TRUTHINESS

It’s a word coined by the comedian Steven Colbert.  A word which puts a humorous spin on the serious matter of truth.   

Colbert is hardly the first comedian, wit, or writer to pair humor with truth.  Or truth with humor.  Here are a few examples. They take the edge off the seriousness of truth and give us a little laugh along the way.  And a sorely needed one at that. 

From Mark Twain: “Humor is the good natured side of a truth.”

Gilda Radner said: “Humor is truth; only faster.” 

George Bernard Shaw: “When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.” 

Victor Borge said: “There is more logic in humor than in anything else because humor is truth.

Finally, Mark van Doren declared: “Nothing in man is more serious than his sense of humor.  It is a sign that he wants all the truth.“                  

So, there we are.  Stephen Colbert’s “truthiness” isn’t as off-beat or as crazy as it sounds. 

Truth and humor are deeply connected.  They always have been and always should be.  At least according to all those pretty smart people from our past.  They tell us, simply, that If we lose our sense of humor, then truth, too, is lost.