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Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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On the awarding of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger, and Lê Ðức Thọ; one of his most quoted quips, it is often mentioned in articles and interviews, including "Stop clapping, this is serious" in Sydney Morning Herald (1 March 2003)

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More quotes by Tom Lehrer

Alas, irreverence has been subsumed by mere grossness, at least in the so-called mass media.

Irreverence is easy — what's hard is wit.

I feel that if a person can't communicate, the very least he can do is to shut up.

That Was the Year That Was (1965)

Last December 13th, there appeared in the newspapers the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read.

That Was the Year That Was (1965)

It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.

That Was the Year That Was (1965)

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Wit's an unruly engine, wildly striking
Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer.

George Herbert The Temple (1633)

A tragedy can never suffer by delay: a comedy may, because the allusions or the manners represented in it maybe temporary.

Horace Walpole

The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel– a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept.

Horace Walpole

Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.

Karl Barth The Harper Book of Quotations (1993)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Tom Lehrer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.