Life — January 25, 1912 — page 31: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Y 39.87 00.00 36.67 03.54 7.00 3.54 its, ees, Distra, EEE Definitions of Humor M. Maurice Dekobra has been apply- ing to some of the leading comic writers in Europe for a definition of humor, and the article into which he has woven their replies makes entertaining read- ing in the number of La Revue for the first half of the month, Of course, none of the definitions is satisfactory. Humor is too elusive and subtle a spirit for definition, and is not to be caught, even as the soul of Onuphrius was by the magi, “between two brushes.” Some of the writers accordingly fall back upon describing the humorist, and, even so, it is apparent that there are two different conceptions of humor in their minds. One set of writers is for limiting it to its manifestations in irony and satire, the other would limit it to what is called “ pure humor.” Thus M. Dekobra warns us that the humorist is not a mere “funny man”; “he is a sage who consciously sets himself to de- stroy our illusions, having first dispelled his own, and who, to prove the rela- tivity of all things, saddens our gaiety and enlivens our sadness. Mr. Court- ney distinguishes wit, as the efferves- cence of a light character, from humor, which belongs “to a more morose and sometimes a deeper temperament,” and is often only the manifestation of a high-strung sensibility. On the other hand, a Swedish contributor says: “ The humorist is always contented with ex- istence; he cannot therefore be a pessi- mist. He smiles benevolently at all that The celebrated Jaeger Underwear is suitable alike for men, women and children, and for all conditions of health and occupation. Recom- mended by the Medical profession everywhere. Explanatory catalogue and samples free on request “MADE AT al GARS just three: do anything. forms of exercise are best. tary habits. 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The Thompson Course of Exercise is a rational, pleasant and casy means of securing and maintain- life offers him of grotesque. His mo- tives are exclusively good, his intentions also, He docs not indulge in satire or irony, he penetrates and pardons.” Mark Twain offers the purest concep- tion of humor of this sort. —Manchester Guardian. “On, yes,” Mrs. Smith told us, “my husband is an enthusiastic archxologist. And I never knew it till yesterday. I found in his desk some quecr-looking tickets with the inscription, ‘Sphinx 8 to 1.’ And when I asked him what they were he explained to me they were relics of a lost race. Isn't it interesting?” —Modern Society. 2 J. Edmund Thompson In Your Heart You Know that You Are Not Giving Your Body a Square Deal KNOW the reasons which keep back any man from giving his body the exercise demanded by good health and common sense. 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