--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sun is a joke." description: "\"“The sun is a joke.”\" — Nathanael West" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/nathanael-west-11471_joke_the-sun-is-a-joke-2683989_2683989.png" --- # The sun is a joke. ![“The sun is a joke.” quote by Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/nathanael-west-11471_joke_the-sun-is-a-joke-2683989_2683989.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/nathanael-west-11471_joke_the-sun-is-a-joke-2683989_2683989.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/nathanael-west-11471_joke_the-sun-is-a-joke-2683989_2683989.png) > ““The sun is a joke.”” [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement uses a metaphor to suggest that the sun, a source of light, can be perceived humor absurd or trivial. **In simple terms:** The sun is portrayed as a joke, implying absurdity. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about obvious truths. Themes philosophy metaphor absurdity Mood ironic philosophical Type literary humorous When to use this quote - art criticism - creative writing - daily reflection Key Concepts existential humor perspective shift nature symbolism Questions to Reflect On - Why label something essential as a joke? - What does this reveal about perception? A Different Perspective Humor may downplay seriousness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Joke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joke/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) ## Related quotes > [“The sun is a joke. Oranges can’t titillate their jaded palates. Nothing can ever be violent enough to make taut their slack minds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/the-sun-is-a-joke-oranges-can-t-titillate-their-jaded-palates-nothing/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Compared to the power of the sun, everything else is a joke, including all the wrenches, clockwork, springs and even your steam”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrius-b-tapinas/compared-to-the-power-of-the-sun-everything-else-is-a-joke-including/) Andrius B. Tapinas > [“Perhaps I can make you understand. Let’s start from the beginning. A man is hired to give advice to the readers of a newspaper.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/perhaps-i-can-make-you-understand-let-s-start-from-the-beginning-a/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Caleb fed me better food during my kidnapping than these people. I laugh at my own joke”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/caleb-fed-me-better-food-during-my-kidnapping-than-these-people-i/) [C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/) > [“Well, you better look out. They got a new bureau in the guvamint files. It’s called U.W. Stands for Useless Wimmen. Tha’s secret plans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/well-you-better-look-out-they-got-a-new-bureau-in-the-guvamint-files/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [There were guys in 'The State' who would take one script and rewrite it and rewrite it and rewrite it and fight for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ben-garant/there-were-guys-in-the-state-who-would-take-one-script-and-rewrite-it/) [Robert Ben Garant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ben-garant/) > [Tell me that I misunderstood a joke, but don't tell me that my choice of cravat is wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-niven/tell-me-that-i-misunderstood-a-joke-but-don-t-tell-me-that-my-choice/) [David Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-niven/) > [If there's something tender going on like that, I can't make up a joke and put it on Twitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-beaumont/if-there-s-something-tender-going-on-like-that-i-can-t-make-up-a-joke/) [Lucy Beaumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-beaumont/) > [Westminster is no joke. I took some tough classes there. It prepared me for a tough career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-baldwin/westminster-is-no-joke-i-took-some-tough-classes-there-it-prepared-me/) [Brooke Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-baldwin/) > [I don't like it when I see a racist comedian go up and say, 'What are we gonna do about all these immigrants?' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/i-don-t-like-it-when-i-see-a-racist-comedian-go-up-and-say-what-are/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [We're all basically decent human beings so if 3,000 people are laughing at a joke then it's worth telling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-mack/we-re-all-basically-decent-human-beings-so-if-3-000-people-are/) [Lee Mack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-mack/) > [I don't do plays without jokes anymore. I've retired from those plays. I think it's bad manners to invite people to sit in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nighy/i-don-t-do-plays-without-jokes-anymore-i-ve-retired-from-those-plays/) [Bill Nighy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nighy/) > [I'm always looking at new ways to tell a joke so that it doesn't get stale while working on new jokes every night or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burr/i-m-always-looking-at-new-ways-to-tell-a-joke-so-that-it-doesn-t-get/) [Bill Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burr/) > [Nobody calls me a racist when I do redneck jokes. Jeff Foxworthy can do as many 'You might be a redneck jokes' as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-mencia/nobody-calls-me-a-racist-when-i-do-redneck-jokes-jeff-foxworthy-can/) [Carlos Mencia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-mencia/) > [“You know where you can shove your joke. Just get me a new drink and try not to include and of your STD-laced body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrington/you-know-where-you-can-shove-your-joke-just-get-me-a-new-drink-and/) [Kim Harrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrington/) ## More by Nathanael West > [“Perhaps I can make you understand. Let’s start from the beginning. A man is hired to give advice to the readers of a newspaper.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/perhaps-i-can-make-you-understand-let-s-start-from-the-beginning-a/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion, wrecking the world without rocking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb-a-complicated-bomb-that-would/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [He read it for the same reason an animal tears at a wounded foot: to hurt the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-read-it-for-the-same-reason-an-animal-tears-at-a-wounded-foot-to/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He Sat in the window thinking. Man has a tropism for order. Keys in one pocket, change in the other. Mandolins are tuned G…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-sat-in-the-window-thinking-man-has-a-tropism-for-order-keys-in-one/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on eath. Love all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/love-a-man-even-in-his-sin-for-that-is-the-semblance-of-divine-love/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Prayers for the condemned man will be offered on an adding machine. Numbers constitute the only universal language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/prayers-for-the-condemned-man-will-be-offered-on-an-adding-machine/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Her sureness was based on the power to limit experience arbitrarily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/her-sureness-was-based-on-the-power-to-limit-experience-arbitrarily/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“But now let us consider the holes in our own bodies and into what these congenital wounds open. Under the skin of man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/but-now-let-us-consider-the-holes-in-our-own-bodies-and-into-what/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [You once said to me that I talk like a man in a book. I not only talk, but think and feel like one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/you-once-said-to-me-that-i-talk-like-a-man-in-a-book-i-not-only-talk/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Art Is One if Life's Richest Offerings. For those who have not the talent to create, there is appreciation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/art-is-one-if-life-s-richest-offerings-for-those-who-have-not-the/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He's an escapist. He wants to cultivate his interior garden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-s-an-escapist-he-wants-to-cultivate-his-interior-garden/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“His mouth formed an O with lips torn angry in laying duck's eggs from a chicken's rectum.