"Dying is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying down"
About this Quote
The intent is classic Allen: puncture grandeur with a shrug, then smuggle in dread. “Few things” hints at a life cluttered with obligations, social scripts, and anxieties that require upright participation. Lying down becomes both physical posture and moral stance: opting out. It’s a one-liner that flirts with depression without confessing it, turning existential panic into a punchline you can repeat at a dinner party to signal sophistication and fragility in the same breath.
Context matters. Allen’s persona emerged in a mid-20th-century New York milieu where psychoanalysis, secular Jewish humor, and European art-house pessimism all cross-pollinated. Death is ever-present in his films, but rarely reverent; it’s a looming fact rendered manageable through wit. The subtext is an argument for comedy as coping mechanism: if the universe won’t offer meaning, at least you can get a laugh out of the ergonomics of oblivion.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Allen, Woody. (2026, January 15). Dying is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying down. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/dying-is-one-of-the-few-things-that-can-be-done-15065/
Chicago Style
Allen, Woody. "Dying is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying down." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/dying-is-one-of-the-few-things-that-can-be-done-15065/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Dying is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying down." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/dying-is-one-of-the-few-things-that-can-be-done-15065/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.







