Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom.

— France, Anatole

Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. From that divine tear and from that human smile is derived the grace of present civilization.

— Hugo, Victor

Irony is a disciplinarian feared only by those who do not know it, but cherished by those who do. He who does not understand irony and has no ear for its whispering lacks of what might called the absolute beginning of the personal life. He lacks what at moments is indispensable for the personal life, lacks both the regeneration and rejuvenation, the cleaning baptism of irony that redeems the soul from having its life in finitude though living boldly and energetically in finitude.

— Kierkegaard, Soren

Sentimental irony is a dog that bays at the moon while pissing on graves.

— Kraus, Karl

Humor brings insight and tolerance. Irony brings a deeper and less friendly understanding.

— Repplier, Agnes

Irony is the form of paradox. Paradox is what is good and great at the same time.

— Schlegel, Friedrich

Irony is jesting behind hidden gravity.

— Weiss, John

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself.

— West, Jessamyn

Irony is an insult conveyed in the form of a compliment.

— Whipple, Edwin P.