--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cynicism is humor in ill health." description: "\"Cynicism is humor in ill health.\" — H. G. Wells" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/h-g-wells-1122_comedy_cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health-3174245_3174245.png" --- # Cynicism is humor in ill health. ![“Cynicism is humor in ill health.” quote by H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/h-g-wells-1122_comedy_cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health-3174245_3174245.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/h-g-wells-1122_comedy_cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health-3174245_3174245.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/h-g-wells-1122_comedy_cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health-3174245_3174245.png) > “Cynicism is humor in ill health.” [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cynicism is a coping mechanism that masks pain with sarcasm. **In simple terms:** Cynicism hides hurt behind jokes. Key Takeaway Recognize humor as a sign of underlying distress. Themes humor pain defense Mood wry cautious Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - stressful work - personal loss - social commentary Key Concepts psychology social critique mental health Questions to Reflect On - When does humor stop protecting and start harming? - Can you express pain without sarcasm? A Different Perspective Cynicism can become toxic if it prevents genuine connection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Cynicism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Ill health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill-health/) [Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimism/) ## Related quotes > [Good-humor will sometimes conquer ill-humor, but ill-humor will conquer it oftener; and for this plain reason, good-humor must operate on generosity, ill-humor on meanness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/good-humor-will-sometimes-conquer-ill-humor-but-ill-humor-will/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Cynicism is the humor of hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-beerbohm-tree/cynicism-is-the-humor-of-hatred/) [Herbert Beerbohm Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-beerbohm-tree/) > [I suppose I miss the British cynicism and the humor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/i-suppose-i-miss-the-british-cynicism-and-the-humor/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [When a living system is suffering from ill health, the remedy is found by connecting with more of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-varela/when-a-living-system-is-suffering-from-ill-health-the-remedy-is-found/) [Francisco Varela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francisco-varela/) > [Unhappiness indicates wrong thinking; just as ill health indicates a bad regimen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bourget/unhappiness-indicates-wrong-thinking-just-as-ill-health-indicates-a/) [Paul Bourget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bourget/) > [I was born in London, England, in 1938, a few months before the war, and spent the first years of my life there, although…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/i-was-born-in-london-england-in-1938-a-few-months-before-the-war-and/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [People who relax by watching TV instead of going out to engage with the world tend to be far less energetic. the benefits of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-miller/people-who-relax-by-watching-tv-instead-of-going-out-to-engage-with/) [Liz Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-miller/) > [We also heard the usual old nonsense that banning hunting would affect employment if we abolished crime we would put all the police out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-widdecombe/we-also-heard-the-usual-old-nonsense-that-banning-hunting-would/) [Ann Widdecombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-widdecombe/) > [In the West, we have become addicted to work. Americans now work the longest hours in the world. And the result is not health,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/in-the-west-we-have-become-addicted-to-work-americans-now-work-the/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [The Caribbean is the region in the Americas worst affected by the epidemic of NCDs. These diseases are responsible for over two- thirds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freundel-stuart/the-caribbean-is-the-region-in-the-americas-worst-affected-by-the/) Freundel Stuart > [If we could make up our minds to spare our friends all details of ill health, of money losses, of domestic annoyances, of altercations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/if-we-could-make-up-our-minds-to-spare-our-friends-all-details-of-ill/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [I suffered most inconvenience from the difficulty of getting news from the civilised world down river, from the irregularity of receipt of letters, parcels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-walter-bates/i-suffered-most-inconvenience-from-the-difficulty-of-getting-news/) [Henry Walter Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-walter-bates/) > [Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/cynicism-masquerades-as-wisdom-but-it-is-the-farthest-thing-from-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [There have been times when a particularly heavy dose of such cynicism has caused me to reflect that surely this is the age and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/there-have-been-times-when-a-particularly-heavy-dose-of-such-cynicism/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-miliband/scepticism-and-cynicism-about-politics-is-so-great-that-one-of-the/) [Ed Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-miliband/) ## More by H. G. Wells > [... life falls into place only with God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/life-falls-into-place-only-with-god/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Fools make researches and wise men exploit them - that is our earthly way of dealing with the question, and we thank Heaven for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/fools-make-researches-and-wise-men-exploit-them-that-is-our-earthly/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The true sweetness of chess, if it ever can be sweet, is to see a victory snatched, by some happy impertinence, out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-true-sweetness-of-chess-if-it-ever-can-be-sweet-is-to-see-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [A priest is a man vowed, trained, and consecrated, a man belonging to a special corps, and necessarily with an intense esprit de corps.