„Wenn du den Leuten die Wahrheit sagst, bringst du sie besser zum Lachen. Sonst werden sie dich töten.“
Original
If you're going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they'll kill you.
Credited to Shaw in the lead in to the mockumentary C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004) and other recent works, but this or slight variants of it are also sometimes attributed to W. C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, and Oscar Wilde. It might possibly be derived from Shaw's statement in John Bull's Other Island (1907): "My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world."
Another possibility is that it is derived from Shaw's characteristic of Mark Twain: "He has to put things in such a way as to make people who would otherwise hang him believe he is joking."
Variants:
If you are going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise, they'll kill you.
If you're going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise, they'll kill you.
Disputed
Ähnliche Zitate
„Sag niemals die Wahrheit den Leuten, die es nicht wert sind.“
„Wenn Sie eine Frau zum Lachen bringen, können Sie sie dazu bringen, alles zu tun.“
„Die Leute sagen, dass Satire tot ist. Es ist nicht tot; Sie lebt und lebt im Weißen Haus.“
„Wenn du feststellst, dass die Leute dir nicht die Wahrheit sagen, pass auf!“
Original: (it) Perchè non ci è altro modo a guardarsi dalle adulazioni, se non che gli uomini intendino che non ti offendono a dirti il vero; ma quando ciascuno può dirti il vero, ti manca la riverenza. - Come si debbino fuggire gli adulatori.
Quelle: Der Fürst. 23. Kapitel. Wie man die Schmeichler fliehen müsse.
„Alles ins Gleichgewicht zu bringen ist gut, alles in Harmonie zu bringen ist besser.“