This is one of the chief functions of satire and irony. Human pain and suffering are so grim; we hover so often on the brink of war; political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of somber political events redress the balance. They take the wind out of pompous and arrogant politicians who have lost their sense of proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist like Swift writes about war in Gullivers Travels. The Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they cant agree which end to break an egg. We laugh because we meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. It is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish.
The sense of humor must be singled out as mans most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination, initiative these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key.
1. The most important of all human qualities is
[A] a sense of humor.
[B] A sense of satire.
[C] A sense of laughter.
[D] A sense of history.
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