MOUTHING OFF  

AND NOW…FOR SOMETHING
COMPLETELY QUOTABLE

The influential British comedy troupe Monty Python formed in 1969. Here’s what its six members had to say off-screen.

“I don’t do drugs. I’ve got enough bizarre chemicals floating around in my head.”

—Terry Gilliam

“LIFE DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE, AND WE ALL PRETEND IT DOES.”

—Eric Idle

“If you want to create comedy, try to make people laugh. If you can make people laugh, head in that direction. If nobody laughs, well, that’s not good news.”

—Terry Jones

“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.”

—John Cleese

“We don’t deliberately set out to offend. Unless we feel it’s justified.”

—Graham Chapman

“John Cleese once told me he’d do anything for money. So I offered him a pound to shut up, and he took it.”

—Eric Idle

“If God did not intend for us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat?”

—John Cleese

“I always wanted to be an explorer, but it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person.”

—Michael Palin