--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I paraphrase Aristotle: If you want to be…" description: "\"I paraphrase Aristotle: If you want to be comical, write about people to whom the audience can feel superior; if you want to be tragical, write about a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13a/kurt-vonnegut-41_audience_i-paraphrase-aristotle-if-you-want-to-be_1460620.jpg" --- # I paraphrase Aristotle: If you want to be comical, write… ![“I paraphrase Aristotle: If you want to be comical, write about people to whom the audience can feel superior; if you want to be tragical, write about at least one person to whom the audience is bound to feel inferior, and no fair having human problems solved by dumb luck or heavenly intervention.” quote by Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13a/kurt-vonnegut-41_audience_i-paraphrase-aristotle-if-you-want-to-be_1460620.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13a/kurt-vonnegut-41_audience_i-paraphrase-aristotle-if-you-want-to-be_1460620.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13a/kurt-vonnegut-41_audience_i-paraphrase-aristotle-if-you-want-to-be_1460620.jpg) > “I paraphrase Aristotle: If you want to be comical, write about people to whom the audience can feel superior; if you want to be tragical, write about at least one person to whom the audience is bound to feel inferior, and no fair having human problems solved by dumb luck or heavenly intervention.” [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comedy thrives on audience superiority; tragedy on audience empathy for the inferior; both avoid easy resolutions. **In simple terms:** Comedy uses superiority; tragedy uses empathy; avoid simple fixes. Key Takeaway Use audience perspective to shape tone. Themes humor tragedy storytelling Mood analytical creative Type theoretical instructional When to use this quote - writing workshops - script analysis - creative exercises Key Concepts superiority complex empathy narrative structure Questions to Reflect On - How does audience feeling shape your story? - When is superiority effective? A Different Perspective Risk of alienating audiences if misapplied. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle/) [Aristotle Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle-want-5276188/) [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds/) [Comical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comical/) [Comical Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comical-write-5276190/) [Dumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumb/) [Dumb luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumb-luck/) [Fairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairs/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Heavenly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavenly/) [Human problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-problems/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inferiors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferiors/) [Intervention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intervention/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Paraphrase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paraphrase/) [Paraphrase Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paraphrase-aristotle-5276187/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Superiors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superiors/) [Tragical Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragical-write-5276189/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Of course, the Grimnoir thought they were the good guys. 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