--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime…" description: "\"Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime of humorless people.\" — Robert Benchley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b36/robert-benchley-2562_humor_defining-and-analyzing-humor-is-a-pastim_1134538.jpg" --- # Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime of humorless… ![“Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime of humorless people.” quote by Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b36/robert-benchley-2562_humor_defining-and-analyzing-humor-is-a-pastim_1134538.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b36/robert-benchley-2562_humor_defining-and-analyzing-humor-is-a-pastim_1134538.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b36/robert-benchley-2562_humor_defining-and-analyzing-humor-is-a-pastim_1134538.jpg) > “Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime of humorless people.” [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Analyzing humor reduces it to a technical exercise, stripping its spontaneity. **In simple terms:** Studying humor can make it less funny. Key Takeaway Enjoy humor without over‑analysis. Themes humor analysis creativity Mood playful thoughtful Type critical inspirational When to use this quote - comedy writing - social interactions - teaching Key Concepts philosophy of art psychology Questions to Reflect On - When does analysis enhance humor? - Can humor be both studied and enjoyed? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis may kill the fun. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Analyzing Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analyzing-humor-3133005/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Humor Pastime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor-pastime-3133006/) [Humorless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humorless-299618/) [Humorless People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humorless-people-3133003/) [Pastime Humorless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pastime-humorless-3133004/) ## Related quotes > [There seems to be no lengths to which humorless people will not go to analyze humor. It seems to worry them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-seems-to-be-no-lengths-to-which-humorless-people-will-not-go-to-2/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [“There seems to be no lengths to which humorless people will not go to analyze humor. It seems to worry them." Robert Benchley (1889-1945)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-seems-to-be-no-lengths-to-which-humorless-people-will-not-go-to/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/analyzing-humor-is-like-dissecting-a-frog-few-people-are-interested/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [“Analyzing humor is like disecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white-2/analyzing-humor-is-like-disecting-a-frog-few-people-are-interested/) [E.B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white-2/) > [Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog: Nobody really enjoys it, and the frog generally dies as a result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/analyzing-humor-is-like-dissecting-a-frog-nobody-really-enjoys-it-and/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The humorless puzzle of inequality and hate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-humorless-puzzle-of-inequality-and-hate/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“This guy was a humorless bag of nothing but.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-ramirez/this-guy-was-a-humorless-bag-of-nothing-but/) [Steven Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-ramirez/) > [Exercise, to qualify at all, must be lonely, painfu, humorless, and boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-holland/exercise-to-qualify-at-all-must-be-lonely-painfu-humorless-and-boring/) [Barbara Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-holland/) > [I find that I'm extremely unattracted to anything that's humorless. There is writing that is entirely serious, and it doesn't ring true to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-king/i-find-that-i-m-extremely-unattracted-to-anything-that-s-humorless/) [Owen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-king/) > [I find it strange that - at least in my take on it - the people who are the most alarmed about the dire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-find-it-strange-that-at-least-in-my-take-on-it-the-people-who-are/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [“Kaz's laugh was low and humorless. "Who'd deny a poor cripple his cane?" "If the cripple is you, then any man with sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/kaz-s-laugh-was-low-and-humorless-who-d-deny-a-poor-cripple-his-cane/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [“No one really gives a ‘who who’ over who says who or whom, except for a few humorless ‘whomorists’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-thirteen/no-one-really-gives-a-who-who-over-who-says-who-or-whom-except-for-a/) [Terence Thirteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-thirteen/) > [The majority of philosophers are totally humorless. That's part of their trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-williams/the-majority-of-philosophers-are-totally-humorless-that-s-part-of/) [Bernard Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-williams/) > [Fight any instinct to be humorless, for humorlessness is the worst of all absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/fight-any-instinct-to-be-humorless-for-humorlessness-is-the-worst-of/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [It is only the dogmatic, and the humorless, that don't succumb to my charm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vermin-supreme/it-is-only-the-dogmatic-and-the-humorless-that-don-t-succumb-to-my/) [Vermin Supreme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vermin-supreme/) ## More by Robert Benchley > [I have often wondered how they manage to get return envelopes which miss, by one-quarter of an inch, fitting the blank you are supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-have-often-wondered-how-they-manage-to-get-return-envelopes-which/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [You might think that after thousands of years of coming up too soon and getting frozen, the crocus family would have had a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/you-might-think-that-after-thousands-of-years-of-coming-up-too-soon/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/it-took-me-fifteen-years-to-discover-i-had-no-talent-for-writing-but/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [But ice-crunching and loud gum-chewing, together with drumming on tables, and whistling the same tune 70 times in succession, because they indicate an indifference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/but-ice-crunching-and-loud-gum-chewing-together-with-drumming-on/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life whichdoes not include…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-naturalistic-literature-of-this-country-has-reached-such-a-state/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [There is no such place as Budapest. Perhaps you are thinking of Bucharest, and there is no such place as Bucharest, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-is-no-such-place-as-budapest-perhaps-you-are-thinking-of/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [I am both a public and a private school boy myself, having always changed schools just as the class in English in the new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-am-both-a-public-and-a-private-school-boy-myself-having-always/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed be doing at that moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/anyone-can-do-any-amount-of-work-provided-it-isn-t-the-work-he-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get out a new book by him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/after-an-author-has-been-dead-for-some-time-it-becomes-increasingly/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [One of the chief duties of the fan is to engage in arguments with the man behind him. This department of the game has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/one-of-the-chief-duties-of-the-fan-is-to-engage-in-arguments-with-the/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who do not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world-those-who-divide-the-world/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/why-don-t-you-get-out-of-that-wet-coat-and-into-a-dry-martini/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with that it's compounding a felony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/drinking-makes-such-fools-of-people-and-people-are-such-fools-to/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Behind every argument is someone's ignorance. Behind every argument is someone's ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/behind-every-argument-is-someone-s-ignorance-behind-every-argument-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) [Explore all 161 Robert Benchley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## More Comedy quotes > ['Mad TV' is one of my most favorite shows of all time and is a huge part of my obsession with sketch comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-dawson/mad-tv-is-one-of-my-most-favorite-shows-of-all-time-and-is-a-huge/) [Shane Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-dawson/) > [You can laugh at me, but I understand show business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-sobchak/you-can-laugh-at-me-but-i-understand-show-business/) [Ksenia Sobchak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-sobchak/) > [Joking about violence is not funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/joking-about-violence-is-not-funny/) [Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/) > [I wouldn't want people to laugh at me. 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This is a gift God gave me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-morgan/i-ve-been-funny-my-whole-life-this-is-a-gift-god-gave-me/) [Tracy Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-morgan/) > [“Laugh and grow strong”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-loyola/laugh-and-grow-strong/) [Ignatius of Loyola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-loyola/) > [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. 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