stand-up comedian & social critic (1925-1966)
I won't say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like: What I'm Going to be If I Grow Up.
LENNY BRUCE
New York Times, November 23, 1975
A lot of people say to me, 'Why did you kill Christ?' I dunno, it was one of those parties, got out of hand, you know.
LENNY BRUCE
New York Times, November 23, 1975
Every day, people are straying away from the church and going back to God.
LENNY BRUCE
The Essential Lenny Bruce
There is only what is and that's it. What should be is a dirty lie.
LENNY BRUCE
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
In the Halls of Justice, the only justice is in the halls.
LENNY BRUCE
"The comedy master turned martyr"
Life is a four-letter word.
LENNY BRUCE
"The comedy master turned martyr"
The liberals can understand everything but people who don't understand them.
LENNY BRUCE
"Politics", The Essential Lenny Bruce
The only honest art form is laughter.
LENNY BRUCE
The Essential Lenny Bruce
The reason there's so much ignorance is that those who have it are so eager to share it.
LENNY BRUCE
New York Times, November 23, 1975
If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses.
LENNY BRUCE
New York Times, November 23, 1975
The whole motivation for any performer is "Look at me, Ma."
LENNY BRUCE
attributed, The Harper Book of Quotations
Satire is tragedy plus time. You give it enough time, the public, the reviewers will allow you to satirize it. Which is rather ridiculous, when you think about it.
LENNY BRUCE
The Essential Lenny Bruce
I was not born in a vacuum. Every thought I have belongs to someone else.
LENNY BRUCE
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
I guess what happens is, if you get arrested in Town A (Philadelphia) and then Town B (San Francisco)--with a lot of publicity--then when you get to Town C they have to arrest you or what kind of sh*thouse town are they running?
LENNY BRUCE
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
The role of a comedian is to make the audience laugh, at a minimum of once every fifteen seconds.
LENNY BRUCE
attributed, Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth
Nobody can offend you by telling a dirty toilet story. They can offend you because it's trite; you've heard it many, many times.
LENNY BRUCE
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
All my humor is based upon destruction and despair. If the whole world were tranquil, without disease and violence, I'd be standing on the breadline right in back of J. Edgar Hoover.
LENNY BRUCE
New York Times, November 23, 1975
If I get busted in New York, the freest city in the world, that will be the end of my career.
LENNY BRUCE
"New York pardons late Lenny Bruce"
There's a thin line between to laugh with and to laugh at.
LENNY BRUCE
Ladies and Gentlemen, Lenny Bruce