--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Jokes are great capsules of information…" description: "\"Jokes are great capsules of information. I think they should never be censored. They often are offensive - and we're offended by different things - but..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b7/lynne-tillman-5609_ambivalence_jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information_1836962.png" --- # Jokes are great capsules of information. I think they… ![“Jokes are great capsules of information. I think they should never be censored. They often are offensive - and we're offended by different things - but I believe deeply in what Freud wrote of their relationship to the unconscious, which is that jokes come to help us. We laugh so as to dispense…” quote by Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b7/lynne-tillman-5609_ambivalence_jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information_1836962.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b7/lynne-tillman-5609_ambivalence_jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information_1836962.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b7/lynne-tillman-5609_ambivalence_jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information_1836962.png) > “Jokes are great capsules of information. I think they should never be censored. They often are offensive - and we're offended by different things - but I believe deeply in what Freud wrote of their relationship to the unconscious, which is that jokes come to help us. We laugh so as to dispense with, or to express, some ambivalence or discomfort with the things around us. That's what laughing is: a release.” [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Jokes function as a psychological release, exposing hidden tensions and helping individuals process discomfort. **In simple terms:** Humor releases hidden anxieties. Key Takeaway Use jokes to explore uncomfortable topics. Themes psychology humor unconscious expression release Mood thoughtful insightful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - stand‑up comedy - online memes Key Concepts Freudian theory cognitive dissonance social critique Questions to Reflect On - How do jokes reveal societal anxieties? - When does humor become harmful? A Different Perspective Censorship may stifle valuable social commentary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambivalence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Jokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jokes/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I go through fan mail myself, but I think I might get them censored, because I'm always expecting to get the one thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/i-go-through-fan-mail-myself-but-i-think-i-might-get-them-censored/) [Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/) > [A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-difference-of-taste-in-jokes-is-a-great-strain-on-the-affections/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Leo. Jason said, you're wierd. Yeah, you tell me that a lot. Leo grinned. But if you don't remember me, that means I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/leo-jason-said-you-re-wierd-yeah-you-tell-me-that-a-lot-leo-grinned/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [The jokes are great but what really matters for a comedian is his performance, his whole attitude, and the laughs that he gets between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-dee/the-jokes-are-great-but-what-really-matters-for-a-comedian-is-his/) [Jack Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-dee/) > [Different taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/different-taste-in-jokes-is-a-great-strain-on-the-affections/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [My background is part of my comedy. Your experiences are where the jokes come from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-murphy/my-background-is-part-of-my-comedy-your-experiences-are-where-the/) [Charlie Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-murphy/) > [When you put yourself in environments that continually test you, that's where all the good stories come from. That's where the jokes come from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/when-you-put-yourself-in-environments-that-continually-test-you-that/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Being able to write jokes is great, but you still have to get used to performing them and being on stage - and enjoying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-brennan/being-able-to-write-jokes-is-great-but-you-still-have-to-get-used-to/) [Neal Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-brennan/) > [With the wacky jokes that we do on 'Great News,' you do overall still want to be coming from a place of truth with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/briga-heelan/with-the-wacky-jokes-that-we-do-on-great-news-you-do-overall-still/) [Briga Heelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/briga-heelan/) > [With comedy, the jokes will come out, and people will see them coming. Changes in daily life or current events can change the consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lopez/with-comedy-the-jokes-will-come-out-and-people-will-see-them-coming/) [Robert Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lopez/) > [I love jokes that come out of nowhere. The ones where people look at the screen and go, 'What the Hell was that.' As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-covert/i-love-jokes-that-come-out-of-nowhere-the-ones-where-people-look-at/) [Allen Covert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-covert/) > [Only one thing I expect from all of you: to be yourself, to discover your inner beauty, your purity of consciousness, your hidden splendor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/only-one-thing-i-expect-from-all-of-you-to-be-yourself-to-discover/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Every girl needs a bestfriend to help her laugh when she thinks she'll never smile again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassie-ventura/every-girl-needs-a-bestfriend-to-help-her-laugh-when-she-thinks-she/) [Cassie Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassie-ventura/) > [Every girl needs that special boy who can help her laugh when she thinks she'll never smile again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarjeet-das/every-girl-needs-that-special-boy-who-can-help-her-laugh-when-she/) [Amarjeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amarjeet-das/) > [Every girl need a best friend to help her laugh when she thinks she'll never smile again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-girl-need-a-best-friend-to-help-her-laugh-when-she-thinks-she/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Lynne Tillman > [There may be an art to conversation, and some are better at it than others, but conversation's virtue lies in randomness and possibility: people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/there-may-be-an-art-to-conversation-and-some-are-better-at-it-than/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I'd studied English literature and American history, but the English literature, which I thought was going to be helpful to me in an immediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-d-studied-english-literature-and-american-history-but-the-english/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I subject my sentences and the words to a kind of Grand Inquisition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-subject-my-sentences-and-the-words-to-a-kind-of-grand-inquisition/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [Laughing and crying are very similar. Sometimes people go from laughing to crying, or crying to laughing. I remember being at someone's wedding and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/laughing-and-crying-are-very-similar-sometimes-people-go-from/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [ \[Reality\] isn't simply the so-called world that you're in. Your reality is a much larger one that takes in all matter of identification and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/reality-isn-t-simply-the-so-called-world-that-you-re-in-your-reality/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I write about what I'm thinking about. I write about what is bothering me or what is a political, aesthetic, or ethical issue or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-write-about-what-i-m-thinking-about-i-write-about-what-is-bothering/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [My friends and I sometimes laugh at each other that there is so much maintenance of a body. I paid no attention