If you're going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they'll kill you.
Credited to Shaw in the lead in to the mockumentary C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004) and other recent works, but this or slight variants of it are also sometimes attributed to W. C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, and Oscar Wilde. It might possibly be derived from Shaw's statement in John Bull's Other Island (1907): "My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world."
Another possibility is that it is derived from Shaw's characteristic of Mark Twain: "He has to put things in such a way as to make people who would otherwise hang him believe he is joking."
Variants:
If you are going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise, they'll kill you.
If you're going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise, they'll kill you.
Disputed
„Humor? To je, když rozesmějete lidi, aniž byste je museli lechtat.“
„Lidé ti odpustí spíše, když je obelžeš, než když jim povíš pravdu.“
„Nejspíše vopilej pravdu poví.“
„Hlásejte pravdu, jako byste měli milion hlasů. Ticho je to, co zabíjí svět.“
„Cynismus je nepříjemný způsob jak povědět pravdu.“
„Raději chci trpět pro to, že říkám pravdu, než aby měla pravda trpět pro mé mlčení.“
„Většina lidí by pravdu raději popřela, než aby se s ní smířili.“
