We will not attempt to say just what humor is. The effort could bring
no results of value. Suffice it to say that there is implanted in most
of us a sense of the ridiculous---of the incongruous. If a thing is a
little too big or a little too small for the place it is intended to
fill, for some occult reason we regard it as funny. The difference of
a hair seems to tickle us, whereas a great difference does not produce
that kind of effect at all.
We may secure humor by introducing into our writing the slightest
possible exaggeration which will result in the slightest possible
incongruity. Of course this presupposes that we understand the facts
in a most thorough and delicate way. Our language is not precisely
representative of things as they are, but it proves better than any
other language that we know just what the truth is.
Humor is the touchstone by which we ought to try ourselves and our work.
It will prevent our getting very far away from what is normal and natural.
So much for its effect on ourselves. To our readers it proves
that we are good-natured, honest, and determined to be agreeable.
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