Proverbs: Humor shows we are bigger than what is happening to us

Maintaining a sense of humor not only gives us perspective, but even dark or gallows humor reminds us that we are bigger than what is happening to us. Think Roberto Benigni in Life Is Beautiful. One thing about satire for the layperson: It often uses sordid material (as in, say, The Simpsons) to skewer, ridicule, and deflate that same sordid material. Try to appreciate humor for what it says about the thing ridiculed -- its societal context or moral sense -- not just whether it touches on a subject you feel comfortable (or uncomfortable) around. (I wrote a master's thesis on the use of satire and irony in Doonesbury.)