The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Comedy has very few hard rules, limited mostly to basic taste and legal boundaries.
- In plain terms
- In comedy, the only rules are being tasteful and not breaking the law.
- What can you take from it?
- Comedy is mostly unrestricted except for taste and law.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Should comedy have more rules?
- What is taste in humor?
Another view
Some forms of comedy require strict structural rules to work.
More from James Thurber
Man has gone long enough, or even too long, without being man enough to face the simple truth that the trouble with Man is Man.
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