“Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest earliest natural resources, which must be preserved at all costs.” James Thurber
More than anything else, a good sense of humor is what you wish the good fairy would bestow on your cradle. It will be your survival kit, your shield, your flak jacket against the vicissitudes of life.
Never mind beauty; it is fleeting. Humor is what attracts the ladies, protects you against bullies, and will give you a pass to the best venues in the world.
It is Scheherazade Redux. Humor will give you at least 1000 days to extricate yourself from the toughest spots.
Humor allows you to take the edge off of once-taboo subjects such as sex, religion, and politics, and make it palatable to the uptight crowds. You can almost say anything about any subject if you season it properly with giggling spices.
Laughter is welcome by most but greatly feared by autocrats and religious zealots. For it is a formidable foe. You can pass laws forbidding people to talk about certain subjects, but no matter what you do, you cannot prevent people from laughing. And ultimately, the day belongs to the one who leaves you laughing.
There is only a single taboo against laughter. You cannot laugh at the expense of the weak or defenseless. It would be like killing baby seals. Absolutely detestable. Except for that, nothing and nobody is off-limits.
The only effective weapon against laughter is kryptonite. And kryptonite, ardently pursued by bullies of all kinds, is extremely rare and hard to find.
But a humorist also needs to have the ability to laugh at himself. It is when you are unable to do so that you become vulnerable, like all the unsmiling tyrants sitting edgily on their illegitimate thrones.
When somebody antagonizes his constituency, it is your duty to fight back by laughing at the offender, regardless of his rank and regardless of his wealth.
Eat, drink and laugh your head off for nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.
Alain