Florence King :
Any discussion of the problems of being funny in America will not make sense unless we substitute the word wit for humor. Humor inspires sympathetic good-natured laughter and is favored by the healing-power gang. Wit goes for the jugular, not the jocular, and it's the opposite of football; instead of building character, it tears it down.
#
Humor
#
Laughter
#
Football
Gift it
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=11340&author=Florence King"e=++Any+discussion+of+the+problems+of+being+funny+in+America+will+not+make+sense+unless+we+substitute+the+word+wit+for+humor.+Humor+inspires+sympathetic+good-natured+laughter+and+is+favored+by+the+healing-power+gang.+Wit+goes+for+the+jugular%2C+not+the+jocular%2C+and+it%27s+the+opposite+of+football%3B+instead+of+building+character%2C+it+tears+it+down.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=47975&author=Alexander Pope"e=Wit+is+the+lowest+form+of+humor.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F555%2FAlexander_Pope_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=11364&author=David Seabury"e=++Good+humor+isn%27t+a+trait+of+character%2C+it+is+an+art+which+requires+practice.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F876%2FDavid+Seabury_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=100704&author=Zero Mostel"e=Humor+is+a+sense+of+proportion+and+a+power+of+seeing+yourself+from+the+outside.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F14656%2FZero_Mostel_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=46194&author=Aristotle"e=Humor+is+the+only+test+of+gravity%2C+and+gravity+of+humor+for+a+subject+which+will+not+bear+raillery+is+suspicious%2C+and+a+jest+which+will+not+bear+serious+examination+is+false+wit.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F199%2F_Aristotle_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=11352&author=Frank Muir"e=++Wit+is+a+weapon.+Jokes+are+a+masculine+way+of+inflicting+superiority.+But+humor+is+the+pursuit+of+a+gentle+grin%2C+usually+in+solitude.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F3686%2FFrank_Muir_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=94180&author=Nathan Lane"e=I+had+to+develop+a+sense+of+humor+I%27m+sure+it%27s+a+defense+mechanism.+It+was%2C+%27Before+they+make+fun+of+me%2C+I%27ll+make+a+joke.%27+Being+funny+is+just+a+point+of+view+about+life+in+general.+Sometimes+it%27s+born+out+of+difficult+childhoods%2C+where+you+have+to+develop+a+sense+of+humor.+Ultimately%2C+it%27s+a+gift.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F14381%2FNathan_Lane_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=69347&author=Robert Benchley"e=Nine-tenths+of+the+value+of+a+sense+of+humor+in+writing+is+not+in+the+things+it+makes+one+write+but+in+the+things+it+keeps+one+from+writing.+It+is+especially+valuable+in+this+respect+in+serious+writing%2C+and+no+one+without+a+sense+of+humor+should+ever+write+seriously.+For+without+knowing+what+is+funny%2C+one+is+constantly+in+danger+of+being+funny+without+knowing+it.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F2761%2FRobert_Benchley_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=11339&author=Garrison Keillor"e=++Humor%2C+a+good+sense+of+it%2C+is+to+Americans+what+manhood+is+to+Spaniards+and+we+will+go+to+great+lengths+to+prove+it.+Experiments+with+laboratory+rats+have+shown+that%2C+if+one+psychologist+in+the+room+laughs+at+something+a+rat+does%2C+all+of+the+other+psychologists+in+the+room+will+laugh+equally.+Nobody+wants+to+be+left+holding+the+joke.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F2026%2FGarrison_Keillor_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=101398&author=Paul Newman"e=I+never+ask+my+wife+about+my+flaws.+Instead+I+try+to+get+her+to+ignore+them+and+concentrate+on+my+sense+of+humor.+You+don%27t+want+any+woman+to+look+under+the+carpet+because+there%27s+lots+of+flaws+underneath.