Mark Twain — "The human race is a joke. We are the only beings on this planet that have develo…"
The human race is a joke. We are the only beings on this planet that have developed a sense of humor, and yet we are the only ones who take ourselves seriously.
— Mark Twain
Modern
· Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, humorist
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time. * Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
American humorist and inventor of the American vernacular novel; author of Huckleberry Finn (1884) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Closely associated with
William Dean Howells (his close friend, editor, and 'Dean of American Letters') and Bret Harte (early collaborator on Western frontier humor).
For an intellectual contrast, see
Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science movement — Twain's Christian Science (1907) is a 200-page sustained polemic against Eddy's claims of supernatural healing — the longest sustained attack of his career.
Details
Attributed, common humorous quote, likely a paraphrase or adaptation of his style.