Third Aphorisms - On Laughter

For K. - Let us laugh at and with each other...

I

Laughter is the very limit of language. What is laughable exceeds representation of words; or else there would be no need for laughter.

II

When somebody laughs, why do we ask the question "what is so funny?"? Do we need a reason to laugh? Have we lost our integrity?

III

The difference between laughter and anger is this: laughter is acceptance; anger is the opposite; this is true especially when we either laugh at or be angry with ourselves.

IV

The poet laughs at bad verses; the musician, unresolved cadences; the mathematician, bad proofs; the child - everything.

V

The question "When did we first learn to laugh?" is an incorrect one; the real question is "When did we first forget to laugh?"

VI

The moment one has forgotten the ability to laugh, one has entered from the first stage of life into the second stage - early maturity: the world is no longer beautiful, but full of human constructs that lures one into society. One is recognized and accepted by Society, into its mighty chain of Being. Consciously or unconsciously, one's struggle is to get to the top of the chain, or at least not to fall to the bottom. As every single action matters to one's social status, one must be cautious. Everything is serious; nothing is funny anymore. One forces oneself to stop laughing; eventually one loses the ability to laugh at all.

VII

Oh what sadness it is to not have the ability to laugh! There is no longer an expression for happiness! One must slowly learn one more lesson: to abandon the great chain of Being and become an automous individual - to become sincere once again. One moves into the third stage - full maturity. Gradually one learns to laugh again - to laugh at everything, the world, the people, oneself - especially oneself!

VIII

Learn to laugh at other, but especially learn to laugh at yourself, my friends! Laughter is a form of acceptance, but also a form of combat. A lack of seriousness will humble you, but it will also strengthen (egotize) you; you will see that while you are one speck of dust in this universe, you will realize that you are a laughing speck of dust with your own unique laughter, standing out among the herd.

IX

Laughter is the subject of the great fugue of the world; it is the key to the spirit and wisdom of the universe. Philosophers seek to be like children because children laugh.

X

But what do I know about life and laughter? Am I not just a monkey making funny and strange noises and calling them "aphorisms"?