100+ Stephen Fry Quotes From The British National Treasure

Stephen Fry is a famous English artist known for entertaining people with his sense of humor.

Stephen Fry was born in London on 24 August 1957. He studied English Literature at Queen's College, Cambridge, and met his future collaborator Hugh Laurie.

Both of them started working on student plays and worked on their TV series on the BBC. Stephen Fry donned many hats as a screenwriter, actor, director, show host in TV and films.

Besides working on screen, he also wrote many novels and contributed to many magazines and newspapers. Last but not least, he lent his voice to 'Harry Potter' audio series and many other animation works.

Stephen Fry has published many best-selling books like 'The Liar,' 'Mythos,' 'The Fry Chronicles,' 'Troy', and many more.

Take a look at the famous Stephen Fry quotes below. If you are interested in more similar quotes, then also read [comedian quotes] and [Jimmy Fallon quotes].

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Best Stephen Fry Quotes

Stephen Fry is a multi-talented entertainer.  The Broadcast magazine has termed him as a National treasure. Below are some impressive Stephen Fry quotes.

1."Seriousness is no more a guarantee of truth, insight, authenticity, or probity than humor is a guarantee of superficiality and stupidity."

-Stephen Fry.

2."I am a lover of truth, a worshiper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance."

-Stephen Fry.

3."Christmas to a child is the first terrible proof that to travel hopefully is better than to arrive."

-Stephen Fry.

4."Atheism comes into rather a bad press and I suppose I'd rather describe myself as a humanist. I don't believe in God."

-Stephen Fry.

5."It is a cliche that most cliches are true, but then like most cliches, that cliche is untrue."

-Stephen Fry.

6." Read it wisely, Little One, for the power of ignorance, is great."

-Stephen Fry.

7."My first meeting with you only confirmed what I first suspected. You are a fraud, a charlatan, and a shyster. My favorite kind of person, in fact."

-Stephen Fry, 'The Liar.'

8."A university is not, thank heavens, a place for vocational instruction, it has nothing to do with training for a working life and career, it is a place for education, something quite different."

-Stephen Fry.

9." Enthusiasts are used to being mocked, maligned, and misunderstood. We don't really mind."

-Stephen Fry.

10."My life, at least, is divided between writing and performing and mixtures of the two."

-Stephen Fry.

11."I get an urge, like a pregnant elephant, to go away and give birth to a book."

-Stephen Fry.

12."Moving from chair to chair, from coffee machine to coffee machine is the limit of my action in most films. But I enjoy being cast in them because I love watching them."

-Stephen Fry.

13."Nothing in this world is at it seems. Except, possibly, porridge."

-Stephen Fry.

14."You’ll often hear the phrase “science doesn’t know everything.” Well, of course, it doesn’t know everything. But just because science doesn’t know everything doesn’t mean that it knows nothing."

-Stephen Fry.

15."Literature is the only access to truth we have on this planet."

-Stephen Fry.

16."Not one word of the following is true"

-Stephen Fry, 'The Liar.'

17."You should give up.' 'Why?' 'For one thing, you'll live longer.' 'Oh, you don't live longer. It just seems longer."

-Stephen Fry, 'The Fry Chronicles.'

18."Mankind can live free in a society hemmed in bylaws, but we have yet to find a historical example of mankind living free in lawless anarchy."

-Stephen Fry.

19."And of course, you are mad if by a madman we mean a mind that questions and rejects every civilized norm."

-Stephen Fry.

20."Somehow, as a writer, you tend to use words to paper over structural cracks."

-Stephen Fry.

21."There is so much we can learn from TV. It’s a window on the world."

-Stephen Fry.

Stephen Fry Quotes On Life

Stephen Fry's life has lots of ups and downs due to his bipolar disorder, and this gives him a unique perspective on life, in general. Here are some excellent Stephen Fry quotes on life.

22."It would be impossible to imagine going through life without swearing, and without enjoying swearing."

-Stephen Fry.

23."Generally, we admire the thing we are not."

-Stephen Fry.

24."Having a great intellect is no path to being happy."

-Stephen Fry.

25."Life, that can shower you with so much splendor, is unremittingly cruel to those who have given up."

