It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.
Agnes RepplierRead
Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their earthly pedestals.
Interpretation
Humor reveals truth and can challenge false beliefs.
This quote suggests that humor serves to illuminate realities by revealing the absurdity of delusions or false idols in life. It implies that true humor does not distort facts but highlights the ridiculousness of those things that people may worship or take too seriously, thus encouraging a more honest perspective on life.
In practice
In a speech about facing challenges, one might quote this to lighten the mood and emphasize the importance of humor.
It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.
People who cannot recognize a palpable absurdity are very much in the way of civilization.
Who that has plodded on to middle age would take back upon his shoulders ten of the vanished years, with their mingled pleasures and pains? Who would return to the youth he is forever pretending to regret?
When I was ten, I wrote an essay on what I would be when I grew up and said I would be a professional soccer player and a comedian in off season.
Run for office? No. I've slept with too many women, I've done too many drugs, and I've been to too many parties.
Comedy is a very rough beat. It's no holds barred, as it should be.
Tomorrow night I appear for the first time before a Boston audience - 4000 critics.
A Puritan is someone who is desperately afraid that, somewhere, someone might be having a good time.
There sure are a lot of these 'instant' products on the market. Instant coffee, instant tea, instant pudding, instant cereal... instant dislike.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.