“Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.”

Quoted in New York Post (29 February 1960)
Letters and interviews

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Do you have more details about the quote "Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." by James Thurber?
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James Thurber 90
American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright 1894–1961

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“In emotional vibrancy experience is recollected not in tranquility… but in excitement.”

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“Humor is the most honest of emotions. Applause for a speech can be insincere, but with humor, if the audience doesn't like it there's no faking it.”

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“Emotional chaos is not pleasant; distillation of that chaos afterward may perhaps be pleasant in some of its aspects, and undoubtedly gives pleasure to others.”

A Voice from the Attic (1960)
Context: Complementary to his is Thurber's remark that "humour is a kind of emotional chaos, told about quietly and calmly in retrospect". Emotional chaos is not pleasant; distillation of that chaos afterward may perhaps be pleasant in some of its aspects, and undoubtedly gives pleasure to others.

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“I have always employed humor, and I think it’s absolutely crucial that we do because, among other things, humor is the only free emotion.”

Gloria Steinem (1934) American feminist and journalist

The Humanist interview (2012)
Context: There were never that many women stand-up comics in the past because the power to make people laugh is also a power that gets people upset. But the ones who were performing were making jokes on themselves usually and now that’s changed. So there are no rules exactly but I think if you see a whole group of people only being self-deprecating, it’s a problem.
But I have always employed humor, and I think it’s absolutely crucial that we do because, among other things, humor is the only free emotion. I mean, you can compel fear, as we know. You can compel love, actually, if somebody is isolated and dependent — it’s like the Stockholm syndrome. But you can’t compel laughter. It happens when two things come together and make a third unexpectedly. It happens when you learn something, too. I think it was Einstein who said he had to be careful when he shaved because if he thought of something suddenly, he’d laugh and cut himself.
So I think laughter is crucial. Some of the original cultures, like the Dalit and the Native American, don’t separate laughter and seriousness. There’s none of this kind of false Episcopalian solemnity.

“It's a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.”

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 101

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