Quotation by

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Humor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world. So if it is correct to say that humor was stamped out in Nazi Germany, that does not mean that people were not in good spirits, or anything of that sort, but something much deeper and more important.

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Understanding this quote AI Analysis

Wittgenstein is saying that humor is a perspective or attitude toward life, not just a temporary feeling. Even if humor was suppressed in Nazi Germany, it doesn't mean people lacked hope or happiness, but rather that a fundamental way of understanding or interpreting the world was lost.

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Humor results when society says you can't scratch certain things in public, but they itch in public.

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Humor has historically been tied to the mores of the day. The Yellow Kid was predicated on what people thought was funny about the immigrant Irish. When you're different in a society, you're funny.