understand how essential [comedians] are to their sanity. If it weren’t for the brief respite we give the world with our foolishness, the world would see mass suicide in numbers that compare favorably with the death rate of the lemmings. I’m sure most of you have heard the story of the man who, desperately ill, goes to an analyst and tells the doctor that he has lost his desire to live and that is seriously considering suicide. The doctor listens to his tale of melancholia and then tells the patient that what he needs is a good belly laugh. He then advises the unhappy man to go to the circus that night and spend the evening laughing at Grock, the world’s funniest clown. The doctor sums it up, “After you have seen Grock, I am sure you will be much happier.” The patient rises to his feet, looks sadly at the doctor, turns and ambles toward the door. As he starts to leave the doctor says, “By the way, what is your name?” The man turns and regards the analyst with sorrowful eyes. “I am Grock.”

—Groucho Marx in Groucho And Me

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History

5 Aug 2016 Added