Peter Barnes

“Behaviour which would be considered insanity in a tradesman is looked on as mild eccentricity in a lord.”

“When I wrote The Ruling Class, I wanted to see a man who was so obviously insane that everybody could see it, except him.”

“I find the world a profoundly comic place. I think it's organized for laughs. It's a joke, a sick joke, but a joke.”

“My plays are entertainment, but I want them to be entertainment that makes you think, that disturbs you.”

“For God's sake, stop that cringing. You're a member of the class="highlight">ruling class. Act like it.”

“Laughter is a way of surviving. It's a way of taking power.”

“How do you know you're God? Simple. When I pray to Him, I find I'm talking to myself.”

“The meek don't inherit the earth, they inherit the dirt.”

“Optimism is a disease.”

“Tragedy is for the very young. For the old, it's a bloody bore.”