A life full of laughter

Author's Name: Langston Hughes

Translator: Tim Al-Kurdi

It's dangerous to believe a serious statement if the speaker doesn't have a sense of humor. In fact, if the speaker conjures up the gloomy image of a brow resting on a palm, and the posture of a body bent by the woes of the world, I will do my best to replace the depressing environment with a brighter atmosphere, where serious people actually laugh, giggling as they try to survive in this mean old world and perhaps make a difference.

Langston Hughes knew that a life lived on broad, tree-lined streets had to be lived with a sense of humor—ever more so than the lives of so many people who cling precariously to the rocky edge of poverty and rejection. Hughes knew that if people walking the broad avenues of privilege could smile kindly, then people on the slashed streets of discrimination needed to laugh heartily to survive!