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/his-mouth-formed-an-o-with-lips-torn-angry-in-laying-duck-s-eggs-from/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Only those who still have hope can benefit from tears. When they finish, they feel better. But to those without hope, whose anguish is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/only-those-who-still-have-hope-can-benefit-from-tears-when-they/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [At college, and perhaps for a year afterwards, they had believed in literature, had believed in Beauty and in personal expression as an absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/at-college-and-perhaps-for-a-year-afterwards-they-had-believed-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“It was very sad under the trees. Although spring was well advanced, in the deep shade there was nothing but death-rotten leaves, gray and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/it-was-very-sad-under-the-trees-although-spring-was-well-advanced-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) [Explore all 58 Nathanael West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## More Joke quotes > [“You know where you can shove your joke. Just get me a new drink and try not to include and of your STD-laced body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrington/you-know-where-you-can-shove-your-joke-just-get-me-a-new-drink-and/) [Kim Harrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrington/) > [Nobody calls me a racist when I do redneck jokes. Jeff Foxworthy can do as many 'You might be a redneck jokes' as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-mencia/nobody-calls-me-a-racist-when-i-do-redneck-jokes-jeff-foxworthy-can/) [Carlos Mencia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-mencia/) > [I'm always looking at new ways to tell a joke so that it doesn't get stale while working on new jokes every night or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burr/i-m-always-looking-at-new-ways-to-tell-a-joke-so-that-it-doesn-t-get/) [Bill Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burr/) > [I don't do plays without jokes anymore. I've retired from those plays. I think it's bad manners to invite people to sit in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nighy/i-don-t-do-plays-without-jokes-anymore-i-ve-retired-from-those-plays/) [Bill Nighy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nighy/) > [We're all basically decent human beings so if 3,000 people are laughing at a joke then it's worth telling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-mack/we-re-all-basically-decent-human-beings-so-if-3-000-people-are/) [Lee Mack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-mack/) > [I don't like it when I see a racist comedian go up and say, 'What are we gonna do about all these immigrants?' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/i-don-t-like-it-when-i-see-a-racist-comedian-go-up-and-say-what-are/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [Westminster is no joke. I took some tough classes there. It prepared me for a tough career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-baldwin/westminster-is-no-joke-i-took-some-tough-classes-there-it-prepared-me/) [Brooke Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-baldwin/) > [If there's something tender going on like that, I can't make up a joke and put it on Twitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-beaumont/if-there-s-something-tender-going-on-like-that-i-can-t-make-up-a-joke/) [Lucy Beaumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-beaumont/) > [Tell me that I misunderstood a joke, but don't tell me that my choice of cravat is wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-niven/tell-me-that-i-misunderstood-a-joke-but-don-t-tell-me-that-my-choice/) [David Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-niven/) > [There were guys in 'The State' who would take one script and rewrite it and rewrite it and rewrite it and fight for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ben-garant/there-were-guys-in-the-state-who-would-take-one-script-and-rewrite-it/) [Robert Ben Garant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ben-garant/) > [“Well, you better look out. They got a new bureau in the guvamint files. It’s called U.W. Stands for Useless Wimmen. Tha’s secret plans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/well-you-better-look-out-they-got-a-new-bureau-in-the-guvamint-files/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“Caleb fed me better food during my kidnapping than these people. I laugh at my own joke”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/caleb-fed-me-better-food-during-my-kidnapping-than-these-people-i/) [C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/) > [I remember I would always joke among my friends about a remake of 'Point Break'. I would say, 'You know what? Whenever there's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-ramirez/i-remember-i-would-always-joke-among-my-friends-about-a-remake-of/) [Edgar Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-ramirez/) > [The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling. Every word has to count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-joke-is-the-purest-most-essential-form-of-storytelling-every-word/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“Perhaps I can make you understand. Let’s start from the beginning. A man is hired to give advice to the readers of a newspaper.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/perhaps-i-can-make-you-understand-let-s-start-from-the-beginning-a/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) [Browse all 2,321 Joke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joke/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The sun is a joke.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathanael West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/the-sun-is-a-joke/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Joke" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/the-sun-is-a-joke/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/nathanael-west-11471_joke_the-sun-is-a-joke-2683989_2683989.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/nathanael-west-11471_joke_the-sun-is-a-joke-2683989_2683989.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/nathanael-west-11471_joke_the-sun-is-a-joke-2683989_2683989.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The sun is a joke.” — Nathanael West", "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": "Nathanael West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The sun is a joke.”", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/the-sun-is-a-joke/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/the-sun-is-a-joke/#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 } } ] } ```