I want to write a book which is the history of comedy. John Cleese More Quotes by John Cleese More Quotes From John Cleese Don't let anyone tell you what you ought to like. John Cleese exquisiteought ...when you collaborate with someone else on something creative, you get to places that you would never get to on your own. The way an idea builds as it careens back and forth between good writers is so unpredictable. Sometimes it depends on people misunderstanding each other, and that's why I don't think there's any such thing as a mistake in the creative process. You never know where it might lead. John Cleese mistakeideasthinking I think it takes a long time, as you get older, to realize just how crazy the world is, just how ridiculous it all is. John Cleese crazylongthinking Muslims, who have a completely different value system, come to the West, then they should accept that there are certain basic values in the West intrinsic to our culture. Just as I wouldn't suggest that any Westerner walk down the streets of Saudi Arabia in a bikini. John Cleese bikinisarabiawest Oh, I could spend my life having this conversation - look - please try to understand before one of us dies John Cleese sarcastictryingfunny You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life's about change. John Cleese sarcasticlifefunny We don't know where we get our ideas from. What we do know is that we do not get them from our laptops. John Cleese laptopsknowsideas Life is a terminal disease, and it is sexually transmitted. John Cleese diseasesexuallylife-is The most creative people have this childlike facility to play. John Cleese creativeplaypeople I'm not sure what's going on in Britain. I don't know what's going on in London. Because London is no longer an English city, and that's how they got the Olympics. I mean, they said, "We're the most cosmopolitan city on Earth," but it doesn't feel English. John Cleese citiesearthmean I think we're all born with a sense of humor. Creativity is another thing though. John Cleese sense-of-humorcreativitythinking We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned. Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. John Cleese creativityhumoroustwo When you do comedy in front of an audience, they are the ones who tell you whether it's funny or not and which bits are funny and which bits need to be fixed. John Cleese fixedcomedyneeds There's nothing good on the television; let's burn a witch. It must have been terribly exciting to live in those times. John Cleese witchexcitingtelevision If you want to know who your friends are, have a major failure. John Cleese who-your-friends-arejailwant Aping urbanity, John Cleese vanityhumanityinsanity When I was in school, I was beaten every 30 minutes. It never did me any harm except for some psychological mal-adjustments and blurred vision. John Cleese visionpsychologicalschool England is a fairly envious little country and it's embodied in the press. They don't like anyone being more distinguished than they are. John Cleese englandlittlescountry The English contribution to world cuisine: the chip. John Cleese sarcasticfunnyworld When people say 'I'm not a prude, but ...' what they mean is 'I am a prude, and ...'. John Cleese prudesmeanpeople
