Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke
. A good joke will sell quicker than a good poem, and, measured in sweat and blood, will bring better remuneration.
He never jokes/ With anybody/ He says/ He has no time/ To sit around the evening fire.