Sense of Humor, Sense of Seriousness
One must have a sense of humor and a sense of seriousness to distinguish what is supposed to be taken literally or not. An even more keen sense is needed when humor is used to make a serious point. Psychologists have studied how humor is intended to be taken as having seriousness, as when court jesters used humor to convey serious information. Conversely, when humor is not intended to be taken seriously, bad taste in humor may cross a line after which it is taken seriously, though not intended.
Read more about this topic: Theories Of Humor
Famous quotes containing the words sense of, sense and/or seriousness:
“Although a man may lose a sense of his own importance when he is a mere unit among a busy throng, all utterly regardless of him, it by no means follows that he can dispossess himself, with equal facility, of a very strong sense of the importance and magnitude of his cares.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“In Germany, a certain artistic sense is fairly common, but the artist’s sense is foreign there.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)