"Comedy, we may say, is society protecting itself - with a smile"
- J. B. Priestley
About this Quote
J.B. Priestley's quote suggests that comedy serves a purpose in society by providing a lighthearted means of addressing serious or sensitive issues. It acts as a form of protection or insulation for the society, which may be under threat from various forms of tension and pressure, by bringing laughter instead. Through comedy, people can express themselves freely about those same issues, which they would not be able to do without the protection of comedy. It is like society's coping mechanism that allows individuals to release their thoughts and emotions without causing any harm or repercussions.
Priestley's use of "smile" also emphasizes the gentle, inoffensive nature of comedy, which, while it can be used to comment on or criticize society, is generally not meant to be hurtful or cruel. Rather, it seeks to make people laugh and feel a sense of relief and escape from their everyday problems. Overall, Priestley's quote suggests that comedy is not just entertainment but also plays an essential social role in helping people to cope with the difficulties of life.
This quote is written / told by J. B. Priestley between September 13, 1894 and August 14, 1984. He was a famous Writer from United Kingdom, the quote is categorized under the topic Humor. The author also have 29 other quotes.
"It should seem, then, that the nature of society dictates another, a higher branch, whose superiority arises from its being the interested and natural conservator of the universal interest"
"What's happened with society is that we have created these devices, computers, which already can register and process huge amounts of information, which is a significant fraction of the amount of information that human beings themselves, as a species, can process"
"I believe that nothing enjoys a higher estate in our society than the right given by the First and Fourteenth Amendments freely to practice and proclaim one's religious convictions"
"Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community. The dominant units in Irish society are the family and the locality. The idea was that the whole world would grow out from that small space"
"But we don't have an example of a democratic society existing in a socialist economy - which is the only real alternative to capitalism in the modern world"
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion"