when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/my-friends-and-i-sometimes-laugh-at-each-other-that-there-is-so-much/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I'm interested in reality but I'm not interested in realism at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-m-interested-in-reality-but-i-m-not-interested-in-realism-at-all/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [In a practical sense, pain kept me from sitting down as much, so that sometimes I would have to stand to write. Not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/in-a-practical-sense-pain-kept-me-from-sitting-down-as-much-so-that/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I'm bothered, as a reader, when I feel the writer is filling in too much. Again, whether it's nonfiction or fiction, I think writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-m-bothered-as-a-reader-when-i-feel-the-writer-is-filling-in-too/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [It wasn't that I wanted to be an artist. But when I took my first drawing class with the painter Doug Ohlson, I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/it-wasn-t-that-i-wanted-to-be-an-artist-but-when-i-took-my-first/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I'm interested in reality but I'm not interested in realism at all. I'm interested in the ways that I think people want to relate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-m-interested-in-reality-but-i-m-not-interested-in-realism-at-all-i/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [It's true you have to screen out a lot living in the city. I stayed away from New York for a long time after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/it-s-true-you-have-to-screen-out-a-lot-living-in-the-city-i-stayed/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [Kafka wrote the great line: "my education has damaged me in ways I do not even know." And that's always been a signature motto…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/kafka-wrote-the-great-line-my-education-has-damaged-me-in-ways-i-do/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [There are lots of unlikable characters in literature. It doesn't mean they're not fascinating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/there-are-lots-of-unlikable-characters-in-literature-it-doesn-t-mean/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) [Explore all 100 Lynne Tillman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) ## More Ambivalence quotes > [The less obvious hurdle is that of preparing parents emotionally and putting forward realistic images of parenthood and motherhood. There also needs to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-valenti/the-less-obvious-hurdle-is-that-of-preparing-parents-emotionally-and/) [Jessica Valenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-valenti/) > [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/) Echo and the Bunnymen > [The base of artistic pursuit is ambivalence and complexity. And that's what I try to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-perez/the-base-of-artistic-pursuit-is-ambivalence-and-complexity-and-that-s/) [Fernando Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-perez/) > [We British play an important role in Europe, even if we have a traditional and historical ambivalence towards the continent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-barber/we-british-play-an-important-role-in-europe-even-if-we-have-a/) [Lionel Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-barber/) > [“Raising a child is the very definition of ambivalence. I am overwhelmed at times by how something can simultaneously be so awful and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/raising-a-child-is-the-very-definition-of-ambivalence-i-am/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [We don't do ambivalence well in America. We do courage of our convictions. We do might makes right. Ambivalence is French. Certainty is American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/we-don-t-do-ambivalence-well-in-america-we-do-courage-of-our/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“The problem is that when you’re not fighting for survival, it’s easy to stop making decisions and fall into the trap of thinking you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-ryder-howe/the-problem-is-that-when-you-re-not-fighting-for-survival-it-s-easy/) Ben Ryder Howe > ['The Simpsons' is about alienation and the ambivalence of living with a family who you love but who drive you completely crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/the-simpsons-is-about-alienation-and-the-ambivalence-of-living-with-a/) [Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/) > [I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don't know that abortion is killing. So any pretense that abortion is not killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-wattleton/i-think-we-have-deluded-ourselves-into-believing-that-people-don-t/) [Faye Wattleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-wattleton/) > [Prudence is not hesitation, procrastination, or moderation. It is not driving in the middle of the road. It is not the way of ambivalence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/prudence-is-not-hesitation-procrastination-or-moderation-it-is-not/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [From the beginning, there have been some religious leaders who greeted the funding of faith-based social services by government with ambivalence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/from-the-beginning-there-have-been-some-religious-leaders-who-greeted/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [Real love, the kind you have with a person, must go through ambivalence.There is simply no way around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kumar-anupam/real-love-the-kind-you-have-with-a-person-must-go-through-ambivalence/) [Kumar Anupam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kumar-anupam/) > [My children cause me the most exquisite suffering of which I have any experience. It is the suffering of ambivalence: the murderous alternation between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/my-children-cause-me-the-most-exquisite-suffering-of-which-i-have-any/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Life had this unmoored quality, full of voids and barely acknowledged yearnings, and if I'd made a list of things I wanted desperately at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/life-had-this-unmoored-quality-full-of-voids-and-barely-acknowledged/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Horizontality is a desire to give up, to sleep. Verticality is an attempt to escape. Hanging and floating are states of ambivalence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/horizontality-is-a-desire-to-give-up-to-sleep-verticality-is-an/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) [Browse all 121 Ambivalence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Jokes are great capsules of information. I think they should never be censored. They often are offensive - and we're offended by different things - but I believe deeply in what Freud wrote of their relationship to the unconscious, which is that jokes come to help us. We laugh so as to dispense with, or to express, some ambivalence or discomfort with the things around us. That's what laughing is: a release.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lynne Tillman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information-i-think-they-should-never-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambivalence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information-i-think-they-should-never-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b7/lynne-tillman-5609_ambivalence_jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information_1836962.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b7/lynne-tillman-5609_ambivalence_jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information_1836962.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b7/lynne-tillman-5609_ambivalence_jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information_1836962.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Jokes are great capsules of information. I think they should never be censored. They often are offensive…” — Lynne Tillman", "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": "Lynne Tillman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Jokes are great capsules of information....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information-i-think-they-should-never-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/jokes-are-great-capsules-of-information-i-think-they-should-never-be/#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 } } ] } ```