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Humor & Life Quote by Bob Hope

"People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy"

About this Quote

“People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy” lands because it takes a sugary, cinematic gesture and treats it like a labor dispute. Bob Hope’s comic engine was often that kind of deflation: romance gets demoted to logistics, sentiment to slacking. The joke isn’t just that air-kissing is insincere; it’s that modern affection has developed shortcuts, and we’re weirdly proud of it.

Hope was a master of the wisecrack that doubles as social commentary, and this one carries his mid-century, showbiz-slick skepticism about performance. A thrown kiss is affection at a distance: no risk, no mess, no accountability. The “lazy” charge is a jab at people who want the credit of tenderness without the work of intimacy. It’s the same critique you can aim at any easy signifier of care: the grand gesture that substitutes for actual presence, the polished line that stands in for listening.

There’s also a meta-layer. Hope spent his career literally throwing charm to audiences he’d never meet, selling warmth at scale. By calling the act “hopelessly lazy,” he’s winking at his own profession: entertainers package emotion into quick, repeatable bits because the machine demands it. The line’s bite comes from that complicity. It isn’t moralistic; it’s a comedian’s shrug dressed as an insult, inviting you to laugh at how easily we confuse gesture with effort.

Quote Details

TopicWitty One-Liners
SourceBob Hope — quote: "People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy." (attributed on Wikiquote; primary source not specified)
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Hope, Bob. (2026, January 15). People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/people-who-throw-kisses-are-hopelessly-lazy-30265/

Chicago Style
Hope, Bob. "People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/people-who-throw-kisses-are-hopelessly-lazy-30265/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/people-who-throw-kisses-are-hopelessly-lazy-30265/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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Bob Hope quote on thrown kisses and intimacy
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About the Author

Bob Hope

Bob Hope (May 29, 1903 - July 27, 2003) was a Comedian from USA.

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