Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times - Volume 1

subjects; as if they mistrusted their own judgment.
Section 2.

For how can ridicule be used against reason? Or how can anyone with even the slightest clarity of thought tolerate ridicule that is misdirected? Nothing is more ridiculous than that itself. Ordinary people original: "The Vulgar" may indeed accept any crude joke, simple drollery, or buffoonery; but it requires a finer and more genuine wit to appeal to men of sense and refinement original: "Breeding".

How does it happen, then, that we seem like such cowards in our reasoning, and are so afraid to face the test of ridicule? "Oh!" we say, "the subjects are too serious original: "grave"." Perhaps they are. But let us first see whether they are actually serious or not. In the way we think about them, they might perhaps seem very serious and weighty in our imagination, while being very ridiculous and irrelevant original: "impertinent" in their own nature.

Gravity In this context, gravity refers to an air of extreme seriousness, solemnity, or formality. is the very essence of deception original: "Imposture". It not only causes us to misunderstand other things but is almost constantly prone to misunderstanding itself. For even in ordinary behavior, how difficult is it for a serious person to avoid crossing the line into being merely formal or stiff? We can never be too serious if we can be certain that we truly are what we believe ourselves to be. And we can never too greatly honor or revere anything for being serious if we are certain the thing is as serious as we perceive it. The main point is to always distinguish true gravity from false gravity. This can only be done by applying the rule