People who have a sense of humour usually have the power of sympathy strongly developed. The misdeeds and failures of other people do not shock and revolt them; they see the funny side, and amusement cannot mixed with hatred. It is more at home with tolerance and pity, and therefore the person with the sense of humour is a lovable and loving person, one who has a sense of kindship with his fellow men and women.
Laughter is a very good tonic. There are many proverbs about the salutary effect of laughter, and about its infectious nature, and these, like the most sayings of the people, are based on experience of life. The cheerful people are, as a rule, the healthiest, if not always physically, at least mentally. They do not suffer from melancholia and depression and other miserable afflictions of the mind that make their victims' lives hardly worth living. And laughter soon spreads. When a happy child gets into a bus and laughs at the delights which surround it, the long faces of the other passengers soon relax and soften. HUMOUR has laid its healing touch on them.
