Amusing Quote by Leo Tolstoy
““Nothing's amusing that isn't spiteful.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Anna Karenina, 1877
Sarcastic observation that humor often stems from malice rather than innocence
In simple terms: Only spiteful things are amusing
Key Takeaway
Beware of humor’s dark roots
Themes
humor
spite
morality
Mood
wry
critical
Type
literary
observational
When to use this quote
- social interactions
- media consumption
- political satire
- personal relationships
Key Concepts
ethics
literary criticism
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- When does humor cross into cruelty?
- How to foster genuinely kind humor?
A Different Perspective
May ignore benign humor sources
![“[A]n Obama presidency would be an amusing approximation of the Carter administration, complete with vaporous moralizing and foreign policy bungling.” quote by Emmett Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/212/emmett-tyrrell-42438_administration_a-n-obama-presidency-would-be-an-amusing_38310.jpg)
![“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 likes of Senators Brownback and Obama] that they bear a worse stigma than any AIDS patient, being almost universally regarded as blowhards, crooks, dopes, and fools.” quote by Stephen D. Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fd1/stephen-d-cox-91414_aids_it-s-always-amusing-to-see-how-much-less_62268.jpg)