Papa's Delicate Condition Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Jack "Papa" Griffith, played by Jackie Gleason, in the film Papa's Delicate Condition, directed by George Marshall (1963).

Back in the 50s and 60s, a lot of celebrity types had variety shows comparable to Saturday Night Live. Gleason, a brash comedian from Brooklyn, became famous through his own pouplar variety show, The Jackie Gleason Show, which spawned the even-more-famous The Honeymooners.

He also did some movies, dropping this line in Papa's Delicate Condition when things were on the up-and-up. It's a statement that became synonymous with Gleason, and is kind of a good way to describe his lot in life: making people happy enough to quote phrases like this.

Where you've heard it

If you're a classic movie buff, maybe you've seen this one. If not, the trailer pretty much sums up the whole thing. The phrase became so associated with Gleason, it was used as the title of his biography.

Marvin Gaye recorded a song for the Motown label called "How Sweet it Is (To be Loved By You)," by the way. It might not have been a Gleason reference, but the song became pretty famous in its own right.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Jackie Gleason was all about making people happy, so there's nothing pretentious about trying to do the same with this cheerful quote.