Have you ever come across words in a conversation that make you nod and think, “So true!” without even realizing it?
Whether it’s a sense of humor or a unique perspective, they often reveal ways of thinking we don’t usually consider ourselves.
This time, we’ve put together a list of short, interesting sayings like that.
You’re sure to be impressed once again by the mindsets and creativity of great figures and well-known people!
We’ve gathered a wide range—from chuckle-worthy quips to more cynical lines—so we hope you enjoy them.
- Witty one-liners that pierce the heart: a collection of brief yet profoundly meaningful maxims
- The magical power of words that make people laugh! A collection of quotes that lighten the heart
- Witty quotes by great figures and celebrities where wordplay shines even in brevity
- That one line is sure to jolt you! Short but cool words
- Healed in a single word… Words that blow away negative feelings and bring a smile.
- Even a single word can save your heart! Uplifting, happy words that make you feel positive
- Quotations with a sense of humor: witty words from great figures that make you chuckle.
- Shinjiro Koizumi’s quotes that make you do a double take! A slowly-sinking-in collection of uniquely original sayings
- Uplifting words by great figures and famous people that, despite their brevity, convey a sense of philosophy.
- Keep your favorite words close. A short collection of quotes that comfort the heart.
- Words from great and famous people that make you forget negativity in an instant!
- Gems of famous quotes give us insights—words that move the heart and stir the soul.
- Guaranteed to move you! Memorable words by great figures and famous people.
From unexpected to cynical! Funny one-liners that make you laugh (1–10)
When the wallet is light, the heart is heavy.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Have you ever felt your mood sink when you don’t have money? Even if we know that “money isn’t everything,” it’s hard to feel at ease without enough to get by.
In fact, this feeling isn’t unique to modern times—people over a hundred years ago felt it too.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German writer active from the 18th to 19th centuries, aptly described how the weight of one’s wallet and the lightness of one’s heart are inversely related.
It’s a brilliant line that’s sure to make you chuckle.
Love lives on hunger and dies when it is full.Alfred de Musset
Have you ever experienced, or heard from others, that the moment a romance comes to fruition, your feelings for the other person suddenly cool? It makes you wonder why, after wanting it so much.
This saying expresses that idea through a metaphor.
Its author is the French writer Alfred de Musset.
He says that when we’re hungry, we devour food, but once we’re full, we can’t even stand the sight of it—and that love is the same.
It’s a remark that reminds us just how capricious we humans can be.
If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans for the future.Woody Allen
Isn’t it true that not many people manage to carry things out exactly according to the plans they once made? That’s how full of holes—and unreliable—people’s plans tend to be.
This saying captures that idea with a touch of humor.
It comes from the American film director Woody Allen.
He’s basically saying that if you showed your carefully crafted plans to God, who sees the future and everything else, He would surely laugh.
It would be nice to be able to make plans that even God wouldn’t laugh at, wouldn’t it?
The only place where success comes before effort is in the dictionary.Vidal Sassoon
In the original quote, “success” is written as “success” and effort as “work,” and because “success” appears earlier in the dictionary, this saying was born.
The person who said it was Vidal Sassoon, known as a hair artist.
What his words mean in the real world is that success does not come without effort.
Taking both the written form and the meaning into account, it’s a clever expression—and it’s amusing that, by coincidence, in Japanese dictionaries too, “success” appears on an earlier page than “effort.”
Love makes people blind, but marriage restores their sight.Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Many of you have probably heard the saying “Love is blind.” It refers to how falling in love can dull your judgment—making you lose reason, preventing calm decisions, and blinding you to the other person’s flaws.
A German scientist, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, left us a line that could be seen as its continuation.
Through his words, he suggests that even if love makes you blind, marriage will restore your sight.
Some may find the irony a bit too on the nose to laugh at… Yet, if you think of it as reaching a relationship where you trust each other enough to show your true selves, it doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
If getting my heart broken would make me lose weight, I’d want to be heartbroken as many times as it takes.Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
These are words about heartbreak left by the French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
I imagine many people couldn’t help exclaiming, “So true!” out of sheer empathy.
We don’t know exactly what she intended by these words, but in reality, heartbreak doesn’t make you lose weight, and most people would rather not experience it in the first place.
Colette was born in 1873, yet I feel this saying carries a sensibility that still resonates today.
When love comes in, wisdom goes out.Friedrich von Logau
These are the words of the German poet Friedrich von Logau about the changes that occur in our minds when we fall in love.
As the saying goes, “Love is blind,” and many of us can probably relate to the experience of being unable to focus on studying or work once we’re in love.
Logau expressed this situation in rather sharp terms.
It’s exhilarating, as if he were saying that falling in love makes you foolish.
And since this happens to so many people, there may not be many who can deny the truth of his words.