A rich man's joke is always funny.

“A rich man’s joke is always funny.” — Thomas Edward Brown

In these few, sharp words, Thomas Edward Brown, the poet and philosopher of the nineteenth century, revealed one of the oldest and most uncomfortable truths of humankind — that power bends perception, and that laughter, that most sacred bond between souls, can be twisted by wealth and fear. His saying, though draped in irony, is not merely a jest: it is a mirror held up to society. For in it, he reminds us that the laughter of men is not always born of joy — sometimes, it is the laughter of submission, the echo of unequal hearts. The rich man’s joke, whether clever or foolish, summons applause not because of its wit, but because of the weight of his fortune.

The ancients knew this well. In the courts of kings, fools and courtiers learned that to survive, they must laugh at the monarch’s humor — even when it was cruel or dull. Their laughter was not delight, but duty. Thus, the laughter of the weak before the powerful became one of the earliest symbols of hypocrisy in the human soul. Brown’s quote, though born in Victorian England, belongs to this same lineage — an age when the gulf between rich and poor widened, and the smiles of the masses were often worn as masks. He saw through the politeness of his time, and with a single phrase, unmasked the silent truth: that in the presence of power, truth itself often bows.

History offers countless examples of this dance between wealth and false laughter. In the royal courts of France, Louis XIV, the Sun King, surrounded himself with noblemen who laughed at his every word, not for humor’s sake, but for favor’s. They knew that a misplaced silence could cost them land, or title, or life. The court’s laughter became a performance — a grand theater of flattery, where truth and honesty died softly behind painted smiles. And yet, when the Revolution came, when the voices of the poor rose in the streets, that same laughter turned to silence, and silence to rage. For false laughter, when fed too long, becomes the seed of resentment. The joke of the rich cannot last forever.

But Brown’s words also carry a deeper moral beyond the sting of satire. They invite us to see how human nature bends before power, and how easily we trade sincerity for safety. When we laugh insincerely — at the jokes of the rich, the powerful, the admired — we do not merely deceive them; we diminish ourselves. For every false laugh is a small surrender of dignity, a quiet betrayal of truth. The ancients taught that the highest virtue is parrhesia — the courage to speak truth, even to kings. In a world where wealth can command laughter, the brave man is the one who dares not to laugh when the heart feels no joy.

And yet, the quote also carries humor — for Brown was not bitter, but wise. He recognized the absurdity of this human condition. “A rich man’s joke is always funny” — yes, it is ridiculous, but it is also a reminder of how fragile our values can be. The line between reverence and ridicule, respect and fear, can vanish when gold enters the room. Even the cleverest among us may find ourselves laughing at what we do not find amusing, simply because wealth casts its own gravity. The wise, however, see through this — and learn to stand outside the current of flattery.

The lesson here, my child, is simple but eternal: do not let power silence your honesty. Laugh when your heart is moved, not when your comfort demands it. Seek to be genuine in all things — for truth is the only coin that does not lose its value. If you find yourself in the company of greatness, remember that greatness is measured not by riches, but by virtue. If a man’s words do not stir your spirit, do not pretend they do. The ancients would call this the discipline of the soul — to speak and laugh as one truly feels, neither bowing to the rich nor scorning the poor.

So when you hear Brown’s words — “A rich man’s joke is always funny” — let them be a gentle warning, not a cynic’s sneer. Let them remind you to value sincerity over approval, truth over advantage. Be kind, yes, but never false; be humble, but never servile. For the laughter that springs from honesty is the laughter of the free, while the laughter that serves power is the laughter of chains.

And remember always: the world may change, but the measure of a man does not. Wealth may command applause, but only truth commands respect.