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About this quote

What does it mean?
Irony in lower classes signals rising social awareness that may turn political.
In plain terms
Joking around shows poor people are waking up to their power.
What can you take from it?
Watch for humor as a sign of social change.

Where it applies

  • revolution
  • protests
  • cultural analysis

Putting it to work

  • writing
  • speaking
  • journalism

Questions to consider

  • What signals social change in your area?
  • Is humor a form of protest?

Another view

Irony does not always lead to political action.

More from Tom Stoppard

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  2. Tzara: Causality is no longer fashionable owing to the war. Carr: How illogical, since the war itself had causes. I forget what they were, but it was all in th…

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  3. Language is a finite instrument crudely applied to an infinity of ideas, and one consequence of the failure to take account of this is that modern philosophy h…

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