Satire, though it may exaggerate the vice it lashes, is not justified in creating it in order that it may be lashed.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Satire can exaggerate faults but should not invent crimes to criticize.
- In plain terms
- Do not make up bad behavior just to mock it.
- What can you take from it?
- Satire should target real vices not fabricated ones.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where is the line between exaggeration and lying?
- Should art invent faults to teach?
Another view
Satire often uses exaggeration to highlight truth.
More from Anthony Trollope
He must have known me had he seen me as he was wont to see me, for he was in the habit of flogging me constantly. Perhaps he did not recognise me by my face.
Permalink to quote #73 Take away from English authors their copyrights, and you would very soon take away from England her authors.
Permalink to quote #75 When any body of statesmen make public asservations by one or various voices, that there is no discord among them, not a dissentient voice on any subject, peop…
Permalink to quote #72
Related quotes
This story is slightly immoral, but so, I guess, are stories based on truth.
Ring LardnerRing Lardner quote #3 Satire should, like a polished razor keen, Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen.
Lady Mary Wortley MontaguLady Mary Wortley Montagu quote #4 It is not [the biographer's] business to be complimentary; it is his business to lay bare the facts of the case, as he understands them...dispassionately, impa…
Lytton StracheyLytton Strachey quote #5