In 1924, the poet Arthur Guiterman wrote,
Anger drives away the Peace of Men;
Pleasant laughter calls it back again.
Words to ponder now that Labor Day is past and the presidential campaign has heated up in earnest.
As we consider a possible return from a few years back of government by insult, a head-scratcher arises over what value there is in Donald Trump’s constant mockings, including his obsession with Kamala Harris’s laugh.
“You know, you can tell a lot by a laugh,” says the former president.
In that case, we can tell little about him, because, how often have you actually seen him laugh (other than at someone’s infirmities)?
Trump might take a lesson in laughter from a person who, like his own felonious self, knew a thing or two about Crime and Punishment: Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Said the celebrated author:
“If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know the man, don’t bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping… You’ll get better results if you just watch him laugh… If he laughs well, he’s a good man… All I claim to know is that laughter is the most reliable gauge of human nature.”
Down the generations, others, too, have provided ideas not on denouncing laughter, but on celebrating the window into the heart it provides.
The English actor and screenwriter John Cleese minced no words when he declared, “Laughter is a force for democracy.”
He explained, “Laughter connects you with people. It’s almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy, when you are just howling with laughter.”
Comedian Yakov Smirnoff, an immigrant from the Soviet Union who frequently satirized his homeland’s repressive government and became a featured guest on American TV shows, noted, “Everybody laughs in the same language, because laughter is the universal connection.”
Magnate Andrew Carnegie, who had more than a nodding acquaintance with achievement, put it succinctly: “There is little success where there is little laughter.”
Actor Peter Ustinov viewed laughter as a force to move us forward: “I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me to be the most civilized music in the world.”
Even Benjamin Franklin had his say on it: “Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away.”
Actress Ruby Dee, an outspoken advocate for civil rights (remember those, Mr. Trump?), opined, “Not to laugh is a big, big, mistake.”
And said the poet Maya Angelou: “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.”
While the former president has a problem with laughter, journalist and author Linda Ellerbee has an opposite take on it:
“I have always felt that laughter in the face of reality is probably the finest sound there is, and will last until the day when the game is called on account of darkness. In this world, a good time to laugh is any time you can.”
So it behooves Harris to keep on laughing, holding only to one bit of restraint as Election Day nears: In accordance with a familiar old saying, Madam Vice President, save your best laugh for last.
Gerry Goldstein (gerryg76@verizon.net), a frequent contributor, is a retired Providence Journal editor and columnist.
