April fool

“It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor.”

Yes, today is April Fool’s Day, so it is in your best interest that you take everything you read with more than a few grains of salt. That was the case with last year’s post on Beyond the Rhetoric, but I thought I’d skip the gag this year. Instead, I thought I’d share a collection of funny quotes.

The quote above comes by way of Max Eastman, an American writer and political activist. Yes, it is absolutely true that you need to be able to laugh at yourself before you can laugh at others. That’s the true indication of a good sense of humor. We shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously.

Indeed, English dramatist Douglas Adams reminds us that we aren’t really as clever as we think we are:

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”

Following that same line of thought, Mark Twain tells us:

“April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.”

Yes, we are all fools, but we really shouldn’t fall for the same schtick over and over again. Life is a learning process and we need to learn from our mistakes. Or, as George W. Bush famously said:

“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on… shame on you. Fool me, you can’t get fooled again.”

Happy April Fool’s Day! What was your favorite prank? What gave you that idea? Did it work? Better yet, did it work again?