Tom Lehrer Quotes

If after hearing my songs just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend or perhaps to strike a loved one it will all have been worth the while.

~ Tom Lehrer

I don’t think this kind of thing [satire] has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It’s not even preaching to the converted; it’s titillating the converted. I think the people who say we need satire often mean, ‘We need satire of them, not of us.’ I’m fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin cabarets of the ’30s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War.

~ Tom Lehrer

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

~ Tom Lehrer

I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky.In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:Plagiarize!Plagiarize!Let no one else's work evade your eyes!Remember why the good Lord made your eyes!So don't shade your eyes,But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -Only be sure always to call it please 'resea

~ Tom Lehrer

It's a sobering thought: When Mozart was my age he had been dead for two years.

~ Tom Lehrer

It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age he had been dead for two years.

~ Tom Lehrer

Laughter is involuntary. If it's funny you laugh.

~ Tom Lehrer

My last public performance for money was in 1967. For free, it was 1972, with the exception of two little one-shot, one-song things. But that's just for friends, out of friendship for the people involved, and also because it was fun.

~ Tom Lehrer

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

~ Tom Lehrer

Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize.

~ Tom Lehrer