Humorists can never start to take themselves seriously. It's literary suicide.
Interpretation
Humorists must maintain a light-hearted perspective to be effective; taking oneself seriously can undermine their craft.
In this quote, Erma Bombeck suggests that humorists need to embrace their role as entertainers and not allow themselves to become overly serious. By doing so, they not only preserve their ability to make others laugh but also avoid the 'literary suicide' that comes from losing sight of the humor in life. It highlights the importance of self-awareness and the balance between comedy and seriousness in their work.
In practice
During a comedy show, the comedian might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of not taking oneself too seriously.
We've got a generation now who were born with semiequality. They don't know how it was before, so they think, this isn't too bad. We're working. We have our attache' cases and our three piece suits. I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women. We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there. They don't realize it can be taken away. Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.
You hear a lot of dialogue on the death of the American family. Families aren't dying. They're merging into big conglomerates.
Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It's the only thing "real" men do that doesn't seem to threaten their masculinity. To women, it's on the same domestic entry level as putting the spring back into the toilet-tissue holder or taking a chicken out of the freezer to thaw.
Not everyone is comfortable with the kissing ritual. My husband is one of them. Her refuses to press lips with anyone except his wife, mother, and dog. If someone wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he would refuse until he had been formally introduced.
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
Maybe age is kinder to us than we think. With my bad eyes, I can't see how bad I look, and with my rotten memory, I have a good excuse for getting out of a lot of stuff.
I don't do jokes. The characters are my jokes.
If I were the first of May, I should be ashamed of myself.
Sometimes I - with comedy, it's like someone liking you in high school. They either do, or they don't. And when they don't, they don't. And that's it. There are no appeals. You show up, and you're like, 'Hi! I'm -' and you stumble, and they're like, 'It's over.'
When someone pitches a joke for a character that is just perfect, and you can imagine that actor reading that line at your table read or on the set, it's like the sound of a snap snapping into place.
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
There may be a heaven, but if Joan Crawford is there, I'm not going.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.