--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a…" description: "\"Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas.\" — Laurence Sterne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/laurence-sterne-1405_amusing_nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-tot_340889.jpg" --- # Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas. ![“Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas.” quote by Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/laurence-sterne-1405_amusing_nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-tot_340889.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/laurence-sterne-1405_amusing_nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-tot_340889.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/laurence-sterne-1405_amusing_nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-tot_340889.jpg) > “Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas.” [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humor arises when ideas shift completely, revealing absurdity. **In simple terms:** A total change of ideas is very funny. Key Takeaway Embrace intellectual flexibility. Themes humor philosophy open‑mindedness Mood playful thoughtful Type witty philosophical When to use this quote - debates - creative brainstorming - learning new subjects - cultural exchange Key Concepts cognitive shift absurdity creativity Questions to Reflect On - What ideas have you recently changed? - How does humor help you accept change? A Different Perspective Humor may mask deeper confusion or lack of conviction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) ## Related quotes > [“I don’t mean little things like, say, what cereal turns out to be your favorite or whether you get into any AP classes or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-coben/i-don-t-mean-little-things-like-say-what-cereal-turns-out-to-be-your/) [Harlan Coben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-coben/) > [I like to be risky every day, changing minds every day. I'm not reliable at all in my ideas. I can change my ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franca-sozzani/i-like-to-be-risky-every-day-changing-minds-every-day-i-m-not/) [Franca Sozzani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franca-sozzani/) > [In order to change the system, we need to change our ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-wolf/in-order-to-change-the-system-we-need-to-change-our-ideas/) [Martin Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-wolf/) > [“We inter-change ideas. You can stay in the United States and inspire people in Indonesia. You can stay in Ghana and inspire people in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/we-inter-change-ideas-you-can-stay-in-the-united-states-and-inspire/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [We cannot change ideas in the minds of men and races with machine guns or battle ships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/we-cannot-change-ideas-in-the-minds-of-men-and-races-with-machine/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [In science the important thing is to modify and change one's ideas as science advances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/in-science-the-important-thing-is-to-modify-and-change-one-s-ideas-as/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [I wanna change my name give me ideas! (:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wanna-change-my-name-give-me-ideas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We change ideas like neckties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/we-change-ideas-like-neckties/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Griefs, at the moment when they change into ideas, lose some of their power to injure our heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/griefs-at-the-moment-when-they-change-into-ideas-lose-some-of-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Your ideas create your fate; you change your ideas, you change your fate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/your-ideas-create-your-fate-you-change-your-ideas-you-change-your-fate/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [When you work hard all day with your head and know you must work again the next day what else can change your ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/when-you-work-hard-all-day-with-your-head-and-know-you-must-work/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/people-of-our-time-are-losing-the-power-of-celebration-instead-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [I was reading Neil Postman's 'Amusing Ourselves to Death'. It's one of my favourites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-faiyaz/i-was-reading-neil-postman-s-amusing-ourselves-to-death-it-s-one-of/) [Brent Faiyaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-faiyaz/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More by Laurence Sterne > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The world is ashamed of being virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-world-is-ashamed-of-being-virtuous/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/digressions-incontestably-are-the-sunshine-they-are-the-life-the-soul/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [A man's body and his mind, with the utmost reverence to both I speak it, are exactly like a jerkin and a jerkin's lining;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/a-man-s-body-and-his-mind-with-the-utmost-reverence-to-both-i-speak/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/when-the-affections-so-kindly-break-loose-joy-is-another-name-for/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Sweet pliability of man's spirit, that can at once surrender itself to illusions, which cheat expectation and sorrow of their weary moments! - long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sweet-pliability-of-man-s-spirit-that-can-at-once-surrender-itself-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Philosophy has a fine saying for everything.-For Death it has an entire set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/philosophy-has-a-fine-saying-for-everything-for-death-it-has-an/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Dear sensibility! Source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! Eternal fountain of our feelings! 'tis here I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/dear-sensibility-source-inexhausted-of-all-that-s-precious-in-our/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best friends in the world may differ sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-friends-in-the-world-may-differ-sometimes/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Beauty has so many charms, one knows not how to speak against it; and when it happens that a graceful figure is the habitation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/beauty-has-so-many-charms-one-knows-not-how-to-speak-against-it-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best hearts are ever the bravest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-hearts-are-ever-the-bravest/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Hail! the small courtesies of life, for smooth do ye make the road of it, like grace and beauty, which beget inclinations to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/hail-the-small-courtesies-of-life-for-smooth-do-ye-make-the-road-of/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [There are a thousand unnoticed openings, continued my father, which let penetrating eye at once into a man's soul; and I maintain it, added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-are-a-thousand-unnoticed-openings-continued-my-father-which-let/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [“Button-holes! there is something lively in the very idea of 'em - and trust me, when I get amongst 'em - you gentry with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/button-holes-there-is-something-lively-in-the-very-idea-of-em-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) [Explore all 244 Laurence Sterne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## More Amusing quotes > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [I was reading Neil Postman's 'Amusing Ourselves to Death'. It's one of my favourites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-faiyaz/i-was-reading-neil-postman-s-amusing-ourselves-to-death-it-s-one-of/) [Brent Faiyaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-faiyaz/) > [People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/people-of-our-time-are-losing-the-power-of-celebration-instead-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [No one survives in times of war unless they make war their home. How did I get so old and wise, but for welcoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/no-one-survives-in-times-of-war-unless-they-make-war-their-home-how/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [Funny things tend not to happen to me. I am not a natural comic. I need to think about things a lot before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-atkinson/funny-things-tend-not-to-happen-to-me-i-am-not-a-natural-comic-i-need/) [Rowan Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-atkinson/) > [ \[A\]n Obama presidency would be an amusing approximation of the Carter administration, complete with vaporous moralizing and foreign policy bungling. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-tyrrell/a-n-obama-presidency-would-be-an-amusing-approximation-of-the-carter/) [Emmett Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-tyrrell/) > [It's amusing how arrogant people can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-amusing-how-arrogant-people-can-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Men are not amusing during the shooting season; but, after all, my dear, men were not especially designed to amuse women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/men-are-not-amusing-during-the-shooting-season-but-after-all-my-dear/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [All men are fools, if truth be told, but the ones in motley are more amusing than ones with crowns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-men-are-fools-if-truth-be-told-but-the-ones-in-motley-are-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [It's always amusing to see how much less the political class knows than the rest of us do. ... it's never occurred to \[the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-d-cox/it-s-always-amusing-to-see-how-much-less-the-political-class-knows/) Stephen D. Cox > [Are there bears in these mountains?" he asked. His companion nodded. "Of course. But it's a bit early in the year for them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/are-there-bears-in-these-mountains-he-asked-his-companion-nodded-of/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [I always find it amusing to overhear women who have never had babies discussing what a pregnant chick should 'look' like at a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catt-sadler/i-always-find-it-amusing-to-overhear-women-who-have-never-had-babies/) [Catt Sadler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catt-sadler/) > [The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coveyou/the-generation-of-random-numbers-is-too-important-to-be-left-to-chance/) Robert Coveyou [Browse all 436 Amusing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laurence Sterne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-total-change-of-ideas/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amusing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-total-change-of-ideas/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/laurence-sterne-1405_amusing_nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-tot_340889.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/laurence-sterne-1405_amusing_nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-tot_340889.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/laurence-sterne-1405_amusing_nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-tot_340889.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas.” — Laurence Sterne", "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": "Laurence Sterne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nothing is so perfectly amusing as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-total-change-of-ideas/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/nothing-is-so-perfectly-amusing-as-a-total-change-of-ideas/#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 } } ] } ```