-Stephen Fry, 'Moab Is My Washpot.'

26."Just as it is the love of money that is the root of all evil, it is the belief in shamefulness that is the root of all misery."

-Stephen Fry.

27."It is exhausting knowing that most of the time the phone rings, most of the time there's an email, most of the time there's a letter, someone wants something of you."

-Stephen Fry.

28."The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. They are incurious. Incuriousity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is."

-Stephen Fry, 'The Fry Chronicles.'

29."Taste every fruit of every tree in the garden at least once. It is an insult to creation not to experience it fully. Temperance is wickedness."

-Stephen Fry.

30."No adolescent ever wants to be understood, which is why they complain about being misunderstood all the time."

-Stephen Fry, 'Moab Is My Washpot.'

31."If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?"

-Stephen Fry.

32."Those who rule the world get so little opportunity to run about and laugh and play in it."

-Stephen Fry.

33."The most important philosophy I think is that even if it isn’t true you must absolutely assume there is no afterlife."

-Stephen Fry.

34."I may have looked happy but inside I was hopelessly depressed."

-Stephen Fry.

35." I believe that poetry is a primal impulse within us all. "

-Stephen Fry.

36."Cynical is the name we give those we fear may be laughing at us."

-Stephen Fry.

37."I don't believe there is a God. If I were to believe in a god, l would believe in gods."

-Stephen Fry.

38."You can't reason yourself back into cheerfulness any more than you can reason yourself into an extra six inches in height."

-Stephen Fry.

39."A true thing, poorly expressed, is a lie."

-Stephen Fry.

40."Part of life is learning what to be ashamed of and what to be proud of."

-Stephen Fry.

41."Philosophy is an odd thing. When we use the word in everyday speech, you know, you sometimes hear it hilariously."

-Stephen Fry.

42."My father was all brain and little heart."

-Stephen Fry.

43."I'm a bit of a coward, and lazy, oddly enough."

-Stephen Fry.

44."My parents were marvelously educated people."

-Stephen Fry.

45."I certainly don’t want to be formulaic. I want to be honest and authentic and everything else."

-Stephen Fry.

46."I like to think of myself at home in the armchair, writing, smoking and occasionally wandering down the shop."

-Stephen Fry.

47."I think I’m most nervous about revealing how nervous I have always been. People think me calm, confident, poised. Inside I’m a jelly."

-Stephen Fry.

Inspirational Stephen Fry Quotes

Stephen Fry was candid and vocal about many issues, due to which people get inspired and attached to his thoughts. Below are some inspirational quotes by him.

48."You are who you are when nobody's watching."

-Stephen Fry.

49."Money and fame are trashy and don’t guarantee happiness, but we all refuse really to know it."

-Stephen Fry.

50."It's hard to be a friend to someone who's depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do."

-Stephen Fry.

51."People who can change and change again are so much more reliable and happier than those who can’t."

-Stephen Fry.

52."Stop wanting wealth and fame and start wanting instead to do something well about which you are passionate."

-Stephen Fry.

53."Stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy."

- Stephen Fry.

54."If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather."

-Stephen Fry.

55."There is not any way that you can just choose the nice bits and say that means there is a God and ignore the true fact of what nature is."

-Stephen Fry.

56."There is no particular Socratic or Dimechian or Kantian way to live your life. They don't offer ethical codes and standards by which to live your life."

-Stephen Fry.

57."Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will always hurt me."

-Stephen Fry.

58."It's enough to be benign, to be gentle, to be funny, to be kind."

-Stephen Fry.

59."Progress isn't achieved by preachers or guardians of morality, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and sceptics."

-Stephen Fry.

60."I believe one of the greatest human failings is to prefer to be right than to be effective."

-Stephen Fry.

61." Because, let's face it, I do not get offered the parts that Brad Pitt has just turned down."

-Stephen Fry.

62."No labor was more Heraclean than the labor of being Heracles."

-Stephen Fry, 'Heroes: Mortals And Monsters, Quests And Adventures.'

63."A book is judged, not by its reference to life, but by its reference to other books."

-Stephen Fry.

64."Do not do what you want to do, but what you judge your enemy least wants you to do."

