From the very constitution of the people there is of course nothing selfish in the national enjoyment.

A man is quite as ready to laugh at his own expense as at his neighbor's, a courtesy which his neighbor cordially returns.
Now the ludicrous is essentially human in its application.

The principle of the synthesis of contradictories, popularly known by the name of humor, is necessarily limited in its field to man.

For whether it have to do wholly with actions, or partly with the words that express them, whether it be presented in the shape of a pun or a pleasantry, it is in incongruous contrasts that its virtue lies.

It is the unexpected that provokes the smile.