+Joanne+believes+my+character+in+a+film+we+did+together%2C+%22Mr.+and+Mrs.+Bridge%22+comes+closest+to+who+I+really+am.+I+personally+don%27t+think+there%27s+one+character+who+comes+close...+but+I+learned+a+long+time+ago+not+to+disagree+on+things+that+I+don%27t+have+a+solid+opinion+about.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F1533%2FPaul+Newman_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=14012&author=Alice Meynell"e=++The+sense+of+humor+has+other+things+to+do+than+to+make+itself+conspicuous+in+the+act+of+laughter.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F5%2FAlice+Meynell_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=10722&author=Florence King"e=++Owning+your+own+home+is+America%27s+unique+recipe+for+avoiding+revolution+and+promoting+pseudo-equality+at+the+same+time.+To+keep+citizens+puttering+in+their+yards+instead+of+sputtering+on+the+barricades%2C+the+government+has+gladly+deprived+itself+of+billions+in+tax+revenues+by+letting+home+owners+deduct+mortgage+interest+payments.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=1231&author=Florence King"e=++Chinks+in+America%27s+egalitarian+armor+are+not+hard+to+find.+Democracy+is+the+fig+leaf+of+elitism.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=2723&author=Florence King"e=++Showing+up+at+school+already+able+to+read+is+like+showing+up+at+the+undertaker%27s+already+embalmed%3A+people+start+worrying+about+being+put+out+of+their+jobs.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=5039&author=Florence King"e=++The+proliferation+of+support+groups+suggests+to+me+that+too+many+Americans+are+growing+up+in+homes+that+do+not+contain+a+grandmother.+A+home+without+a+grandmother+is+like+an+egg+without+salt+and+Helpists+know+it.+They+have+jumped+into+the+void+left+by+the+disappearance+of+morbid+old+ladies+from+the+bosom+of+the+American+family.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=8314&author=Florence King"e=++America+is+not+a+democracy%2C+it%27s+an+absolute+monarchy+ruled+by+King+Kid.+In+a+nation+of+immigrants%2C+the+child+is+automatically+more+of+an+American+than+his+parents.+Americans+regard+children+as+what+Mr.+Hudson+in+Upstairs%2C+Downstairs+called+betters.+Aping+their+betters%2C+American+adults+do+their+best+to+turn+themselves+into+children.+Puerility+exercises+droit+de+seigneur+everywhere.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=10211&author=Florence King"e=++The+vitamin+has+been+reified.+A+chemical+intangible+originally+defined+as+a+unit+of+nutritive+value%2C+it+was+long+ago+reified+into+a+pill.+Now+it+is+a+pill%3B+no+one+except+a+few+precise+scientists+define+it+as+anything+else.+Once+the+vitamin+became+a+pill%2C+it+became+real+according+to+the+precepts+of+American+Cartesianism%3A+I+swallow+it%2C+therefore+it+is.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=10628&author=Florence King"e=++Those+colorful+denizens+of+male+despair%2C+the+Bowery+bum+and+the+rail-riding+hobo%2C+have+been+replaced+by+the+bag+lady+and+the+welfare+mother.+Women+have+even+taken+over+Skid+Row.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=19050&author=Florence King"e=++People+are+so+busy+dreaming+the+American+Dream%2C+fantasizing+about+what+they+could+be+or+have+a+right+to+be%2C+that+they%27re+all+asleep+at+the+switch.+Consequently+we+are+living+in+the+Age+of+Human+Error.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=20100&author=Florence King"e=++In+its+purest+sense%2C+nicknaming+is+an+elitist+ritual+practiced+by+those+who+cherish+hierarchy.+For+preppies+it%27s+a+smoke+signal+that+allows+Bunny+to+tell+Pooky+that+they+belong+to+the+same+tribe%2C+while+among+the+good+old+boys+it+serves+the+cause+of+masculine+dominance+by+identifying+Bear+and+Wrecker+as+Alpha+males.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F983%2FFlorence_King_64x64.png){kind=link}