Humour Has Its Limits

“Wisdom is shown in serious matters, and is more appreciated than mere wit. He that is always ready for jests is never ready for serious things. They resemble liars in that men never believe either, always expecting a lie in one, a joke in the other. One never knows when you speak with judgment, which is the same as if you had none. A continual jest soon loses all zest. Many get the repute of being witty, but thereby lose the credit of being sensible” –Balthasar Gracian.

This bolt of wisdom stands alone, eternally, high above modernity’s frivolous chatter.

Humour, of course, is many things and is a salve all its own, but it never fits all situations, and some people just never quite seem to get this. They’re oblivious for the better part.

Jesting alone is tiresome. It limps along at a pace way behind the rest of the pack of life. Insanely it cannot see for laughing. Lion King Ed has nothing on the court jester profiled here.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.” Always laughing and what do we see; pretty much nothing of note.

What’s the use in being amiable and hospitable in our affairs if we can never be relied upon to provide a sound and sensible platform for support?

One who is always joking, though genial, is hardly able to be taken seriously. It’d be the utmost surprise for them to turn and face the world truly.

The wise know when to use wit; sparingly--like a garnish... with a twist of lemon. It is winsome and light this way, and classically and elegantly complementary; and never crude.

As the master at top says, “Jest has its little hour, seriousness should have all the rest.”

Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.