-Stephen Fry, 'Heroes: Mortals And Monsters, Quests And Adventures.'

65."Happiness is no respecter of persons."

-Stephen Fry.

66."Know this: we are a long time dead. Life may be short, but it is sweet."

- Stephen Fry, 'Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined.'

67."I have Van Gogh's ear for music."

-Stephen Fry.

68."If you have been, I'm glad you've stopped."

-Stephen Fry.

69."It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more than a whine.'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning."

Funny Stephen Fry Quotes

Stephen Fry is known for his funny outlook on even the most scandalous issues. Here are some of the most humorous and witty Stephen Fry quotes.

70."Wit can be beautiful because it expresses and distills an idea."

-Stephen Fry.

71." I don’t need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me."

-Stephen Fry.

72."You have already achieved the English-Language poet's most important goal: you can read, write and speak English well enough to understand this sentence."

-Stephen Fry.

73."Education is the sum of what students teach each other between lectures and seminars."

-Stephen Fry.

74."I don't watch television, I think it destroys the art of talking about oneself."

-Stephen Fry.

75."I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers."

-Stephen Fry.

76."Little girls grow up to be women, little boys grow up to be little boys."

-Stephen Fry, 'The Liar.'

77."I'm fat because I'm greedy, and if my mind is fat it's because I'm curious."

-Stephen Fry.

78."Places of incredible glamour, possibility, power, excitement, and pleasure. Love your libraries!”

-Stephen Fry.

79."Anything white is sweet, anything brown is meat, anything grey – don’t eat."

-Stephen Fry.

80."A film I played a small part in, though my part remains in the cutting-room, thus making it, for me, The Hobbit: A Wasted Bloody Journey."

-Stephen Fry, 'On The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.'

81."I’m afraid I was very much the traditionalist. I went down on one knee and dictated a proposal which my secretary faxed over straight away."

-Stephen Fry.

82."Many people would no more think of entering journalism than the sewage business - which at least does us all some good."

-Stephen Fry.

83."In a dung heap, even a plastic bead can gleam like a sapphire"

-Stephen Fry.

84."The email of the species is deadlier than the mail."

-Stephen Fry.

85."How can I tell you what I think until I’ve heard what I’m going to say?"

-Stephen Fry.

86."Between funny and witty. Falls the shadow."

-Stephen Fry, 'The Fry Chronicles.'

87."I found it all about as arousing as a Tupperware party."

-Stephen Fry, 'The Fry Chronicles.'

88."You don’t need a Harvard MBA to know that the bedroom and the boardroom are just two sides of the same ballgame."

-Stephen Fry.

89."Hell, I am young. I am free. My teeth are clean. The sun shines. To hell with everything else."

-Stephen Fry, 'Making History'.

90."An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them."

-Stephen Fry.

91."This is the point. One technology doesn't replace another, it complements. Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators."

- Stephen Fry.

92."Sometimes there just isn't enough vomit in the world."

-Stephen Fry.

93."Compromise is a stalling between two fools."

-Stephen Fry.

94."Wine can be a better teacher than ink, and banter is often better than books."

-Stephen Fry.

Stephen Fry Love Quotes

Though Stephen Fry was known for his contribution to comedy, many people do not know that he had also said some serious love lines. Below is the list of Stephen Fry quotes on love. Which Stephen Fry quotes are your favorite?

95." That one can love another of the same gender, that is what the homophobe really cannot stand."

-Stephen Fry.

96."You don't sit down and write a wish list about the person you are going to fall violently in love with. It just doesn't work like that."

-Stephen Fry.

97."Love in all eight tones and all five semitones of the word's full octave."

-Stephen Fry.

98."From hero to zero is a tired phrase today."

-Stephen Fry, 'Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests And Adventures.'

99."It is the useless things that make life worth living and that make life dangerous too: wine, love, art, beauty. Without them, life is safe but not worth bothering with."

-Stephen Fry.

100." Love and beauty, as most of us find out in the course of our lives, are remorseless, relentless, and ruthless."

-Stephen Fry,' Mythos.'

101."I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance."

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Stephen Fry quotes from the British national treasure, then why not take a look at Tina Fey quotes and Robin Williams quotes.

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