It is indeed what Lin Yutang said, but unfortunately the source cannot be found. The following article is from the first part of "A Closer Look at the Great Literati of the Republic of China": Lin Yutang

Humor

The first person to translate the English word "Humour" into Chinese was Wang Guowei, who translated it as "Oumuya". Since then, "humour" has appeared in many translations. Li Qingya translated it as "Yu Miao" and Chen Wangdao translated it as "You slippery". ", Yi Peiji translated it as "Excellent scolding", Tang Tonghou translated it as "Xieji", and Lin Yutang translated it as "Humorous". It was Lin's translation that eventually became popular, and Lin became known as the "Master of Humor."

In Shanghai, Lin Yutang founded the magazines "The Analects of Confucius", "Human World" and "Universe Wind" to promote humorous literature. He said: "In life, one should sometimes laugh at others, and sometimes give others a smile."

Lin Yutang believes that Chinese people only have jokes in addition to serious talk, so he advocated: "When talking high-level academics, You might as well include some irrelevant words in the book or in the editorial of the editor, so as to prevent life from being too dry and boring."

Lin Yutang said: "Humor also has differences between elegance and vulgarity. The more secluded and elegant the more elegant it is. The more exposed, the more vulgar. Humor does not necessarily have to be subtle and elegant, but in terms of art, it is better to be subtle and subtle."

Lin Yutang wrote in "Yi Xi Hua": "There is no humor. If a nation is nourished, its culture will become increasingly hypocritical, its life will become increasingly fraudulent, its thoughts will become increasingly pedantic, its literature will become increasingly dry, and its human soul will become increasingly stubborn."

Lin Yutang's sense of humor probably comes from his father. Father Lin was a pastor. One afternoon he was preaching. The men in the church were so sleepy that they dozed off, while the women were chatting. No one was listening. Father Lin bent forward on the pulpit and said, "Sisters, if you don't speak so loudly, the brothers here can sleep more peacefully."

In his childhood, Lin Yutang and The second sister read Lin Shu's translation of the novel, and they wrote a novel together, telling the story of a French detective named "Culmus" to deceive her mother for fun. When the mother realized that the children were teasing her, she shouted: "There is no such thing, you just came to amuse me." After going to school in Xiamen, Lin Yutang and his brother teased their mother together. Once, when they were returning home from Xiamen, they planned to have one person dress up as a beggar and go to the door to ask for water from his mother, while others jumped on her from behind to scare her.

Lin Yutang bought a copper bird tile in Yuquan, Hangzhou. After paying, he told the stall owner that it was fake. The stall owner asked sternly: "Why did you buy fake antiques?" Lin replied: "I specialize in collecting fake antiques."

In French parks or streets, men and women often kiss passionately. When Lin Yutang saw him, he smiled and shouted loudly in French: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..." counting how long their kiss could last.

Once, Lin Yutang went to a nightclub in New York, USA. Because he was wearing a robe and smoking a pipe, an American gentleman mistakenly thought that he was the owner of a laundry in Chinatown, so he asked him what kind of shop he opened. Lin Nu replied: "I am Lin Yutang." However, the other party asked: "So, what business do you want to do?" Lin humorously replied: "I sold "My Country and My People.""

During World War II, Facing the threat of fascism, Lin Yutang had a whim and wanted to use humor to prevent war. He said: "Send five or six of the best humorists in the world to attend an international conference and give them the power of plenipotentiary representatives, then the world will be saved." One teapot can be paired with four teacups. Lin Yutang refuted it with Pan Jinlian's words in "Jin Ping Mei": "How can there be two spoons in a bowl without colliding with each other?" It can be said that they are evenly matched.

Lin Yutang sometimes makes harsh remarks: "No matter what, no matter how we mess up, it is always remarkable that we can survive these five thousand years, which shows that our vitality is very tenacious."

< p>Lin Yutang added: "Literaturemen dare not scold warriors, so they scold each other to vent their anger. This is the same as prostitutes scolding prostitutes because they dare not scold their clients."