I pay very little regard...to what any young person says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.
Jane AustenRead
The wisest and the best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions, may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Even the most intelligent people and their serious actions can be made to seem foolish by someone who prioritizes humor.
This quote by Jane Austen highlights the power of humor and jest in life. It suggests that no matter how wise or well-intentioned a person or their actions may be, they can be undermined or ridiculed by the lightheartedness of a jokester, emphasizing the sometimes absurd contrast between seriousness and humor in human interactions.
Themes
HumorWisdomActionsJokeRidiculous
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in a speech about the importance of balancing seriousness and humor in life.
More from Jane Austen
All quotes βNobody could catch cold by the sea; nobody wanted appetite by the sea; nobody wanted spirits; nobody wanted strength. Sea air was healing, softening, relaxing - fortifying and bracing - seemingly just as was wanted - sometimes one, sometimes the other. If the sea breeze failed, the seabath was the certain corrective; and where bathing disagreed, the sea air alone was evidently designed by nature for the cure.
Jane AustenRead
He certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.
Jane AustenRead
A person who is knowingly bent on bad behavior, gets upset when better behavior is expected of them.
Jane AustenRead
You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.
Jane AustenRead
She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time; but alas! Alas! She must confess to herself that she was not wise yet.
Jane AustenRead
Similar quotes
Thou weedy elf-skinned canker-blossom!
William ShakespeareRead
When I find someone I respect writing about an edgy, nervous wine that dithered in the glass, I cringe. When I hear someone I don't respect talking about an austere, unforgiving wine, I turn a bit austere and unforgiving myself. When I come across stuff like that and remember about the figs and bananas, I want to snigger uneasily. You can call a wine red, and dry, and strong, and pleasant. After that, watch out.
Kingsley AmisRead
On my tombstone, I want written: 'He never did 'Love Boat!''
Orson WellesRead
I don't feel that no big stone should be put over my head, saying he did this, he did that. Unless there's something that I really did do. I believe I'm just ordinary. And I'd like for people to think of me that way, as just a guy that tried. Wanted to be loved by other people because he loved people.
B. B. KingRead
Humor is one of the most serious tools we have for dealing with impossible situations.
Erica JongRead
Humor is everywhere in that there's irony in just about anything a human does.
Bill NyeRead