#irony

There's a large strain of irony in our human affairs... Interwoven with our affairs is this wonderful spirit of irony which prevents us from ever being utterly and irretrievably serious, from being unaware of the mysterious nature of our existence. ↗

— Malcolm Muggeridge

#mystery #nature

The blessing of the omnivore is that he can eat a great many different things in nature. The curse of the omnivore is that when it comes to figuring out which of those things are safe to eat, he's pretty much on his own. ↗

— Michael Pollan

#nature

The hard core of morality and even of religion seems to me to be just what makes good comedy possible...Where there is no norm, nothing can be ridiculous, except for a brief moment of unbalanced provincialism in which we may laugh at the merely unfamiliar. Unless there is something about which the author is never ironical, there can be no true irony in the work. ↗

— C.S. Lewis

#humor #irony #morality #principles #writing

Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such a way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion for my poor nerves." "You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these last twenty years at least. ↗

— Jane Austen

#hysteria #irony #nerves #sarcasm #respect

That's the difference between irony and sarcasm. Irony can be spontaneous, while sarcasm requires volition. You have to create sarcasm. ↗

— Christopher Moore

#sarcasm #christ

I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea. ↗

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

#individualism #irony #selfishness #tea #hell

If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others. ↗

— Philip K. Dick

#optimism #pessimism #schizophrenia #universe

Irony is Fate's most common figure of speech. ↗

— Trevanian

#figures-of-speech #irony #speech

The man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing," mused the Inspector, "Ha! I have a theory. These flashes come upon me at times... What do you think of this, Holmes? Sholto was, on his own confession, with his brother last night. The brother died in a fit, on which Sholto walked off the treasure! How's that?" "On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside," said Holmes. ↗

— Arthur Conan Doyle

#irony #murder #mystery #sherlock #sherlock-holmes

Irony is just honesty with the volume cranked up. ↗

— George Saunders

#irony #just #up #volume