"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it."

Humor

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on humor by Langston Hughes resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in humor is what ultimately defines our character and our path forward.

About Langston Hughes

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

More quotes by Langston Hughes →
Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the ShortQuote Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Langston Hughes

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."

— Langston Hughes
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"I swear to the Lord  I still can't see Why Democracy means  Everybody but me."

— Langston Hughes
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"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you."

— Langston Hughes
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"Negroes - Sweet and docile, Meek, humble, and kind: Beware the day - They change their mind."

— Langston Hughes
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More about Humor

"The more I live, the more I think that humor is the saving sense."

— Jacob August Riis
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"It's funny, in a way the actor is a writer. It's not like the two things are so separate as to be like apples and oranges. The writer and the actor are one."

— Sam Shepard
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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."

— Will Eisner
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"Humor is the most engaging cowardice."

— Robert Frost
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