--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The duty of comedy is to correct men by…" description: "\"The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.\" — Moliere" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/moliere-965_amusing_the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by_954737.png" --- # The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them. ![“The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.” quote by Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/moliere-965_amusing_the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by_954737.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/moliere-965_amusing_the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by_954737.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/moliere-965_amusing_the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by_954737.png) > “The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.” [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comedy should serve a moral purpose, using humor to gently correct people's flaws. **In simple terms:** Comedy can teach by making us laugh at our mistakes. Key Takeaway Use humor to inspire improvement. Themes humor morality social critique Mood witty educational Type theatrical philosophical When to use this quote - theater performances - stand‑up comedy - educational media Key Concepts satire ethical instruction entertainment Questions to Reflect On - Can comedy change deep‑seated beliefs? - When does humor become offensive? A Different Perspective Humor may be dismissed as trivial, reducing its corrective impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Comedy Correct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy-correct-1726463/) [Correct Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/correct-men-1726465/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Duty Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty-comedy-1726464/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Amusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-amusing-750499/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) ## Related quotes > [“Women found old men amusing, I guessed. At my age, I had learned to discern passing amusement from any woman’s true romantic interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-t-night/women-found-old-men-amusing-i-guessed-at-my-age-i-had-learned-to/) [H.T. Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-t-night/) > [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/) > [As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason why anyone should be exempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/as-the-purpose-of-comedy-is-to-correct-the-vices-of-men-i-see-no/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [The object of a comedy is not to correct morals or ridicule the vices of society; no, a comedy should depict the discrepancies between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vissarion-belinsky/the-object-of-a-comedy-is-not-to-correct-morals-or-ridicule-the-vices/) [Vissarion Belinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vissarion-belinsky/) > [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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-d-cox/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [ \[A\]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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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 Moliere > [I might, by chance, write something just as shoddy; But then I wouldn't show it to everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-might-by-chance-write-something-just-as-shoddy-but-then-i-wouldn-t/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Tobacco is the passion of honest men and he who lives without tobacco is not worthy of living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/tobacco-is-the-passion-of-honest-men-and-he-who-lives-without-tobacco/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Cover that bosom that I must not see: souls are wounded by such things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/cover-that-bosom-that-i-must-not-see-souls-are-wounded-by-such-things/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Outside of Paris, there is no hope for the cultured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/outside-of-paris-there-is-no-hope-for-the-cultured/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Even Rome cannot grant us a dispensation from death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/even-rome-cannot-grant-us-a-dispensation-from-death/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Anyone may be an honorable man, and yet write verse badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/anyone-may-be-an-honorable-man-and-yet-write-verse-badly/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [The beautiful eyes of my cash-box.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/the-beautiful-eyes-of-my-cash-box/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [He makes his cook his merit, and the world visits his dinners and not him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/he-makes-his-cook-his-merit-and-the-world-visits-his-dinners-and-not/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Show some mercy to this chair which has stretched out its arms to you for so long; please satisfy its desire to embrace you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/show-some-mercy-to-this-chair-which-has-stretched-out-its-arms-to-you/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [In order to prove a friend to one's guests, frugality must reign in one's meals; and, according to an ancient saying, one must eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/in-order-to-prove-a-friend-to-one-s-guests-frugality-must-reign-in/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [In society one needs a flexible virtue; too much goodness can be blamable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/in-society-one-needs-a-flexible-virtue-too-much-goodness-can-be/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Some of the most famous books are the least worth reading. Their fame was due to their having done something that needed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/some-of-the-most-famous-books-are-the-least-worth-reading-their-fame/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Assassination's the fastest way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/assassination-s-the-fastest-way/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Nothing can be fairer, or more noble, than the holy fervor of true zeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/nothing-can-be-fairer-or-more-noble-than-the-holy-fervor-of-true-zeal/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Words and deeds are far from being one. Much that is talked about is left undone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/words-and-deeds-are-far-from-being-one-much-that-is-talked-about-is/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) [Explore all 291 Moliere quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coveyou/) [Browse all 436 Amusing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Moliere" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by-amusing-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amusing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by-amusing-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/moliere-965_amusing_the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by_954737.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/moliere-965_amusing_the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by_954737.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/moliere-965_amusing_the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by_954737.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.” — Moliere", "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": "Moliere", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The duty of comedy is to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by-amusing-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/the-duty-of-comedy-is-to-correct-men-by-amusing-them/#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 } } ] } ```