“For, though the subject deals with a serious problem of the hour, it can be treated, and is treated, with a very permissible humour that just stops short of farce.” A working rule for joking about grave public matters · Theatre notice, Punch, 16 December 1914 Humour Moderation Theatre
“To the authors, many of them my friends, whose methods I have here attempted to imitate.” A parodist's courtesy to the writers he mimics · Dedication, Borrowed Plumes Authors Friendship Satire
“I understand, on good authority, that the tendency of the public at this juncture of the War is to demand light refreshment. Well, they have it here.” Wartime taste for amusement treated without apology · Theatre notice, Punch, 16 December 1914 Humour Theatre War
“I should indeed be ungrateful if after an entertainment so smoothly and dexterously administered I were to be captious about origins or other matters of pedantry.” A critic declining to nitpick a well-made evening's work · Theatre notice, Punch, 16 December 1914 Courtesy Criticism Theatre
“A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely.” A wry reflection on how timing can make unwelcome realism seem like pessimism; the attribution is commonly reported but the original source is unclear. · Quotation attributed to Owen Seaman Pessimism Timing Truth
