--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are two insults which no human…" description: "\"There are two insults which no human being will endure: The assertion that he hasn't a sense of humor, and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/sinclair-lewis-1945_comedy_there-are-two-insults-which-no-human-bei_478653.png" --- # There are two insults which no human being will endure… ![“There are two insults which no human being will endure: The assertion that he hasn't a sense of humor, and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has never known trouble.” quote by Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/sinclair-lewis-1945_comedy_there-are-two-insults-which-no-human-bei_478653.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/sinclair-lewis-1945_comedy_there-are-two-insults-which-no-human-bei_478653.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/sinclair-lewis-1945_comedy_there-are-two-insults-which-no-human-bei_478653.png) > “There are two insults which no human being will endure: The assertion that he hasn't a sense of humor, and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has never known trouble.” [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Two intolerable insults are lacking humor and never having trouble. **In simple terms:** Insults: no humor, never troubled. Key Takeaway Value humor and experience as human traits. Themes humor trouble humanity insult identity Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - social interactions - conflict resolution - personal reflection - mental health Key Concepts social perception emotional resilience personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What does humor reveal about you? - Can trouble be a sign of growth? A Different Perspective Insults may overlook deeper complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Endure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endure/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Humor Doubly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor-doubly-4119737/) [Impertinent Assertion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impertinent-assertion-4119738/) [Insult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insult/) [Insults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insults/) [Insults Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insults-human-2187367/) [Sense of humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-humor/) [Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) ## Related quotes > [There are two insults no human being will endure: that he has no sense of humor, and that he has never known trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/there-are-two-insults-no-human-being-will-endure-that-he-has-no-sense/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [In order for you to insult me, I would first have to value your opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orebela-gbenga/in-order-for-you-to-insult-me-i-would-first-have-to-value-your-opinion/) [Orebela Gbenga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orebela-gbenga/) > [I don't want to get into some sort of back-and-forth on insults because that just drags everybody down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-don-t-want-to-get-into-some-sort-of-back-and-forth-on-insults/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Insults can REALLY break a person because it creates a bruise in the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rishika-joshi/insults-can-really-break-a-person-because-it-creates-a-bruise-in-the/) [Rishika Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rishika-joshi/) > [The way to procure insults is to submit to them. A man meets with no more respect than he exacts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-way-to-procure-insults-is-to-submit-to-them-a-man-meets-with-no/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“Majority of people prefer a good name to a bad name, but to me, anyone can call me anything, as long as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/majority-of-people-prefer-a-good-name-to-a-bad-name-but-to-me-anyone/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [No matter how valuable you are and your ideas, fools will certainly play both of you down, so exclude yourselves from the inflammatory environs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/no-matter-how-valuable-you-are-and-your-ideas-fools-will-certainly/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Thou whoreson zed! Thou unnecessary letter! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-whoreson-zed-thou-unnecessary-letter-my-lord-if-you-will-give-me/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you speak insults you will hear them also.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/if-you-speak-insults-you-will-hear-them-also/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Anyone who starts a sentence With all due respect...is about to insult you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anyone-who-starts-a-sentence-with-all-due-respect-is-about-to-insult/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Criticism is pointing the raw truth on how someone can make change or improve for the better. While an insult is using the negative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fairy-thale/criticism-is-pointing-the-raw-truth-on-how-someone-can-make-change-or/) [Fairy\_thale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fairy-thale/) > [It takes a million compliments to build you up, but one insult to send it all crashing down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-a-million-compliments-to-build-you-up-but-one-insult-to-send/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Having no applicable skills, in any possible area whatsoever, effectively makes me the master of redundancy. But that info is obsolete, like my insults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/having-no-applicable-skills-in-any-possible-area-whatsoever/) [Will Advise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-advise/) > [No one seems to have learned, or can remember, the magic words that calm people when they are frightened or threatened: "I'm sorry; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-tavris/no-one-seems-to-have-learned-or-can-remember-the-magic-words-that/) [Carol Tavris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-tavris/) > [If you take the the insults of your fellow human beings personally, you will be offended for the rest of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/if-you-take-the-the-insults-of-your-fellow-human-beings-personally/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) ## More by Sinclair Lewis > [“She found beauty in the children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-found-beauty-in-the-children/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [What is Love? Listen! It is the rainbow that stands out, in all its glorious many-colored hues, illuminating and making glad again the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/what-is-love-listen-it-is-the-rainbow-that-stands-out-in-all-its/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [When you think that most of us are doomed by divine grace to roast in hell, to say nothing of mortgages and hail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/when-you-think-that-most-of-us-are-doomed-by-divine-grace-to-roast-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“He had expected that traditionally Republican Vermont would give him too drearily easy a task in preaching Trowbridge. 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'What?' flatly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-continued-it-to-hugh-darling-do-you-know-what-mother-and-you-are/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Is it possible that nobody has ever known that there never has been a completely civilized man, and won't be for another thousand years?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/is-it-possible-that-nobody-has-ever-known-that-there-never-has-been-a/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“I think perhaps we want a more conscientious life. We're tired of drudging and sleeping and dying. We're tired of always deferring hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/i-think-perhaps-we-want-a-more-conscientious-life-we-re-tired-of/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [It might be the doing of Satan, in whom Aaron anxiously believed with all of his being except, perhaps, his mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/it-might-be-the-doing-of-satan-in-whom-aaron-anxiously-believed-with/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The author says one character's definition of a classic is any book he'd heard of before he was thirty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-author-says-one-character-s-definition-of-a-classic-is-any-book/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Like all males, he hated to confess ignorance by asking directions,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/like-all-males-he-hated-to-confess-ignorance-by-asking-directions/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/winter-is-not-a-season-it-s-an-occupation/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Author sees the "congested idealism" of the generally discontent as reservoir that will support centralized power even while disagreeing with many specific provisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/author-sees-the-congested-idealism-of-the-generally-discontent-as/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The poor we have always with us, and the purpose of the Lord in providing the poor is to enable us of the better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-poor-we-have-always-with-us-and-the-purpose-of-the-lord-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) [Explore all 196 Sinclair Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## 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. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/) [Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [There's a difference between delivering real funny and just silly funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-rel-howery/there-s-a-difference-between-delivering-real-funny-and-just-silly/) [Lil Rel Howery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-rel-howery/) > [Oh to that corkscrew, the useful tool to unlock the treasure of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-guzaldo/oh-to-that-corkscrew-the-useful-tool-to-unlock-the-treasure-of-wit/) [Andrew Guzaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-guzaldo/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I do love to laugh!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-giudice/i-do-love-to-laugh/) [Teresa Giudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-giudice/) > [I really enjoy making people laugh; I've discovered that's a great technique. 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