A quote.

From Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer:

"You are very funny, Jonathan."
"No. That's the last thing I want to be."
"Why? To be funny is a great thing."
"No it's not."
"Why is this?"
"I used to think that humor was the only way to appreciate how wonderful and terrible the world is, to celebrate how big life is. You know what I mean?"
"Yes, of course."
"But now I think it's the opposite. Humor is a way of shrinking from that wonderful and terrible world."
"Inform me more about when you were young, Jonathan."
He made more laughing.
"Why do you laugh?"
He laughed again.
"Inform me."