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 pluge 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 gulliver’s travels. the lilliputians and their neighbours attack each other because they can’t agree at which end to break an egg. we laugh because we are meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. it is no wonder that in totalitarian regimes any satire against the establishment is wholly banned. it is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish.
the sense of humour must be singled out as man’s 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 humour is uniquely human. if happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humour that provides the key.