A sense of humor is the ability to understand a joke - and that the joke is oneself.
Interpretation
Having a sense of humor means being able to recognize humor, especially at your own expense.
This quote by Clifton Fadiman emphasizes the importance of being able to laugh at oneself, which is a crucial aspect of a healthy sense of humor. It suggests that true humor comes from understanding one's own imperfections and being able to take lightheartedness in situations, which can lead to a more enjoyable life and better connections with others.
In practice
In a speech about resilience, one might say, 'Remember, a sense of humor is the ability to understand a joke - and that the joke is oneself.'
To read in bed is to draw around us invisible, noiseless curtains. Then at last we are in a room of our own and are ready to burrow back, back to that private life of the imagination we all led as a child and to whose secret satisfactions so many of us have mislaid the key.
One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention.
Insomnia is a gross feeder. It will nourish itself on any kind of thinking, including thinking about not thinking.
There are two kinds of writers; the great ones who can give you truths, and the lessor ones, who can only give you themselves.
When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before.
A sense of humor is the ability to understand a joke-and that the joke is oneself.
But do not give it to a lawyer's clerk to write, for they use a legal hand that Satan himself will not understand.
The exquisite code of politeness of the Woosters prevented me clipping her one on the ear-hole, but I would have given a shilling to be able to do it. There seemed to me something deliberately fat-headed in the way she persisted in missing the gist.
Comediennes are the lucky ones, because if you're funny, you can be 125 years old and they will still accept you.
I don't believe in dying. It's been done. I'm working on a new exit. Besides, I can't die now - I'm booked.
I turned on the pillow with a little moan, and at this juncture Jeeves entered with the vital oolong. I clutched at it like a drowning man at a straw hat.
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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