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/a-priest-is-a-man-vowed-trained-and-consecrated-a-man-belonging-to-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The man who raises a fist has run out of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-man-who-raises-a-fist-has-run-out-of-ideas/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The choice is: the Universe...or nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-choice-is-the-universe-or-nothing/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [ The crisis \[the Great Depression\] discovered a great man in Franklin Roosevelt...None too soon he has carried America forward to the second stage of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-crisis-the-great-depression-discovered-a-great-man-in-franklin/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Non-violence is the policy of the vegetable kingdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/non-violence-is-the-policy-of-the-vegetable-kingdom/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [For all my desire to be interesting, I have to confess that for most things and people I don't give a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/for-all-my-desire-to-be-interesting-i-have-to-confess-that-for-most/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The Jews looked for a special savior, a messiah, who was to redeem mankind by the agreeable process of restoring the fabulous glories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-jews-looked-for-a-special-savior-a-messiah-who-was-to-redeem/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [“And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers—shrivelled now, and brown and flat and brittle—to witness that even when mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/and-i-have-by-me-for-my-comfort-two-strange-white-flowers-shrivelled/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [ \[A novel by Henry James\] is like a church lit but without a congregation to distract you, with every light and line focused on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/a-novel-by-henry-james-is-like-a-church-lit-but-without-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [In England we have come to rely upon a comfortable time-lag of fifty years or a century intervening between the perception that something ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/in-england-we-have-come-to-rely-upon-a-comfortable-time-lag-of-fifty/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [We must end war before war ends us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/we-must-end-war-before-war-ends-us/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [What good is religion if it collapses under calamity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/what-good-is-religion-if-it-collapses-under-calamity/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) [Explore all 280 H. G. Wells quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) ## More Comedy quotes > ['Mad TV' is one of my most favorite shows of all time and is a huge part of my obsession with sketch comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-dawson/mad-tv-is-one-of-my-most-favorite-shows-of-all-time-and-is-a-huge/) [Shane Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-dawson/) > [You can laugh at me, but I understand show business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-sobchak/you-can-laugh-at-me-but-i-understand-show-business/) [Ksenia Sobchak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-sobchak/) > [Joking about violence is not funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/joking-about-violence-is-not-funny/) [Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/) > [I wouldn't want people to laugh at me. That's why I have to give all that I can, and at least produce something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhao-wei/i-wouldn-t-want-people-to-laugh-at-me-that-s-why-i-have-to-give-all/) [Zhao Wei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhao-wei/) > [“Our world will not die as a result of the bomb, as the papers say, it will die of laughter, of banality, of making a joke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/our-world-will-not-die-as-a-result-of-the-bomb-as-the-papers-say-it/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [I've been funny my whole life. This is a gift God gave me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-morgan/i-ve-been-funny-my-whole-life-this-is-a-gift-god-gave-me/) [Tracy Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-morgan/) > [“Laugh and grow strong”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-loyola/laugh-and-grow-strong/) [Ignatius of Loyola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-loyola/) > [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/) [Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [There's a difference between delivering real funny and just silly funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-rel-howery/there-s-a-difference-between-delivering-real-funny-and-just-silly/) [Lil Rel Howery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-rel-howery/) > [Oh to that corkscrew, the useful tool to unlock the treasure of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-guzaldo/oh-to-that-corkscrew-the-useful-tool-to-unlock-the-treasure-of-wit/) [Andrew Guzaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-guzaldo/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I do love to laugh!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-giudice/i-do-love-to-laugh/) [Teresa Giudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-giudice/) > [I really enjoy making people laugh; I've discovered that's a great technique. That's as powerful as stirring their sorrow, stirring their compassion, because that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-really-enjoy-making-people-laugh-i-ve-discovered-that-s-a-great/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) [Browse all 19,795 Comedy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cynicism is humor in ill health.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. G. Wells" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Comedy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/h-g-wells-1122_comedy_cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health-3174245_3174245.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/h-g-wells-1122_comedy_cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health-3174245_3174245.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/h-g-wells-1122_comedy_cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health-3174245_3174245.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Cynicism is humor in ill health.” — H. G. Wells", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "H. G. Wells", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Cynicism is humor in ill health.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/cynicism-is-humor-in-ill-health/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```