Backsides Quote by Roald Dahl
“The fine line between roaring with laughter and crying because it's a disaster is a very, very fine line. You see a chap slip on a banana skin in the street and you roar with laughter when he falls slap on his backside. If in doing so you suddenly see he's broken a leg, you very quickly stop laughing and it's not a joke anymore.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Twits by Roald Dahl, 1980
Humor can quickly turn to tragedy when real pain is involved, showing the fragile boundary between comedy and empathy.
In simple terms: Comedy turns to tragedy when real pain appears.
Key Takeaway
Recognize when humor becomes harmful.
Themes
empathy
humor
boundaries
Mood
reflective
cautious
Type
observational
ethical
When to use this quote
- street mishaps
- public performances
- media satire
- personal jokes
Key Concepts
psychology
social perception
ethics
Questions to Reflect On
- When does laughter become disrespectful?
- How can we balance humor with compassion?
A Different Perspective
Humor may desensitize, making it hard to switch to seriousness.
![“I always resented Tom [Hardy] for turning up on Band Of Brothers and getting the girl — in fact, the only girl in a cast of hundreds of smelly men! I, on the other hand, spent eight months with my face squashed up against someone else’s backside in one sodden trench after another. And it looks as…” quote by Damian Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ee4/damian-lewis-3773_backsides_i-always-resented-tom-hardy-for-turning_42063.jpg)
