Two subtly mismatched porcelain cups and a loose pink ribbon on peach linen.

Original artwork, not a still

Rebecca West

The main difference between men and women is that men are lunatics and women are idiots.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker offers a comic generalization that men and women differ in how they go wrong: men are called lunatics, women idiots. The joke insults both sides at once, so the sweeping claim is a witty exaggeration rather than a measured observation. It relies on neat symmetry for its sting.

Context reviewed

Share this quote